A ROUTEMAP FOR COMMON AMBITION FOR SCOTLAND: POLICY AND PRACTICE PERSPECTIVES ON SKILLS A Presentation to the Cross Party Group on Skills by Irene Bell, Ishabel Bremner and Geoff Leask 4 February

Economic Development Association Scotland is… The Independent Voice of Economic Development in Scotland. A Membership Organisation: 2,500 + Members. Inclusive - Reflects the Diversity of the Economic Development Community in Scotland. Led by a Board of Directors, on a Voluntary Basis. `Governed` by the Broad Principles of Equity, Fairness and Quality (of Provision).

Economic Development Association Scotland`s Mission is to… Ensure Economic Development is at the Forefront of Economic Debate and Comment in Scotland. Be an Authoritative Voice, Respected Source of Information and Provide Informed Commentary on Economic Development. Enable Members to Connect, Exchange Information, Learn and Benefit from a `neutral space` for Policy Discussion.

Economic Development Association Scotland Achieves this by… Hosting Conferences, Events, Seminars… Offering CPD Opportunities – knowledge, skills & networks. Collaboration and Partnership Working with Other Organisations. Parliamentary Activity: Cross Party Groups, Receptions, Briefings… Information/Resources: Website, E-bulletins/news, Podcasts, Publications, Case Studies. Producing an Economic Development Online Directory. An International Outlook – OECD, Scotland Europa, EDANZ...

Evolution, Purpose and Outputs Three Key Policy Areas: Innovation Internationalisation Skills Economic Development Association Scotland`s Strategy is… A Routemap for Common Ambition for Scotland

Underemployment – issues discussed by Skills Group: Workforce planning Future talent pipeline Above themes informed by Professor Ewart Keep, Oxford University and Ed Monaghan, CEO, Mactaggart and Mickel at the EDAS Skills event on 6 th November 2015.

Workforce planning: labour market supply not equating with employer labour market demand. an ongoing requirement to quantify local as well as national skills shortages and labour market needs aligned to the existing workforce. Prof Keep predicts that skills utilisation will not improve unless firms audit their workforces’ skills and plan how to deploy these effectively.

Talent pipeline: how employers value staff and engage with manpower planning. reverse engineering/re-engineering. Mactaggart and Mickel – one strand of the company’s approach to workforce development is future talent planning which comprises:  Senior Board/Management development  An emerging leaders programme  Succession planning: sourcing from the company’s current talent pool  Graduate & apprentice training  Internal training programmes e.g. general foreman & sales consultants.

Question 1: Workforce development: as we have heard today, is very important to local planning and development and in our opinion goes beyond being wholly the domain of Sectoral Skills Investment Plans & Regional Skills Investment Plans. What are your views on how to broaden this dialogue in an inclusive manner?

Question 2: Talent Pipeline: At EDAS we have been fortunate to hear of the good work being done by companies such as Mactaggert & Mickel from their CEO Ed Monaghan who started life on the building site and worked up. What are you doing in your organisation or what good examples can you highlight of excellence in developing a future talent pipeline? This will help us to develop future presentations of good practice in action to share across our networks.

Question 3: How else can we encourage policy makers to look at alternatives to Modern Apprenticeships so that we have suitable models that e.g. meet the needs of micro businesses across Scotland in particular regards to rural regions?

THANK YOU & ANY QUESTIONS