Report on the C College Employer Survey, January 2004

by Cole Davis MICG CPsychol on behalf of E F G

The survey was conducted by C Connexions (E F G) and was intended to explore and extend links between C College and local organisations. The survey gauges, respectively, local organisations’

• training needs (including current training routes)

• the likely marketability of the College as a business venue

• organisations’ preferred modes of communication

• likely support for the College and its students

Following distribution of a fact sheet about the College, interviewers wrote and telephoned a local organisations, some known to C Connexions as opportunity providers, others from telephone directories. The report follows the order of the survey questionnaire, citing questions in italics.

84 employers responded from 362 organisations contacted, a response rate of 23.2%. As surveys often have response rates of 10-20%, this is a respectable return.

OPENING STATEMENT

We sent you some information recently about C College. I would be grateful if you could spare a few minutes to answer some questions to help the college develop their provision.

SECTION 1 - TRAINING NEEDS

We would like to hear about your company’s training needs so that we can gauge how relevant our courses are to the local business community.

A) What kind of training do you currently offer your staff?

All 84 respondents answered this question.

B) Are there skill gaps among your staff? If YES please go on to next question C.

If NO, please skip next question C.

YES: 29 / 84 (34.5%).

NO: 55 / 84 (65.5%).

This result replicates several previous labour market information surveys. It is of course a moot point if this is an accurate assessment or employer complacency.

C) Which of the following skills would you consider most beneficial to your business development?

Some skills gaps were identified in particular vocational areas. Percentages given below refer to all of the occupational sector answering the questionnaire, not just to those admitting to skills gaps.

Literacy and numeracy were only cited by a minority of respondents, spread broadly amongst vocational groups.

Customer service, however, was cited by over half of those concerned about skill gaps, of concern to both of the retailers in the survey, half of the 8 hoteliers, 27% of the 11 financial institutions and 29% of the 14 leisure centres.

IT shortcomings were concentrated within the financial sector, with 46% (5 of 11) of these institutions, although other employers were also concerned about this.

Teamworking was of concern to a minority of respondents, but these were concentrated in the nursery sector (4 out of 15, 27%).

Technical and ‘other’ skills were diverse, but ‘communication’ was cited three times, from different vocational categories.

D) When you consider training your staff what factors have the most influence on your decision for or against? Please score 1-5 with 1 having the highest weighting and 5 the lowest.

There were 60 responses to this (71.4% of the 84 organisations).

The factors were (the lower the mean of the responses, the higher the rating):

Availability of appropriate courses 2.10

Cost 2.52

Timing of courses (am, pm, evening) 2.18

Structure of course – block, weekly, distance learning 2.48

Qualifications offered 2.13

Reputation of supplier 1.80

Location 2.30

A Friedman analysis showed that reputation of supplier was significantly more important than course structure or location, but there were no other statistically significant differences.

To put the above into perspective, a frequency analysis of the 5 point scale (1 having the highest weighting, 5 the lowest) reveals that respondents rarely considered any of the factors to be trivial. Scales 4 and 5 were seldom used.

Value Frequency Relative % Cumulative Cumulative Relative %

1 19 31.666667 19 31.666667

2 14 23.333333 33 55

3 20 33.333333 53 88.333333

4 4 6.666667 57 95

5 3 5 60 100

A statistical analysis was also conducted into the relationship between decision-making factors and the type of training actually offered by the organisations. The only statistically significant findings related to Block Release. Perhaps predictably, those offering block release were less likely to be concerned about cost (higher mean scores indicate less overall concern). (Spearman test of correlation, Rho 0.3031, p < 0.01 one-tailed.)

Another way of looking at this is to note that of the 17 respondents who opted for 1 on the score, viewing cost as a highly important factor (20.2% of the total), none were offering block-release. The latter is clearly considered an expensive training route.

Availability of appropriate courses was also an issue to those not using block-release. A positive relationship was found between those using block release and high scores on the availability scale (lack of concern with availability). Possibly, organisations sending employees on block release had already found suitable courses. (Spearman test, Rho 0.3011, p < 0.02 two-tailed.)

