Experts highlight career pathways as ‘vital’ for younger workers in RSA debate
Employers should focus on helping their staff take the next step in their careers to get the best from their workforce, a panel of experts has said.
Speaking at the Annual RSA (Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) Chief Executive Lecture on Tuesday night, CEO Matthew Taylor called for an increased focus on work that is “fair and decent with scope for fulfilment and development”.
“For many people, the question is less about the job they have now and more about the job they hope to have next… Every job needs to be one that offers workers the opportunity to get a better job in the future,” said Taylor, who is also the head of an upcoming eponymous governmental review into employment practice that is due to be published next month.
He added: “Most people enjoy their work but too many don’t get what they want or what they need.”
Carolyn Fairbairn, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, said the wider business community greatly supported developing proper career pathways for staff. She added that, as the younger generation enters the workforce, such pathways will be “absolutely vital”.
Fairbairn also stressed that more thought was needed as to how the recently introduced apprenticeship levy was being used, stating: “Frankly, it is not right yet.”
Peter Cheese, chief executive of the CIPD, said the way many younger workers were approaching their careers was changing and businesses needed to recognise this. “A lot of young people are saying: ‘Well, I’m not sure I want to work for a big business because I’m not sure I’ll have a voice,’” he said.
Meanwhile, Dame Carol Black, principal of Newnham College, Cambridge, and expert adviser on health and work to NHS England and Public Health England, emphasised the importance of employers looking at what their workers needed, rather than approaching workplace initiatives as one size fits all. “It’s understanding what your workforce needs and it can vary,” she said.
Research carried out by the RSA ahead of this week’s event revealed that almost three-quarters (73 per cent) of people think the UK could do more to improve the quality of jobs, while just 9 per cent believe all jobs currently live up to Taylor’s ‘fair and decent’ standards.
Meanwhile, a 2015 study by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation discovered that work choices topped the list of Britons’ most important life decisions. In a survey of more than 2,000 people, more than three-quarters (77 per cent) said ‘what to do as a job’ was an important life question, compared with 73 per cent who said the same of ‘when to start a family’ and 64 per cent for ‘where to live’.
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