The People Bulletin

The recent report from the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions – Unleashing Aspiration – chaired by Alan Milburn¹, was triggered by a concern that the professions are increasingly drawing from a narrow talent pool of the most affluent, rather than the widest talent pool. The resulting report is wide-ranging; looking at the formative stages of education and creating aspirations, access to information, skills development, recruitment and selection, flexible entry and progression routes.

So, what’s the relevance for the HR professional? This article aims to answer that question, provide an overview of the report, and outline the key issues which HR professionals are beginning to think about. It also poses some questions about how change of this nature can be taken forward. It is based on first hand information, responses to the publication of the report, information about good practice already taking place and media sources.

The key to the answer to the question about relevance is in the headline. It is about unleashing aspiration, about what it takes to foster the talented individuals needed for the future. The focus here is unashamedly on ‘top jobs’, but the principles are relevant for all employees.

There is another critical reason for getting this right. This is about a need to find talent. It’s about ensuring ‘UK plc and society’, individual business and organisations, have access to the broadest, most diverse talent pool possible. The professional services sector alone contributes 8% of GDP and is expected to grow at a comparatively high level. The NHS is the second largest employer in the world. One in three jobs today is a professional job.

What is it all about?

The report has over 80 recommendations, including:

• Changes to the education system to improve access to ‘good schools’.
• Changes to the structures through which careers advice is provided; plus schools, colleges and the professions working together to improve advice, guidance and information, and to provide taster opportunities and mentoring.
• Possible changes to the funding and accreditation of part-time university courses and recognition of further education courses which would benefit the link with professional qualifications – plus stronger employer/university links with a professional experience element built into higher education.
• Better access to internships and good practice guidelines.
• Better recruitment and selection practice for jobs in the professions.
• More flexible routes into the professions – both in terms of qualifications/professional standards and organisational structures in employing firms.

The report lays down challenges for employers, including professional firms, government, education and careers advice providers – and professional bodies and institutes.

The word ‘professions’ encompasses traditional professions and professional services firms, but also a wider range of ‘new professionals’. So the expectation is that the agenda for change will cover a wide range of professional roles and top jobs in finance and business; law; built environment; engineering, science and technology; media; senior public sector roles (including education); and senior roles in the health services.

Challenges to consider

The issues that HR professionals need to look at fall into four broad areas outlined below. For case studies see the final and summary report and also the stage 2 Fair Access: Good Practice report reviewing work underway in the professions, setting a challenge for others to go faster and further.

1. Recruitment and selection methodologies

The evidence, quantitative and qualitative, suggests that whilst gender, ethnic and disability diversity and inclusiveness has shown some improvement the extent of this varies from profession to profession, and the same is not true of social mobility. Flexible access routes (see below) are one part of the jigsaw puzzle, but the recruitment and selection processes used by employing firms and organisations are critical.

So, the big question is, do recruitment and selection approaches assess suitability on the basis of the skills and aptitudes required to do the particular professional job in question?

Are the needs understood in the first place (what does it really take to be an accountant, a journalist)? Do recruiters target a restricted pool of universities? Are the selection criteria designed narrowly based on qualifications just to make sifting easier? Is an assessment centre (and its content) well-judged and appropriate for the role? Does HR actually know enough about the reality of the role to make the right ‘people fit’ judgements or are we screening out interesting candidates from diverse backgrounds?

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills provides some online resources specific to recruiting to professional roles, including pointers to further expert advice².

2. Flexible routes into the professions

The issue here is the ease or otherwise of entering a profession, be it medicine, law, architecture, engineering, the civil service, accountancy or perhaps journalism or management consultancy or HR.

There is in practice more flexibility than is generally believed to be the case, employers themselves have a role to play in facilitating individual career development (even if eventually outside the organisation). In many professions issues around flexible entry intertwine with recruitment and selection issues and organisational design issues.

Commenting on the report Michael Izza Chief Executive at ICAEW the chartered accountancy institute emphasised ‘the importance of greater access from people of ability regardless of background’ and explained ‘that 16% of those currently training to be chartered accountants are from non-graduate routes’.

