UKCES Futures Programme competition on pay and progression. David Massey

Transcription

1 UKCES Futures Programme competition on pay and progression David Massey

2 Hospitality and Retail competition A little bit of background to the Futures Programme and this competition The overall aims that projects are working towards and some detail on the projects themselves The Futures Programme evaluation approach 5

3 3 What is the Futures Programme? A Research & Development approach to skills and employment issues What works, what doesn t, and why? Competitions for innovative projects targeted at specific issues

4 History and aims of the Hospitality and Retail competition DWP s interest stems from Universal Credit with many pilots / policy focussed on the supply side, but less from the employer side, hence the desire to work with UKCES. Joint working with DWP for around 2 years, but struggled to get projects off the ground. Then the Futures Programme came along. Retail and hospitality chosen as focal point as they account for a little under half of low paid workers (2/3 median hourly pay). Competition seeks employer leadership, therefore the brief places this issue from an employer perspective i.e. high staff turnover, low productivity, low staff engagement. Aims: Test new ways of improving the earnings and progression of low paid workers through changes to business practice. To achieve two things: 1. Improved pay & progression for low paid workers 2. Improved business performance (could be in a variety of ways i.e. greater productivity, lower turnover, better staff engagement, customer service etc.) 5

5 What are the projects doing? Employers re-designing job roles How broadening and reshaping the duties and requirements of a job role can broaden skillsets and impact on pay and progression. How changing the hours structure of work can impact on pay and progression Implementing progression pathways How mapping job roles and progression pathways within an organisation can impact on pay and progression. How formal communicating of progression to ALL staff impacts on pay on progression. How assessment, mentoring and appraisal through good, active line management can impact on pay and progression Employer collaborations How Employers working together to establish progression routes across different businesses (including SMEs) can impact on pay and progression. How Employers working in a particular sector or locality, and with supply chains can impact on pay and progression. High Performance Working for low-paid staff High performance working is often research and implemented with regard to higher skill workers, not with low skilled workers. In theory it should raise productivity in exactly the same way. 7

6 The projects Jamie Oliver s Fifteen Cornwall Jamie Oliver s Fifteen Cornwall will work with Watergate Bay Hotel, St Austell Brewery, Cornwall College and Visit Cornwall to help small employers in the region improve business productivity by investing in training and supporting career progression. Building on high quality working practices that encourage staff to work and develop across different roles and skillsets to improve business performance, the project will develop a tool kit that will enable other small businesses to take similar approaches. Living Wage Foundation Building on the work of Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Zeynep Ton s work on The Good Jobs Strategy, the Living Wage Foundation will be working with several major employers including EE and Hobbs to radically alter HR approaches and business practice. For example, the theory says that by changing product ranges and logistics practices, staff can become more adept at operating with the company s range, spend less time shelf stacking and more time selling. National Coastal Tourism Academy This project aims to revolutionise the way the tourism sector thinks about its employees and aims to encourage staff retention, greater motivation and faster career progression. The domestic tourism and hospitality sector is often perceived as lacking real career opportunities, this project intends to tackle this issue, beginning with small businesses across Bournemouth. The project will test the 'service-profit' chain principle that says that high quality customer service that arises from better workplace practices leads to improved business performance and higher pay. A designated project manager will work with hotels across the area to improve the way in which new staff are inducted, trained and managed. If successful, this model has the potential to be rolled out nationally.

7 The projects People 1 st Working with major hospitality firms Hilton Worldwide, Accor, Mitchells and Butlers and Whitbread, this project will develop and test different models to progress staff members. For example, analysis tools, behavioural and career coaching and multi-skilling of roles are just some of the models being used to assess and develop the aptitude and skills of the workforce to identify where people, especially apprentices, have what it takes to step up to the next level. Realm Realm manages the London Designer Outlet shopping centre in the shadow of Wembley Stadium. A transient and inexperienced workforce has the potential to affect the performance of all retailers as well as the centre as a whole. This project will set up an on-site skills academy that retailers can access. Employees will be offered individual training plans and mentoring that enhance their understanding of the retail sector. In parallel, several high profile retailers operating at the centre will work together to define how talented people can progress in the sector and forge a career in retail. Rocco Forte Hotels Rocco Forte Hotels is developing a ground-breaking new app accessible by smart phone that brings hospitality training and development into the 21st century. Employees will be able to access via the app a career map showing all the possible routes and training materials needed to progress in their careers. They can also set career goals, access relevant training content and receive job advice from career coaches 24 hours a day. This app will revolutionise HR practices and processes within business and will be available to purchase as a white label product to wider hospitality employers. Timewise Foundation Working with the UK s largest pet retailer Pets at Home, this project will radically redesign jobs with the aim of providing clearer routes and opportunities for promotion for part time and flexible working colleagues particularly women. One of the key changes will be to offer more family friendly flexible roles at a managerial level for workers to progress into.

8 Key evaluation questions for Progression competition What distance has been travelled against the challenges in the Competition 3 brief? A sustained improvement in earnings for low paid staff (definition in the brief) Positive outcomes for business, for example: increased productivity and bottom-line profits, greater staff retention, improved staff satisfaction / motivation and reductions in recruitment and induction costs 1) Building the business case for progression and better pay 1) What are the steps to making a business case for changing various business practices? 2) What are the factors that influence success? 3) What communication mechanisms support this? 4) What works in influencing their attitudes and behaviour? 2) Leadership 1) What is the added value of employer leadership? 2) What is the added value of an intermediary lead? 3) How are the strengths maximised and the challenges managed? 4) What mechanisms enable this? 5) What is the effect on the shape, delivery and results? What are the wider / spin-off effects of this? 3) Indicators / features of high performance working, including: 1) Changes to job design in practice, 2) development of progression pathways. 3) What are the appropriate features / mechanisms of High Performance Working (HPW) or combination to enable progression of low paid workers?

9 Key evaluation questions (continued) 4) Employee motivation and the case for action 1) What helps to overcome the barriers? 2) What motivates individuals to engage in progression pathways and what stimulates action? money, self-esteem, flexibility, support, personalised approach, small steps, etc. 3) What communication mechanisms support this? 4) How can this be built into the design of the solution? 5) Employer / audience / end-user engagement 1) What approaches are effective in engaging the audience? 2) For, employers? And, individuals? in understanding the problem, shaping the solution, testing and refining it, and ultimately as consumers and champions of it. 3) What are the results of this engagement? 6) Mode of delivery 1) What are the most effective and appropriate learning methods / modes that balance the needs of the challenge, audience(s) and context(s)? 2) What is the most effective delivery mode for delivering what, with who in what context? toolkits, apps, etc. 3) What is the role of technology in facilitating access to learning to support progression? 4) What supports this (in what context)? What are the barriers? 5) In what context is this most effective? 7) Standards. 1) What is the role of standards in the development of solutions? 2) How did projects arrive at this as part of their solution? 3) What informed their decisions? the incentive and barriers