Spring to Action Ltd

The Absent Talent

Business advisors are soon going to be an endangered species.  Currently, Business Link is the major employer, but with many an enterprise agency, social enterprise development company, quango and local government officer employed to support businesses there are a range of business advisors out there.

But from November or even earlier, many advisors will have lost their funding or been made redundant. Many will have to re-train or enter the private sector perhaps in a related but different career.

What worries me the most however, is where is the next generation of advisors coming from? The current entry routes vary, but commonly people enter the sector through becoming project officers, administrator, information and guidance staff or similar occupations.  As the coalition governments spending cuts hit these entry routes will drastically decline.  Who else would enter the fray?

My own view is that at some point government will realise (perhaps through a bump on the head or worse, a complete drop in entrepreneurial activity) that they need funded business support, in some cases.  My argument of course assumes this, it assumes that we need business advisors, coaches, mentors and the plethora of business support that’s out there. But I would say that wouldn’t I?  That argument is for another day.

Any thoughts?

UK Unemployment Rises (Again)

So it's official, the Office of National Statistics tells us that UK employment has risen to 2.5 million, at the end of December 2010.  This equates to 7.9% unemployment.

As we all suspected, youth employment has been hit hardest and now one in five 16-25 year olds is out of work (20.5%).

Long term unemployment is also at a high, with 833,000 people now out of work for more than a year.

Families and individuals are facing a tough year, alongside public sector workers who may well be joining them in the queue.  Those with lower skills levels will find it hardest to get work, which leaves Leicester in a vulnerable position.  Not only does Leicester have a high number of public sector workers but we also suffer from a lack of skill levels, with many people travelling from the County in to the City to work adding to the difficulties of local people finding local work.

Focus for the new Local Enterprise Partnership is likely to focus on jobs, skills and enterprise to get more people working and earning, but the situation remains complex. Until we get more firms with higher growth prospects, employing more people, we're unlikely to encourage people to improve their skills to get those jobs. But until we have higher skills levels its unlikely people will start businesses in high growth sectors. 

Perhaps this is a great opportunity to create a complex, multi-faceted strategy to address this, with delivery bodies working on a larger project to address issues across the board? For too long we've all worked in silos, with the effects remaining minimal. We need a step change in the way Leicester views itself, it's skills, it's business. Short -term, small projects have short term, smaller impacts.  They are often cut short when just beginning to make in-roads.

What would you like to see happen to make real change in our business communities?

 

Board Members Wanted

Leicester and Leicestershire's new Local Enterprise Partnership has announced it is seeking new board members to develop a robust strategy to improve the economic performance of local businesses.

The partnership is seeking experienced Private Sector board members with "both commercial acumen and the ability to help contribute to reaching agreement on complex issues that cut across both the public and private sectors. They will have broad experience both commercially and geographically, an appreciation of, and an ability to work with, public sector bodies, whilst demonstrating resilience, diplomacy and influencing skills."

This is a fantastic opportunity to get some fresh blood and new thinking for our city and county, with a range of expertise and experience.  The deadline is 14th February - find out more here.

Tomorrow is D Day for the Budget

Finally the day arrives when we all get to hear about where the budget cuts are falling and just how fast.  Is anyone else feeling a little nervous?

Already we've heard snippets of news, that Business Link's regional offices will be shut, that public sector pay and pensions will be frozen, that startup support will drastically change, and that local workspace capital developments have been stopped.

Indeed, when I wrote about this a few months ago, I asked what would you cut?

The question is developing as the days go past...now I would ask what would you cut and WHY? Let's face it, we can go ahead and cut everything that costs a significant amount of money, but we really need to ask ourselves what projects does this country need to prosper?

Which projects or developments will help us create jobs, build more prosperous communities and businesses, make the UK a better place to live and work in these tough economic times?

I just hope these aspects are being considered alongside the monetary aspects. Otherwise it really will be a return to the 80's of boom and bust. 

Leicester Benefits Hotspot

News broke today that Leicester has a third of it's residents on benefits. Leicester City Council's benefits team are handling 500 more claims each month - a staggering and worrying figure.  Leicester appears to be slower than other UK cities at leaving the recession behind and this can only mean more difficulties for its residents.

Whilst there are some schemes to help people back into jobs, notably the Future Jobs Fund which assists young people, there appears to be a lack of focus on unemployment in the area.  Most people want to work, though there are a small minority for whom it doesn't feature in their lives.  As well as the Jobcentre Plus advisors, there needs to be more support for people when they want to get back into work, no matter how skilled they are.

Anecdotally, I have heard that careers advisors have suggested people visit dubious private enterprises to build up their CV - isn't this something we should be better equipped to help people with? Isn't this a core component of careers advice?  A bad CV will result in no interviews, no application form and ultimately begin the spiral of low confidence and low self-esteem which is difficlt (and expensive) to build back up again.

We need to take action NOW, not in 6 months time, to help people back into employment and that surely must involve agencies working together with businesses to assist people.  And where there aren't jobs, work with businesses and the public sector to provide work experience (hopefully paid) to keep people's confidence up and help them gain further expertise. 

So, as a first step, whenever I find a job I'm going to post it onto the Spring Facebook group for everyone to see and do a roundup here every once in a while.  Please feel free to post your opportunities there too.  It's only a small thing, but lots of small things could add up to something bigger.  And if you'd like to do more to help people into employment, contact me with ideas and let's see what we can achieve together.

Interns Help Business StartUps with Entrepreneurship

Whilst the UK is traditionally slightly behind the US in providing internships, Enternships.com aims to matchmake interns with job opportuntities and change traditional perceptions.

Businesses can choose short term, part time or full time placements by filling out a simple profile. This is a great opportunity for the crop of students currently leaving uni with reduced job prospects due to the recession. 

But for businesses too, what a great way to introduce new time limited talent into the business?  Whether you need a website creating, an event organising or even a more longer term role filing, its worth investigating employing a graduate.  I've worked in businesses where the bosses are less than keen to try out new talent (scared of the competition?) and aren't too enthusiastic about supporting someone develop in a role.  But the rewards really can be amazing - sure, you'll need to interview them like any other vacancy and be clear the role and activities you want delivered but that's just good business management.

More locally many universities offer a similar time-limited scheme - De Montfort University for example, organises the Summer Project providing the student with a £195 a week training allowance.

Our tips:

1. Create a specific job role for the person to undertake. 
2. Be clear what  skills, knowledge or understanding someone will need to complete these tasks.
3. Ensure the individual is managed to undertake this project - perhaps even provide a mentor to help settle them into their roles and answer queries independantly.
4. Make the person feel welcome - sounds obvious, but make sure they feel part of the team by having their own desk, manager and give them everything another member of staff would have, whether that's business cards or their own login.
5. Make use of anyone assigned to help support you (e.g. from the university) - they will have experience in internships / placements.
6. Have regular catch ups or reviews.

Kate