To meet these expectations HR professionals will need to develop a better understanding of the ‘professional qualifications landscape’, and support initiatives to provide access to better information such as the proposed web portal to the information provided by each professional body about careers, access routes, funding, and qualifications.

3. Organisation structures and organisational development

The report sees organisational structures as part of ‘flexible routes’. Structures and job design impact on career ladders, individual career development and future career choices.

So the report encourages employers and the professions to rethink organisational models, creating more paraprofessional roles, giving scope to work in a professional sector without committing to a full professional qualification. The principles are already applied in law and finance and are also fairly typical in the built environment and engineering sectors, including the use of apprenticeships which the report is keen to encourage. The health sector also contains a wide variety of professional and paraprofessional and specialist roles

The HR challenge here is to work with professional colleges to explore the appetite for and appropriateness of this idea – which may make more commercial, personal and strategic sense in some sectors than others. The size of organisation and sector will also be significant. The current economic climate may be a catalyst for innovative approaches. Part of the challenge will be to intentionally design jobs and job experiences which ensure people can move up and outside the organisation (particularly small organisations) into new roles, despite an ever changing market.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in discussion with other construction industry professionals also propose ‘a programme to create a knowledge community and increase connections between design and construction industry professionals’; something that HR professionals are well placed to facilitate.

4. Advice, information and aspirations
   • ‘Ambassadors’ from each profession involved in school mentoring schemes.
   • Refashioning the way careers advice is provided, ensuring that there is a good understanding of professional jobs, and the routes to those jobs.
   • Career mentoring and taster schemes.
   • Effective use of internships.

There are many facets to this section of the report, with multiple stakeholders. It is built around a strong consensus that advice, information, the opportunity to experience various career options, mentoring and soft skills are critical. Some changes e.g. to the way careers advice is delivered would require structural change. Many require people to spend time and energy to collaborate effectively for a common purpose. However, for example, mentoring and internship projects capture the imagination and achieve a self-sustaining momentum.

The built environment and engineering professions have been particular strong in their encouragement for change in this area, and the legal and accountancy professions have already developed schemes. Ideas in the report (school education system changes not included!) encompass:

It seems likely that creative ideas for school links will be a key focus for interest together with good practice in internship schemes, with the construction industry already making commitments to do so.

Internships

It is the right time of year for internship programmes to have received a high level of media interest, in addition to which there is a new government graduate talent sourcing web site³ created with the aim of promoting all graduate internship opportunities to the widest possible audience. The recent debate has been around whether internships are ‘a proper job’, at least offering the minimum wage, the extent of internship opportunities in different sectors (and perhaps an over-reliance in some sectors such as the media) and about access to information about internship opportunities. It’s clear that done well they offer benefits to both employers and employees and are important in developing the soft skills that are critical in the workplace, as well as helping individuals understand the reality of the jobs they aspire to.

The report proposes a code of good practice and kitemark, created by the professions. It will be interesting to see whether this idea captures the imagination, whether the HR profession or other management bodies take the initiative on this, or whether it develops on a sector basis through various professional bodies. CIPD has produced a charter for internships with a general application and is inviting comments⁴.

Making it happen

Unleashing aspiration is not a single issue report with a simple solution, neither is finding talent. However it certainly provides a stimulating challenge in terms of finding innovative solutions. There are also some challenging questions to ask ourselves about our own professional skills and practice-whether inadvertently our own habits and behaviours get in the way of what we are trying to achieve.

A big question for employers and the professions, individually and collectively is how fast and how far to respond, and where action is most desirable. In particular there is a question about the extent to which collegial action is possible –and whether this is enabled through bodies such as sector skills councils and professional bodies (which vary in their scope from sector to sector) or by other umbrella bodies and informal networks, or by some form of osmosis and mutual encouragement.

There are signs that this is beginning to take place, facilitated by a growing body of knowledge and enthusiasm that the professions go faster and further in making more of an impact across the board. It may well be that a professional mindset which weighs the value of the wider economic and societal benefit, and seizes opportunities to catalyse change is what is needed; certainly a compliance based approach, of which there are undertones in some places in the report, is not a mindset we should be adopting.

