Sector skills

NICVA

Task Force on Resourcing the Voluntary and Community Sector

This research attempts to shed light on the complexities, challenges and opportunities faced by the paid workforce of the voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland. It also comments on potential policy recommendations.

It was commissioned by the Task Force for the Resourcing of the Voluntary and Community Sector.

Findings

1. Priority skill needs relate to management skills eg strategic planning and project development.
2. A lack of core funding and the predominance of funding related to projects was a major challenge. This is likely to have a significant impact on recruitment issues, skills needs and training and development.
3. Just over one out of every four organisations (28%) reported difficulties recruiting new employees over the past year.
4. Of the organisations which reported a difficulty with recruitment, just over 80% of organisations cited an insufficient number of applicants as the reason for the difficulty.
5. The impact of hard to fill vacancies on the day to day operations is clear - for almost three quarters of respondents it meant an inability to meet certain objectives.
6. Despite recruitment difficulties, 59.4% of respondents believe the sector is relatively attractive to new entrants.
7. Health and safety (73.2%) and job specific training (68.8%) were the most widespread types of organisation wide training undertaken.
8. Lack of funds is cited most frequently (45.5% or almost one out of every two organisations) as the reason why training has not been provided over the past twelve months.

The report provides an insight into recruitment strategies and potential skills shortages in organisations. A series of recommendations examines how skills shortages and training issues may be tackled.

Data sample

The data is based on a UK wide study (Future Skills 2003, VSNTO) of the key workforce issues facing voluntary organisations in 2003. It builds on the 'Skills Matter' survey which was carried out for VSNTO in 2000.

The report is based on the responses of a stratified, randomly selected telephone survey of 1,000 UK voluntary organisations. It identifies the key trends and issues for discussion on skills gaps and proficiencies in the sector.

A total of 138 voluntary and community organisations in Northern Ireland were included in the sample and their responses form the basis of the report.

Need for joined up government

There is an obvious lack of communication across government departments.

1. The government responded to the Task Force's Investing Together report with Positive Steps which clearly expressed the need to coordinate the range of training opportunities available to the sector more effectively. The report states that 'the voluntary and community sector is best placed to develop a coordinated approach to training and development and should bring together the relevant issues'.
2. However the recent 'Skills Strategy for Northern Ireland', issued by the Department for Employment and Learning, does not mention the sector at all, despite the fact that the sector is a significant employer and has particular expertise in meeting the needs of disadvantaged learners. Read NICVA's response to this strategy.

The data for this study has been reproduced by kind permission of the VSNTO which commissioned the original UK wide research.