In a groundbreaking move to enhance employment readiness among young people, the Lancashire Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP), in collaboration with the Lancashire Skills and Employment Hub and the Lancashire Careers Hub, has introduced a unified approach based on employer feedback. This initiative aims to establish a common language that aligns the understanding of essential skills needed for the workforce among students, educational institutions, and employers.
The primary goal of this approach is to support young people in Lancashire as they transition from education to the workplace. By creating a shared work-ready language, the initiative seeks to streamline the engagement between employers and young people, facilitating workplace experiences and integrating this language into recruitment and induction processes. Schools and colleges are encouraged to incorporate this language into their curriculum and career programs.
The Lancashire Careers Hub plans to embed this language into their strategies, commissioning, and support for both educational institutions and employers.
Target Audience: This initiative is designed for anyone involved with young people in schools or colleges, including employers, career practitioners, and teaching staff. The aim is to create a universal language around key skills that Lancashire employers have identified as crucial for business growth and success.
Skills are vital for career development, helping young people start their career journeys and progress within their chosen fields. The initiative aims to ensure that young people are well-prepared for their future steps.
Implementation Strategy: The approach focuses on the top ten work-ready skills identified by Lancashire employers. It provides practical examples of how students can demonstrate these skills during their education and as they enter the workforce.
A survey of over 120 Lancashire employers highlighted the priority skills needed. Detailed information is available in the accompanying graphs.
The ‘Learn, Develop, Apply’ approach outlined in the directory helps young people gain and develop the necessary skills for a successful transition into the workforce:
• Learn it: How young people can acquire work-ready skills during their education.
• Develop it: Understanding how to further improve these skills through employer encounters, workplace experiences, and curriculum-linked career activities.
• Apply it: Applying these skills in real workplace scenarios.
The initiative addresses the confusion caused by varying language used to describe skills across different sectors. By creating a shared language, it aims to align the communication between education, social impact interventions, and employers, making a significant impact on the region’s employment landscape.
To find out more and to access the resources follow this link Work-Ready-Lancashire-Booklet.pdf
