Sector employers are being encouraged to consider signing up to an initiative that has helped leading UK gas, power and water companies drive investment in training and skills, in areas where the sector needs them most, through procurement.
The Procurement Skills Accord was created in response to the 2015 National Infrastructure Plan for Skills, as a mechanism to incentivise skills investment through procurement and engagement approaches that would provide appropriate incentives to retrain and up-skill the workforce to meet future skills demands.
The energy and utilities sector’s work to meet this challenge through the Procurement Skills Accord was recognised and welcomed by Her Majesty’s Treasury and was one of the core initiatives identified within the Workforce Renewal and Skills Strategy.
Since the Accord was piloted in 2016, the number of signatories has since grown from 26 to 56 organisations participating last year.
Signatories must commit to the following five commitments:
- To address sector-wider skills gaps and shortages
- To promote signing up to the Accord through the supply chain
- To promote relevant skills development across the supply chain through procurement
- To continuously improve performance
- To monitor and report
The Procurement Skills Accord has helped its signatories record encouraging outcomes, showing that these companies have adapted their procurement process and culture to ensure that they are investing in the skills and training that the sector needs– within the asset owners and their supply chain companies.
Those outcomes include:
- Skills development is becoming a recognised and valued part of procurement activity with 76% of relevant companies embedding skills development into their procurement processes
- Training volumes** increased from 11% to 15% over the year and 5% of the operational/technical workforce are on apprenticeship programmes
- Procurement and Learning & Development specialists are beginning to work constructively together
- Skills development principles included in Achilles Utility Vendor Database
- There is an increasing wealth of best practice being shared across the industry and over 80% of signatories would recommend joining the Procurement Skills Accord to others
38 companies we’re recently commended at this year’s best practice event for accomplishing key skills commitments, click here to find out more.
To find out more and view case studies about how current signatories are benefiting from the Procurement Skills Accord, click here.
Nick Ellins, Chief Executive of Energy & Utility Skills, said: “The Procurement Skills Accord has demonstrated how procurement-based collaboration between asset owners and their delivery partners can directly increase investment in skills training, and help to build resilience into the sector workforce. Those involved have already seen positive and tangible business outcomes. We are now looking to extend the Accord to even more sector employers and further increase the resilience of the utility world to labour market constraints. Please do get in touch with us to learn more, and be part of this initiative built by the sector, for the sector.”
The deadline to sign up for the 2019/20 Procurement Skills Accord is 30 September 2019.
Find Out More
Initial enquiries on how to sign up to the Procurement Skills Accord can be made to Rebecca.Clay@euskills.co.uk.
For more information, please visit the Procurement Skills Accord webpage.