DRSF Skills Audit as part of Spotlight on Skills partnership
About this good practice
This solution helps businesses to create a company skills plan to identify and address critical skills needs and develop a company wide plan for future sustainable growth.
The solution is targeted to senior managers of businesses and facilitates a 1-day workshop with those managers to provide them with a toolkit and methodology to produce a company skills plan. That plan is reviewed and refined with senior management in the company before one-on-one engagement to create an implementation plan.
This engagement includes how to address the critical existing and future skills gaps and signposts the business to the full range of education/training supports for solution outcome.
Engagement also facilitates a feedback mechanism for the business to inform education/training providers at all levels of needs and to influence local education/training leaders at hosted events, aligning local talent to business needs.
The audit data provides critical information to inform local education/training planning, National Skills Policy, including skills priorities and funding plans at national level as the service is provided by a regional body (DSRF) with direct links to education/training providers, their national funding bodies and national government – Department of Further & Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS).
The solution is replicated throughout Ireland as DRSF is one of nine regional forums nationally who provide the solution.
Resources needed
The GP provider (DSRF) is publicly funded by the Department of Further & Higher Education, Research, Innovation & Science in providing the GP solution, which is provided to business without charge.
Evidence of success
DSRF publicly funded by the Department of Further & Higher Education, Research, Innovation & Science providing the GP, this is provided to business free. DRSF provides impartial links between business & VET providers in development of provision to ensure the training matches business need. The audit data from businesses is utilised by DRSF to identify and address skills gaps and ensure the relevancy and priorities around funding of provision to the evolving needs of business within the region.
Potential for learning or transfer
DSRF facilitates a feedback mechanism from business to education/training providers at all levels, providing critical skills forecasting data to providers to develop new provision including apprenticeships, traineeships and Micro-credentials/quals and reorient existing provision, responding to business needs and skills priorities in an evolving world of work environment.
DSRF provides data to national funding entities and VET providers, among other providers such as universities, to inform training provision and ensure the relevance of provision. The data also informs policy decisions-makers at national level to guide decisions on funding skills priorities.
