Skills Survey 2003: Where are all the leaders?

Project management, leadership, long working hours - these are the most important aspects of this year's survey. So why, asks e-skills UK COO Terry Watts, is UK Plc still not getting the message?

In the UK we are nearly as quick to criticise ourselves as we are to complain about the weather or the performance of the England football team's manager. In terms of technology, this is crazy. After all, the UK possesses vast amounts of intellectual property and an abundance of brainpower that has helped to inspire and realise some of the most important technological and industrial advancements of the 20th century. However, despite our great technology and design skills, UK Plc has not always managed to capitalise commercially on these strengths. Silicon.com's 2003 skills survey (SS03) helps us understand why this is occurring.

SS03 does show that skills gaps are narrowing. Last year's survey showed 17.5 per cent of companies reported they had skills gaps to fill, whereas this year's survey shows 12.4 per cent of companies still have skills gaps - a considerable drop. A trend that really stands out from both this year's and last year's survey - and one that remains unsolved - is the shortfall in leadership and project management skills that UK employers are reporting.

The survey shows project management and leadership skills are at the top of employers' priorities. Nearly 35 per cent report project management as the non-IT skill that is in shortest supply, with 30.2 per cent reporting leadership skills as the hardest to find. This is only marginally better than last year.

Project management and roles requiring leadership skills can be the most satisfying roles in an organisation and provide employees with a diverse range of career options, so we should be able to recruit the best people to them. However e-skills UK conducts regular research that backs up these statistics. We are an organisation that speaks to employers on a daily basis and the need for improved project management skills is a recurring theme.

We should, perhaps, not be too surprised (but encouraged) that employers recognise that continual improvement in this area is essential to compete in the global market and to avoid delighting the media who love an IT project failure story.

The survey also tells us that (75 per cent of responding) employees feel more resources need to be devoted to improving in-house IT training. Learning on the job is often the best and most practical way of making the skills improvements necessary, although with some skills a formal approach is more effective. The 'blended' learning approach - whereby employees learn online, in conjunction with traditional classroom sessions - is seen as the solution by many employers and employees.

It is not just a way to fit training into tight training budgets. Both of silicon.com's 2002 and 2003 surveys showed the use of web-based learning is increasing. This is because both employers and employees recognise the benefits, particularly the flexibility provided by this approach in terms of pace and time management.

Encouraging the desire for more training does tell us that the UK workforce has a strong desire to continue learning and improving itself. More of a challenge for employers is to ensure that this does not impinge too much on work/life balance which has so many undesirable side affects, particularly the ability to recruit and retain women.

SS03 indicated that more than 60 per cent of us work more than 40 hours per week and that over 15 per cent of us are working more than 50 hours per week. The most successful IT employers are leading the way by introducing flexible working practices. These have sound business benefits, as it is these companies that become the employer of choice amongst the best recruits.

In a tough economic climate, SS03 shows employers remain keen to address the skills gaps that had previously plagued the industry. At the same time the most successful employers know that resources also have to be committed to training for the long term to avoid the skills shortages recurring as soon as the market picks up.

Employers know that they have to address their skills needs within the company. But it is in the interests of UK Plc to help them. Educators, employers and industry must come together to provide an environment to develop future technology leaders for the UK. In response to employer demand, e-skills UK has a number of programmes that aim to improve the UK workforce's grasp of business and interpersonal skills, including programmes that are aimed at school leavers and graduates that improve their understanding of how IT skills interface with the business. As an employer organisation we listen to what our employers need and help to address them.

The US has managed to capitalise on its technological prowess and has powerful industry figures whose vision and recognition of the power of marketing has helped to create some of the most powerful companies in the world. I have confidence that with the UK's technological skills and the commitment that has been shown by employers and employees to improving business skills, UK Plc can compete with them.

Terry Watts is the chief operating officer at e-skills UK, an industry representative body responsible for articulating and acting on the skills needs of employers to improve UK business competitiveness.

e-skills UK is the industry body responsible for articulating and acting on the IT, telecoms and contact centres skills needs of UK employers. For more information on e-skills, please visit www.e-skills.com.