S&PAProfessional / Spring 2022
UPFRONT S&PA NEWS
CIMSPA KICKS OFF WORK-BASED SKILLS PROGRAMME IN NOTTINGHAM By Roisin Woolnough CIMSPA has embarked on a place-based skills development programme to help employers address local talent shortages. It is running a pilot project in Nottinghamshire to kick start the programme. It partnered with West Nottinghamshire College to develop and endorse a new diploma, the first of its kind in the UK – the CIMSPA Level 2 Practitioner Professional Qualification. After running a skills diagnostics with local employers, CIMSPA tailored the qualification to meet their specific needs. The Institute wants the programme to build partnerships between operators and training providers so that the sector can develop and access the skills it
needs, now and in the future. Clare Dunn (below), head of partnerships at CIMSPA, says it is vital that employers work together with training providers to build a talent pipeline that addresses local skills gaps, enabling operators to access the expertise they need. “It’s a skills-driven, employer-led initiative to ensure that education meets the employer and deployer needs of local areas,” she says. “We want to provide a local education provision so that employers have a more positive relationship with the providers.” CIMSPA started the pilot by undertaking a comprehensive skills diagnostics with local employers. This helped them
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identify training and recruitment needs and to engage with local training providers about both current and future provision. Last year CIMSPA also recruited a specific skills hub manager for the programme. Dunn says employers need to be more strategic and proactive with their workforce planning, during recruitment and in terms of developing the skills of existing employees. She says: “We are supporting them to be more strategic in their workforce needs. This is CIMSPA working with local employers and deployers to get them to look up and look at the 12 months ahead – what does my workforce need to look like? What government initiatives are coming out, etc? It’s about upskilling the workforce – we are supporting them in this, without them having to hunt down training courses themselves.” There is a well-documented shortage of talent in the sport and physical activity sector, with many operators struggling to access the skills they need. There is also a shortage of candidates joining the sector with the appropriate skills set, particularly school leavers. “The perception has always been that people leaving college aren’t work ready, that they don’t have skills that are fit for purpose,” says Natasha Eason, interim head of education at CIMSPA. “We are changing that narrative so that there is a continuous workforce coming through, with people ready to be the next generation of the workforce.” The new, bespoke professional qualification, aimed at those aged 16 to 19, will enhance the employability and development potential of graduates. It has been created using insights from the Institute’s relationship with, and knowledge of, more than 300 employers in the sector. It is a
