What is the Skills Pledge?
The Skills Pledge is a voluntary, public commitment by the leadership of a company or organisation to support all its employees to develop their basic skills, including literacy and numeracy, and work towards relevant, valuable qualifications to at least NVQ Level 2 (equivalent to 5 good GCSEs). The purpose is to ensure that all staff are skilled, competent and able to make a full contribution to the success of the company/organisation.
The Pledge can be given by the Chief Executive, Chief Operating Officer, owner/manager or other Board member, on behalf of the organisation. It is a corporate commitment covering the whole company/organisation. For those employees who do not already have a full NVQ Level 2 qualification, the Government will provide funding to help them gain basic literacy and numeracy skills as well as their first full NVQ Level 2 qualification.
The Skills Pledge is open to all employers of all sizes in the private, public and voluntary sectors.
Exactly what would the commitment be?
We have prepared a general form of words which is the minimum commitment we ask of all companies/organisations making the Skills Pledge. The wording is:
“On behalf of [company/organisation name], I, as Chief Executive/Chief Operating Officer [or other board member], make a commitment that we shall:
- actively encourage and support our employees to gain the skills and qualifications that will support their future employability and meet the needs of our business/organisation;
- actively encourage and support our employees to acquire basic literacy and numeracy skills, and with Government support work towards their first NVQ Level 2 qualification in an area that is relevant to our business/organisation;
- demonstrably raise our employees’ skills and competencies to improve company/organisation performance through investing in economically valuable training and development.
Signed...”
If companies or organisations want to go beyond this, and extend the commitment to help staff gain wider skills and additional qualifications, that is very welcome.
But that is a matter for each company/organisation to decide for itself.