The recent report from the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions – Unleashing Aspiration – chaired by Alan Milburn¹, was triggered by a concern that the professions are increasingly drawing from a narrow talent pool of the most affluent, rather than the widest talent pool. The resulting report is wide-ranging; looking at the formative stages of education and creating aspirations, access to information, skills development, recruitment and selection, flexible entry and progression routes.

So, what’s the relevance for the HR professional? This article aims to answer that question, provide an overview of the report, and outline the key issues which HR professionals are beginning to think about. It also poses some questions about how change of this nature can be taken forward. It is based on first hand information, responses to the publication of the report, information about good practice already taking place and media sources.

The key to the answer to the question about relevance is in the headline. It is about unleashing aspiration, about what it takes to foster the talented individuals needed for the future. The focus here is unashamedly on ‘top jobs’, but the principles are relevant for all employees.

There is another critical reason for getting this right. This is about a need to find talent. It’s about ensuring ‘UK plc and society’, individual business and organisations, have access to the broadest, most diverse talent pool possible. The professional services sector alone contributes 8% of GDP and is expected to grow at a comparatively high level. The NHS is the second largest employer in the world. One in three jobs today is a professional job.

What is it all about?

The report has over 80 recommendations, including:

• Changes to the education system to improve access to ‘good schools’.
• Changes to the structures through which careers advice is provided; plus schools, colleges and the professions working together to improve advice, guidance and information, and to provide taster opportunities and mentoring.
• Possible changes to the funding and accreditation of part-time university courses and recognition of further education courses which would benefit the link with professional qualifications – plus stronger employer/university links with a professional experience element built into higher education.
• Better access to internships and good practice guidelines.
• Better recruitment and selection practice for jobs in the professions.
• More flexible routes into the professions – both in terms of qualifications/professional standards and organisational structures in employing firms.

The report lays down challenges for employers, including professional firms, government, education and careers advice providers – and professional bodies and institutes.

The word ‘professions’ encompasses traditional professions and professional services firms, but also a wider range of ‘new professionals’. So the expectation is that the agenda for change will cover a wide range of professional roles and top jobs in finance and business; law; built environment; engineering, science and technology; media; senior public sector roles (including education); and senior roles in the health services.

Challenges to consider

The issues that HR professionals need to look at fall into four broad areas outlined below. For case studies see the final and summary report and also the stage 2 Fair Access: Good Practice report reviewing work underway in the professions, setting a challenge for others to go faster and further.

1. Recruitment and selection methodologies

The evidence, quantitative and qualitative, suggests that whilst gender, ethnic and disability diversity and inclusiveness has shown some improvement the extent of this varies from profession to profession, and the same is not true of social mobility. Flexible access routes (see below) are one part of the jigsaw puzzle, but the recruitment and selection processes used by employing firms and organisations are critical.

So, the big question is, do recruitment and selection approaches assess suitability on the basis of the skills and aptitudes required to do the particular professional job in question?

Are the needs understood in the first place (what does it really take to be an accountant, a journalist)? Do recruiters target a restricted pool of universities? Are the selection criteria designed narrowly based on qualifications just to make sifting easier? Is an assessment centre (and its content) well-judged and appropriate for the role? Does HR actually know enough about the reality of the role to make the right ‘people fit’ judgements or are we screening out interesting candidates from diverse backgrounds?

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills provides some online resources specific to recruiting to professional roles, including pointers to further expert advice².

2. Flexible routes into the professions

The issue here is the ease or otherwise of entering a profession, be it medicine, law, architecture, engineering, the civil service, accountancy or perhaps journalism or management consultancy or HR.

There is in practice more flexibility than is generally believed to be the case, employers themselves have a role to play in facilitating individual career development (even if eventually outside the organisation). In many professions issues around flexible entry intertwine with recruitment and selection issues and organisational design issues.

Commenting on the report Michael Izza Chief Executive at ICAEW the chartered accountancy institute emphasised ‘the importance of greater access from people of ability regardless of background’ and explained ‘that 16% of those currently training to be chartered accountants are from non-graduate routes’.

To meet these expectations HR professionals will need to develop a better understanding of the ‘professional qualifications landscape’, and support initiatives to provide access to better information such as the proposed web portal to the information provided by each professional body about careers, access routes, funding, and qualifications.

