Companies urged to take a more active role in vocational training

Hospitality and catering firms must play a more active role in designing vocational training if they are to solve their staffing problems, concludes a new survey commissioned by Foundation Degrees.

Foundation Degrees develops job-related higher education qualifications in partnership with the business community.

Its survey of 216 bosses from firms with 50 or more staff found that only 25% of companies were actively involved in creating course content.

Yet 95% of directors polled believed the industry should be directly involved because vocational training increased profitability, helped up-skill staff and improved employee satisfaction.

Despite this positive attitude, 60% of directors said their training budget was restrictive.

And while 85% of companies were willing to give staff time off to train and 70% would pay for training courses, a majority of directors (80%) said others in their company would oppose this approach.

Two-thirds believed that most staff left because they could find better opportunities to advance their careers elsewhere.

"With the current skills deficit in the industry, employers cannot afford to let this trend continue," said a spokesman for Foundation Degrees. "They need to offer their employees the opportunity for relevant training, and what better way to ensure that than by helping to design course content themselves?"

One company to have made the leap is Radisson Edwardian, which is a partner of the Thames Valley University Hospitality Management Foundation Degree

"The course has been a hit from day one," said people and performance director Kevin Ennis. "It allows our staff to really grasp the theory behind our business.

"We have had 20 employees go through the course and it encourages them to go on and push for supervisory or management positions."

by Angela Frewin

Buy this week's Caterer magazine for more industry news and analysis