There’s a scene in the 1998 Star Trek film Insurrection
where Captain Jean-Luc Picard admires a beautifully made blanket by a Ba’ku
inhabitant of a planet on which everyone has the secret of eternal youth.
In response to Picard's comments on the extraordinary
craftsmanship it shows, his companion Anij says it's the work of students who
are almost ready to become apprentices. "In 30 or 40 years some of them
will take their place among the artisans," she says.
Aside from showing my rather sad knowledge of Star Trek, it's
obvious the Ba'ku have developed a successful apprenticeship scheme. If only we
could do the same in the UK, length of apprenticeship aside. For, according to
viewers polled during our first HR Lunchtime Debate, the main barriers to
setting up an apprenticeship scheme are: complexity, the level of time required
and funding.
There has never been a greater need for apprenticeships. One
in five young people is unemployed, costing the economy some £25 billion,
according to the Audit Commission. The good news is 84% of our snap poll felt
it was an employer's duty to help the career development of those not in
employment, education or training - the so-called NEETs. But with complexity a
major barrier, fewer than 10% of small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) take
on an apprentice. Given these businesses are the very engines of growth in our
economy, this is the bad news.
Anything that helps reduce youth unemployment, that helps to
grow UK businesses and that helps society to flourish has got to be good.
Apprenticeships are a welcome step forward but government, education and
employers need to work harder together to ensure the system is the best
possible to deliver the benefits promised.
One thing Star Trek doesn't have a problem with is
succession planning, the debonair Picard (Patrick Stewart) seamlessly taking
over from the Enterprise captain those of us of a certain age remember so well,
William Shatner's Cap'n James T Kirk. Employers should take note, for recent
Corporate Research Forum report finds more than four in 10 are actively
dissatisfied with their organisation's ability to fill senior positions.
More worryingly, HR is being cut out of succession planning.
A Chartered Global Management Accountant report finds two-thirds of CEOs
believe the CFO is the natural lead on talent and reveals that HR is out of
kilter with other C-suite leaders on this issue.
This matters, because talent and succession planning are
business-critical. With the average CEO tenure getting shorter, poor succession
planning leaving your company with major risk and exposure, and a lack of
diversity at board level, HR needs to exert its authority in this area.
Only then will succession become more objective and less
about the old boys' club.
Source: 13 November 2012, HR Magazine by Sian Harrington
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