BESPOKE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT FOR YOUR WORKFORCE

Tailor-made training solutions await with bespoke courses and coaching available to employers in the area. With many courses part or fully funded, businesses in the area could access a range of courses to upskill their staff or support people into work, including initiatives such as Sector-based Work Academies, Multiply numeracy programmes, and employability training in subjects such as IT, customer service, business administration and more. Jamie Stevenson, Principal at Lewisham College, explains how they are working with employers to match them with the talent of tomorrow and grow their workforce.

Irecall attending an employer event early in my career and talking about skills, training, and development. When I asked an employer if they engaged with their local college, they replied they did not, as they don’t produce individuals ready for their workplace and industry. Disappointed with the answer, I responded that colleges can only get it right by working in partnership with employers and stakeholders.

This conversation took place in 2005 and has subsequently been a key focus for me throughout my career within FE. Colleges are in the business of delivering good education and teaching, focusing on pedagogy to enable individuals to develop their knowledge, skills, and behaviours. By working collaboratively with employers from the beginning, we can ensure the curriculum is fit for purpose and industry-relevant and will enable individuals to be job-ready. We can also ensure that our techniques meet industry standards, deliver broader transferable skills, and prepare individuals for jobs yet to be created.

Since joining Lewisham College, we have made it our purpose to engage

Lewisham College

Lewisham Way, London, SE4 1UT employers actively, asking two simple questions: what keeps you up, and what are your pinch points? This proactive approach has enabled us to have an active dialogue on what skills and behaviours businesses require to ensure their businesses grow and develop. We want to ensure we are the one-stop shop for employers for all training, up-skilling and recruitment solutions. employers and the chamber to get our message to employers that we need you to support all of us! To date, we have hosted two business breakfasts, which have seen over 100 new employers engage with the college.

We want to ensure we are the one-stop shop for employers for all training, up-skilling and recruitment solutions.

We have then set up Employer Advisory Boards (EAB), which focus on sector skills and unpick the curriculum, the sequencing of the delivery and how we enrich the delivery to be really focused on industry needs and expectations. We have set up eight industryfocused EABs, including Health, IT & Digital, Construction, Creative and Sports. Businesses are working hand in hand to look at the curriculum, co-write assignments, and agree on assessments and where there are specialist delivery, employers deliver master classes and business visits.

At times, it has felt like we are asking employers for a favour when, in reality, we are here to support them as a publicly funded resource, which in hand ensures our students progress to positive destinations.

We have proactively worked with our stakeholders, the local authority, lewisham.ac.uk 020 3757 3000 info@lewisham.ac.uk

All courses are subject to availability, eligibility and additional support requirements.

I have always believed by working together, we achieve more and going back to the beginning of my thought process, if we engage employers from the start, our curriculum is relevant, leads to a positive experience and enables individuals to progress to a positive destination to ensure we have the workforce for today, tomorrow and the jobs that don’t yet exist.