Understanding Employer Engagement Wendy Fowles-Sweet, CEng MRAeS CPDA Co-ordinator UWE Learning & Teaching Associate Fellow

Why Employer Engagement? 1.Skills need to be continually up-graded and enhanced – universities can provide this life long learning 2.If employers are engaged at the earliest stages they will have employable graduates who “tick all their boxes” and can quickly apply what they have learnt 3.HEIs can offer academic learning from Short Courses to Doctorates – students take these awards to enhance their career opportunities

What can we do? Some of many options: Long-term Relationship Building Curricula Development to include application Relating Academic Qualifications to Professional Recognition Regular Employer Engagement Fora = Employer Involvement and Commitment

Relationship Building Market Intelligence, not Sales Develop long term relationships with employers, recognising we will not be their sole academic partner, but willing to collaborate as needed Ensures award curricula meet employer demand Enables bespoke offerings, based on generic concepts and organisational needs Identify direct route to potential students

Engagement Checklist Strategy –Vision –Mission –Co-ordinating the Engagement –Risk and Performance Management Operations –Project Management –Marketing –Client Management –Student Record System and Data Protection –Risk Identification and Mitigation Learning Delivery –Learning Requirement –Teaching / Facilitation Resources –Financial Planning –Academic Processes and Use of Feedback

Summary “Employer-focused learning” requires a different approach than traditional “student-focused learning” Relationship building is required to gain trust and ensure the learning offered is what is needed Use available checklists to ensure expectations – HEI and employer – are recognised early and managed correctly This approach is likely to improve employer / HEI collaboration - leading to enhanced skills and knowledge in the workforce, and provide the capability and competences required for implementation