Lifelong Learning Week: How can we upskill for the future?

Farhath Choudhury

• Uncategorized
• Healthy_Business
• Employment and Skills

This week provides the opportunity to explore how lifelong and continual learning gives us the power to change, grow and achieve our individual, team and organisational goals.

Businesses operate in the face of tremendous change, such as the transition to a net-zero and climate-resilient future and the recent growth of artificial intelligence (AI). It is clear from these landscapes that the labour force will need to continually develop new skills for individuals, businesses and economies to grow and prosper.

Furthermore, the Lifelong Education Institute’s publication, Upskilling the Nation: Strengthening the UK’s Labour Force (2024), states that the persistent skills and productivity gaps in the UK pose significant challenges to the strength and competitiveness of its labour force, due to evolving job requirements and insufficient investment in education and training¹. This elevates businesses’ need to focus on skills and development, prioritising the employability of their future and current workforce.

BITC’s Green Skills Blueprint toolkit and Upskilling for All report both demonstrate how lifelong learning is crucial for business sustainability and employee development. They provide insights and guidance on best practice areas for businesses in learning and upskilling, against a backdrop of changing landscapes.

Green Skills Lab Blueprint

Every business must accelerate the Just Transition to a net zero and climate resilient future for its own sustainability. As 80% of the 2030 workforce is already in employment, the green skills transition will mainly involve upskilling existing workers². Further education colleges, formal training and qualification providers, employers, and higher education providers will play vital roles in this. This supports the opportunity to invest in employees’ continual learning to address the widening skills gap.

In 2023, BITC launched its first action-learning programme to help address the green skills gap and support businesses by developing actionable plans that define the necessary culture and competencies for driving a Just Transition. The Green Skills Lab Blueprint builds on the route map’s three key focus areas – lead, embed and include – offering greater detail and a sequential framework to co-create green skills workforce action plan.

Download BITC’s Green Skills Blueprint to create a green skills action plan for your business through a step-based structure of key actions including reflections from participating businesses.

Upskilling for all

While we celebrate how lifelong learning allows us to achieve individual and organisational goals, it is important to remember that people from lower socio-economic backgrounds are far less likely to progress at work than their wealthier peers. For many low-income individuals, securing a job does not mean upward social mobility but, instead, remaining in a low-skill, low-pay cycle. This only reinforces the business case for developing the skills of the workforce in terms of driving innovation and growth.

In collaboration with the Phoenix Group, BITC published the ‘Upskilling for All’ report in 2023. This aimed to explore why lower-skilled employees are less likely to participate in upskilling than their higher-skilled colleagues and identify solutions to equip employers to support every employee to develop their skills throughout their career, regardless of their starting point. This ground-breaking report highlights good employer practices in supporting and developing low-skilled employees. The report identifies three building blocks to effective upskilling:

1. Effective data strategy: businesses need to know their current skills gaps and the skills they are likely to need in the future.

2. Supported and supportive line managers: line managers need to have the capability and the motivation to develop their people.

3. A culture of continuous learning across the business: it is not enough to provide learning and development opportunities; employees need to be empowered to engage with them.

Download the Upskilling for All report to explore insightful case studies and best practice recommendations to address these upskilling building blocks.

Culture for continual learning

At BITC, we believe that behind continual learning there is a need to create a culture of supporting all employees to develop skills and thrive in the workplace.

Our Advisory Services offer workshops and training sessions for staff to engage employees and senior leaders, fostering a safe environment for sharing and discussing thoughts and concerns. For example, BITC Environment Advisers support public, private and third-sector organisations in training and upskilling employees for a just transition towards a net zero future.

If you are interested in our advisory services to commit your business to lifelong learning, please get in touch.