If you have any responsibility in staffing, recruitment, training or tendering, it is with no doubt that you spend time thinking of the what, when, who and how. We are in a world now where salaries, competition and aspirations have changed the current and future workforce.

Today is the day that you will take a few minutes deciding how you:

• Drive social values within your company and role.

• How you secure recruitment needs and the future workforce.

• How you could use local partnership working to create skills pipelines, raise aspirations and ensure we collectively minimise skills legacy and gap.

So, if your reflection led you to confirm that you indeed meet these three challenges, I commend you and thank you. If, however, you feel there is more than can be done, please don’t think you are alone or that there is no support.

Education providers have evolved to work with employers to ensure that relationships with the sector are two-way, mutually beneficial and collaborate to aid progression, productivity and develop people. East Coast College also understands that employers’ time is precious, so aims to provide time, support and resource to enable the employer to explore opportunities and potential.

In return for support in training needs analysis, access to a range of funded courses and support in developing the workforce, we also strive to ensure that our curriculum is current, innovative and future proofed. As part of developing relationships the college is always looking to work with employers, and this can range from a few hours to long-term links.

For those who reflected on the three key questions above and felt you could do more, here are some solutions that can help:

• Test the curriculum through a review of content.

• Run a masterclass for students.

• Provide some employability advice to up-and-coming students or those want to change their career.

• Explore work placed learning through projects or work experience.

• Provide access to redundant equipment.

The other aspect that has evolved over time is how the college develops its own teaching and training team. The college is exploring different ways of recruiting staff for its full-time courses as well as its commercial training.

We understand that in some cases we cannot directly compete with industry salaries, however, we can explore flexible secondments from industry, for example in quieter periods of company contracts.

The college also offers variable hours or training associate contracts for those running their own business, and this model can support a person to maintain their current work commitments while supporting training sessions around their working week.

In return the college can provide training for staff ranging from working with young people or train the trainer, Level 3 preparing to teach qualification or assessor training.

For more information, please visit www.eastcoast.ac.uk