Skills Recognition Scotland (SRS) pilot: learning insights

Reflections on employer engagement with the pilot

Interviewees talked about the ways in which the pilot had sought to engage employers and employer bodies/ groups. These included, for example, reaching employers through existing networks/ organisations/contacts, the SRS website, as well as seeking to build specific links with employers, particularly those in the key sectors identified by the pilot. Some of the ways in which the pilot engaged employers are covered below.

Sector of employers

Insights on the number and types of employers engaging with the pilot reiterated the sectors noted for participants with a focus on health and social care, engineering, IT, and hospitality (these were the key sectors identified for the pilot from the outset of the process).

An interviewee spoke positively about two sector specific events that were held to bring employers together on pharmacy and engineering, whilst another highlighted the role of the SRS website in raising awareness amongst employers.

Positive views of employers

Some interviewees reported that the employers they had spoken to felt that the SRS process was a good thing and that it provided a valuable opportunity, and there was a sense from one participant that employers have expressed a desire to buy into the SRS process once it is more widely available.

Employer confidence

Interviewees had mixed views on this. As set out earlier in this report, these views were shaped by interviewees' perspectives from the pilot including their role in the pilot and their experiences of the pilot process. The views shared in relation to employer confidence ranged from those that emphasised how the process had been designed and developed by talking and working in partnership with employers to ensure that it captured what they needed; to those where employers were perceived to be lacking from the development process.

Views were also mixed on how interviewees felt that employers see the Skills Profile document. Some suggested that the Skills Profile was seen as helpful by employers as it provides an element of trust and confidence, as well as knowledge that their prospective employee's skills are benchmarked to the SCQF and that the evidence provided is quality assured. In contrast, one interviewee suggested that from their perspective employers are not confident in the outcome of the SRS process and are uncertain about the 'standard' piece of paper that is provided. They suggested that employers would prefer a qualification, whilst others highlighted the importance of employers in having robust information on a person's skills and competencies.

One interviewee said that the language of a 'pilot' was perhaps off-putting for employers and that, at first, the process was potentially seen as too conceptual by employers. A further challenge noted was that employers may not be confident in the approach because bench markers are general assessors rather than employment sector specialists.

Suggestions for engaging employers in the future

A recurring theme from interviewees was a lack of employer awareness of the SRS pilot process and the importance of securing employer engagement early on. Suggestions were offered on what could work in the future. These focused on three themes:

• integrating employers into all stages of the SRS process following the pilot;
• improved awareness and communication of the process to employers following the pilot/in the future; and
• the relationships of the SRS process to other aspects of the skills agenda such as qualifications.

Example suggestions for each theme are noted below.

Integrating employers into all stages of the SRS process following the pilot

• Better defining the roles and responsibilities for employers in the SRS process.
• Ensure employers are engaged from the start and speak with them directly so that they can bring knowledge on what they need/ want from employees.
• Using a fast-tracked process to ensure that engagement is accessible and quick for employers, their business needs, and participants.
• Considering whether business development information could help to overcome the ongoing challenges around employers recruiting international talent and their appetite for this.
• Getting the steering group together with employers more frequently.

Improved awareness and communication of the SRS process to employers following the pilot in the future

• Develop more support for employers on how to use the SRS process highlighting the relevance and benefits it can bring them.
• More positive promotion and marketing of SRS by the Scottish Government and/or other partners/stakeholders to communicate the value of this work to stakeholders, employers, and participants.
• Joining up activity with employers and using a mix of both strategic and local level engagement. This could help build connections with employers as well as with the organisations that represent them.
• Be mindful of the location of employers and whether participants can travel easily to where they are.
• Ensuring that participants receive direct engagement with employers by encouraging employers to offer work experience, interviews, workplace visits, meetings as part of the SRS process.
• Asking employers to provide testimonials or to talk with other employers about their experiences, especially if they have recruited from the process. This could help to raise awareness of the skills that people who migrate have and highlight that this is a national system.

The relationship of the SRS process to other aspects of the skills agenda

• Ensuring that the SRS process continues to align with SCQF levels.
• Consider the potential of vocationally relevant assessors (subject/sector experts) to further enhance the process, bring in sector specific expertise of skills and qualifications, and ensure that the process provides quality assured, trusted, and credible evidence for employers.