3. Organisation structures and organisational development

The report sees organisational structures as part of ‘flexible routes’. Structures and job design impact on career ladders, individual career development and future career choices.

So the report encourages employers and the professions to rethink organisational models, creating more paraprofessional roles, giving scope to work in a professional sector without committing to a full professional qualification. The principles are already applied in law and finance and are also fairly typical in the built environment and engineering sectors, including the use of apprenticeships which the report is keen to encourage. The health sector also contains a wide variety of professional and paraprofessional and specialist roles

The HR challenge here is to work with professional colleges to explore the appetite for and appropriateness of this idea – which may make more commercial, personal and strategic sense in some sectors than others. The size of organisation and sector will also be significant. The current economic climate may be a catalyst for innovative approaches. Part of the challenge will be to intentionally design jobs and job experiences which ensure people can move up and outside the organisation (particularly small organisations) into new roles, despite an ever changing market.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in discussion with other construction industry professionals also propose ‘a programme to create a knowledge community and increase connections between design and construction industry professionals’; something that HR professionals are well placed to facilitate.

4. Advice, information and aspirations
   • ‘Ambassadors’ from each profession involved in school mentoring schemes.
   • Refashioning the way careers advice is provided, ensuring that there is a good understanding of professional jobs, and the routes to those jobs.
   • Career mentoring and taster schemes.
   • Effective use of internships.

There are many facets to this section of the report, with multiple stakeholders. It is built around a strong consensus that advice, information, the opportunity to experience various career options, mentoring and soft skills are critical. Some changes e.g. to the way careers advice is delivered would require structural change. Many require people to spend time and energy to collaborate effectively for a common purpose. However, for example, mentoring and internship projects capture the imagination and achieve a self-sustaining momentum.

The built environment and engineering professions have been particular strong in their encouragement for change in this area, and the legal and accountancy professions have already developed schemes. Ideas in the report (school education system changes not included!) encompass:

It seems likely that creative ideas for school links will be a key focus for interest together with good practice in internship schemes, with the construction industry already making commitments to do so.

Internships

It is the right time of year for internship programmes to have received a high level of media interest, in addition to which there is a new government graduate talent sourcing web site³ created with the aim of promoting all graduate internship opportunities to the widest possible audience. The recent debate has been around whether internships are ‘a proper job’, at least offering the minimum wage, the extent of internship opportunities in different sectors (and perhaps an over-reliance in some sectors such as the media) and about access to information about internship opportunities. It’s clear that done well they offer benefits to both employers and employees and are important in developing the soft skills that are critical in the workplace, as well as helping individuals understand the reality of the jobs they aspire to.

The report proposes a code of good practice and kitemark, created by the professions. It will be interesting to see whether this idea captures the imagination, whether the HR profession or other management bodies take the initiative on this, or whether it develops on a sector basis through various professional bodies. CIPD has produced a charter for internships with a general application and is inviting comments⁴.

Making it happen

Unleashing aspiration is not a single issue report with a simple solution, neither is finding talent. However it certainly provides a stimulating challenge in terms of finding innovative solutions. There are also some challenging questions to ask ourselves about our own professional skills and practice-whether inadvertently our own habits and behaviours get in the way of what we are trying to achieve.

A big question for employers and the professions, individually and collectively is how fast and how far to respond, and where action is most desirable. In particular there is a question about the extent to which collegial action is possible –and whether this is enabled through bodies such as sector skills councils and professional bodies (which vary in their scope from sector to sector) or by other umbrella bodies and informal networks, or by some form of osmosis and mutual encouragement.

There are signs that this is beginning to take place, facilitated by a growing body of knowledge and enthusiasm that the professions go faster and further in making more of an impact across the board. It may well be that a professional mindset which weighs the value of the wider economic and societal benefit, and seizes opportunities to catalyse change is what is needed; certainly a compliance based approach, of which there are undertones in some places in the report, is not a mindset we should be adopting.

1All reports can be found at
www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/strategy/work_areas/accessprofessions.aspx

2www.dius.gov.uk/higher_education/widening_participation/professional_recruitment_guide

3www.graduatetalentpool.bis.gov.uk

4www.cipd.co.uk/pressoffice/_articles/230909internshipcharter.htm