SECTION 2 – LETTINGS

We believe that C College is an excellent venue for a variety of business events. We would like to hear about how the college could make their facilities more relevant to your needs.

Does your company hold any of the following events? RESULTS

1. Annual conferences 28/84 33.3%

2. Regular staff meetings 73/84 86.9%

3. Business Breakfasts/marketing 36/84 42.9%

4. Awards to staff for achievement, long service, productivity 32/84 38.1%

5. Other __________________________________________ 16/84 19.1%

82 of the 84 respondents answered this question (97.6%)

Occupational sectors were examined to see if they differed in which events they commonly hold.

Unsurprisingly, all sectors were likely to have staff meetings.

Annual conferences, however, were much more the preserve of the leisure section (10/14, 71%) and hotels (4/8, 50%).

‘Business Breakfasts/marketing’, rather peculiarly, appear to be attended by almost half of the nursery section; this possibly refers to preparation sessions before the children arrive. 64% of leisure centres and 62.5% of hotels also claim to be in this category, perhaps with similar explanations. Those who would commonly be expected to attend business breakfasts, the financial institutions, claimed a 36% turnout (4/11); 2 of the 3 property services organisations also entered this category.

Awards ceremonies were evenly spread, although half of the hotels claimed to perform these.

‘Other’ was predominantly the preserve of the nurseries (40% of them) and leisure centres (36%). In the case of the nurseries, these were almost all open days/evenings. Leisure companies varied, including training, promotional days and other meetings. Other organisations cited annual/bi-annual conferences and promotional events.

What would you consider to be your priorities when choosing a venue? Please score your answer 1-5 with 1 being the highest and 5 the lowest.

Only 33 out of the 84 respondents (39.3%) completed this section of the questionnaire. Most of those who did not respond here cited ‘in-house’ training as the reason why they considered the question irrelevant.

The factors were (the lower the mean of the responses, the higher the rating):

1. Location 1.52

2. Cost 2.17

3. High level of service 2.00

4. Catering 2.30

5. Quality of accommodation and facilities 1.65

A Friedman analysis of those 19 records which were complete showed that location and also quality of accommodation were significantly more important than cost or catering. Again, however, all factors were considered important to respondents, who rarely used scale 4 and never answered with a 5.

There was only one significant correlation between the above priorities and actual events held by the organisations (as examined in the previous question). Those in the ‘other events’ category – open days, conferences and promotions – tended to be less interested in location (p < .02 two-tailed); this probably reflects the fact that open days are likely to be held on the organisations’ own premises.

SECTION 3 - COMMUNICATION

To make sure the college keeps you up to date with all the business opportunities please tell us the best way they can communicate with your business.

1. Employer events – eg Business Breakfasts/Lunches

2. Regular newsletter – posted

3. Regular updates by email

4. Other (please specify)

83 of the 84 respondents (98.8%) answered this question.

No respondents expressed any interest in options (a) or (d).

68 of the 83, 81.9% , preferred to receive a newsletter.

25 of them, 30.1%, preferred email.

Of these, only 10 ticked both boxes, so it could be suggested that preferences were strongly in favour of one mode rather than another. A breakdown of vocational preferences, however, showed that no sector was predominantly in favour of email, not even IT. Leisure were divided over the issue, as were performing arts. Almost all other vocations preferred a newsletter, by a large majority.

SECTION 4 - SUPPORTING YOUR LOCAL COLLEGE

Like any community college, C thrives on the support of local people and organisations. If you would like to become involved in the college there are a number of ways you could contribute.

I would be prepared to support C College by:

1. becoming a governor

2. offering work experience opportunities to college students

3. speaking to groups of students about my industry

4. becoming a sponsor

All 84 respondents completed this section of the survey.

There was a trend (not statistically significant) in favour of a relationship between being willing to offer work experience and being known to the college already (on the Connexions database). As some data on the connection with the college is somewhat unclear, this trend should not be dismissed entirely; for the same reasons, precise numbers of ‘known’ organisations are not given in this report. The other survey data, however, suggests that this is not an important issue; for example, would-be sponsors seem to come from the ranks of both the ‘known’ and the ‘unknown’.

