Call on women to step up to Skills Challenge
Karren Brady - as managing director of Birmingham City Football Club one of the most high profile women in English football - is calling on women to join a national initiative aimed at giving them opportunities to improve their skills and careers.
Spearheading the second phase of the Women & Work Project which was launched last year by Gordon Brown as Chancellor, Karren is urging women workers to participate in a multi-million pound initiative to help them secure better training and support to fulfil their potential.
The project, which is being delivered by Sector Skills Councils, covers nine sectors where there are skills shortages and where women are under-represented and cleaning has been identified as a key priority. The strand of the project which is tailored for the cleaning industry is testing new recruitment and career opportunities for up to 1,000 women and is being run by Asset Skills.
The main aim of the scheme is to target women in low skilled/low paid jobs and give them the skills, confidence and support they need to progress. The scheme will also target women returning to work and offering them more challenging and rewarding career opportunities.
Commenting on the scheme Karren said: "There has been progress since I started out but the glass ceiling still exists for women in the UK - only 33% of managers and senior officials in business and the public sector are female. But women are the hidden asset in ambitious companies looking to increase productivity. Working with Sector Skills Councils to unlock the potential of women in the labour market could be worth between £15 and £23 billion to the UK economy."
The project provides support in the form of grants for up to 90% of the total training cost with the range and level of training split across three areas:
* Enhance literacy and numeracy skills of women within cleaning
* Provide a focussed skills needs analysis and facilitate training to enable women to access team leader and management roles
* Promote opportunities for access into management positions
The scheme has been designed to make it easy for employers to access training for their staff and Asset Skills has recruited a dedicated team of specialist project advisers to deliver the scheme and ensure that employers who take part are fully supported through the process and are satisfied with the level of training achieved.
Asset Skills Project Manager Carol Shilito comments: "We are confident that through this scheme we can train and upskill women within the industry and promote clearly defined career pathways into supervisory and management positions."
Organised in five straightforward steps from the initial discussion with an employer, through to developing a learning plan, confirmation of grant and training, the project is due to run until 31st March 2008. For further information, or to register your interest in the Women and Work project:
T: Jenny Drew on 01604 824126
20th September 2007