No significant relationship could be found between perceived skill gaps and the offers of help. This could be seen as a sign of relative altruism or that other benefits could be seen from contributing than merely meeting skills requirements.

The message that can be taken away from this part of the survey is that a large proportion of organisations are willing to provide work experience, many are prepared to speak to students about their industries and perhaps surprising numbers are willing to work as governors and even act as sponsors. Categories are provided in the above table to enable marketers and academic departments to identify potential benefactors from the vocationally grouped survey sheets.

For completeness, the remainder of the survey form is described:

Please give us your contact details: (BLOCK CAPITALS PLEASE)

Company Name______________________

Address____________________________

_____________________________

_____________________________

Type of business

Tel No

Mobile No

Email

Contact Name

Position in Company

Thank you for taking part in this survey.

The information provided will be used by the college

to develop their provision.

You are likely to be approached in the near future

if you have indicated an interest in the areas mentioned.

(It is presumed here that ‘interest’ refers to the opportunities to support the college.)

Summary

TRAINING

Although a large number of employers claim to offer in-house training, significant numbers use day release, block release and the Modern Apprenticeship scheme. Although, in common with employers in similar surveys, skills shortages are not recognised by the majority, this survey uncovered concentrations of needs within certain occupational sectors.

Customer service was of concern to the retail sector, hotels, financial institutions and leisure centres. IT shortcomings were concentrated in particular within the financial sector, but there was also a more general need. Teamworking was of concern to a minority of respondents, but these were concentrated in the nursery sector.

Reputation of the educational supplier was seen as the most important factor influencing decisions about training staff. None of the other cited factors, however, were seen as trivial. Cost was a bigger factor for those employers who were not sending their staff on Block Release schemes.

LETTING

The most important factors influencing venue choice were location and the quality of the accommodation and facilities. Again, however, all cited factors were considered important.

COMMUNICATION

The study emphatically supports the posted newsletter as the communication method of choice.

SUPPORT FOR THE COLLEGE

Although it should be noted that those people cooperating with the survey – 23% of those organisations contacted - were self-selecting in terms of being well-disposed to the College, the strength of support is very encouraging. 68 organisations (over 80%) would offer work experience; 57 offered to speak to students about their industry; 18 considered acting as governors; 8 offered to be sponsors.

Methodological issues

STATISTICS

Non-parametric methods were used at all times. Essentially, questionnaire scale data is unlikely to cover the range of ‘normal’ human performance required for parametric tests (e.g. T Tests). In fact, even an artificial spread of data was unlikely, given respondents’ tendency to view all decision-making factors as rather important.

It should also be noted that correlational methods, usual in this type of analysis, has a drawback which should be noted. Cause and effect can not be reliably extrapolated. Therefore, conclusions drawn from the analyses are of course the author’s own.

For those interested in the statistical jargon used in this report, the following may be helpful:

p < .02 means that there is less than a 2 in a 100 probability of the result being a matter of chance. The term one-tailed refers to the point that the particular direction of a result could have been predicted; two-tailed means that such a direction could not have been easily predicted and the chances are more rigorously examined (e.g. p < .02 rather than p < .01) R is the strength of the correlational effect (relationship), bigger as the p factor is smaller.

QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN

It is suggested that the use of higher numbers (e.g. 5) to denote low weightings is unintuitive, especially when it comes to analysis and discussing the results.

The use of titles for points on scales (e.g. ‘extremely important’, ‘not very important) could allow some calibration; one person’s 5 can be another’s 4. This would allow for experimentation with wording during pilot questionnaires, making it possible to adjust scale points which are rarely responded to; for example, if the lowest rating ‘not important’ is rarely chosen, ‘somewhat important’ could be used at that end of the scale to achieve a broader use of the scales. This would improve the questionnaire’s internal reliability, which was low in the case of training decision factors although fairly robust in the area of letting factors (measured via Cronbach’s Alpha scores).

INTERPRETATION DECISIONS

Where the occasional respondent has answered with a scale of ‘2-3’, for example, I have used the higher weight (e.g. 2). ‘Maybe’ answers to the support for the College question was taken as a ‘yes’. Ticks and crosses used instead of scaling points were replaced with 2s and 4s on the scales.