Technical training: imperative or option?

Technician training has taken a backseat in recent years, HEaTED aims to use the wealth of experience of those currently in the job to train the next generation

The current recession has prompted a national interest in the training and development of technical personnel as employers face a workforce with insufficient skills at the intermediate technician, associate professional and skilled occupation levels which are critical to many UK industries. Three key factors are applicable to our science and technology practical infrastructure, with potential implications for the commercial and public sectors in the UK: the context; the evidence; and the outcome – a development model in UK universities.

This has been taken up by senior political commentators. In his foreword to last November’s Skills for Growth whitepaper, Lord Peter Mandelson, former secretary of state for Business, Innovation and Skills said: “The UK’s skills base still has notable weaknesses in key areas, especially for intermediate skills.” The Skills for Growth whitepaper suggests that “skills policy must be based on twin objectives: wider and more flexible access to skills training at every level, including through more opportunities to study part-time; and an even greater focus on the skills required for the modern world of work”.

Lord Kenneth Baker commented in a BBC Radio 4 Today programme interview that we need a mass of technicians, right up to engineers. He described social attitudes to people in such work as ‘infra dig’, the oily rag syndrome. Set in the context of the recession and one of our trading competitors, he comments that Germany doesn’t make this mistake – technical education is held in high esteem, and this is one of the reasons why Germany is such a great engineering and technological country.

Speaking at the "The Value of the Engineering Technician to Business" conference in March, Lord Sainsbury defined the overarching issue: “I have long believed that a major weakness of the UK economy was its lack of a high quality education and training route for technicians.” He referred to the crucial link between technicians and intermediate skills and their major impact on UK productivity.

UK universities undertook detailed research to provide data on trends affecting technical services, and the technical and specialist staff that play a vital and direct role in teaching and research. What followed can serve as a model strategy for addressing the problems that were highlighted by HE technicians themselves.

Higher Education and Technical Education (HEaTED) – a Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) funded a project – aims to examine technical services in the HE sector, and to propose and provide practicable support and to develop its 30,000 technical staff. It undertook a detailed national survey of technical staff in 2006, which was cross-referenced with a second survey carried out in March 2010. The response in both cases was the biggest in UK university history.

The principle findings show there is: An on-going erosion of technical specialist skills; inadequate relevant training and professional development across the sector; a need to address professional accreditation and continued professional development (CPD); no supporting career infrastructure; and an ageing workforce, coupled with little or no succession planning.

The HEaTED steering group recognised that these issues are closely linked and that the bedrock concern to be addressed was the burgeoning gap in the provision of training and development: filling this was the priority undertaking.

The surveys enabled the task to be defined, albeit within the resource constraints that are widely evident in the provision of technical training for workers in laboratories or research and teaching workshops.

A dedicated group – drawn from technical, research, technical resource management and training and development professional backgrounds – has taken forward the responses from the HEaTED surveys. This team created a sound working and business relationship with the Institute of Science and Technology as a base for its professional activities. 

Over 60 UK universities supported the HEaTED project by subscription, the cost of which is based on the number of technical and allied staff appointed in the institution. The immediate task was to decide what was needed and feasible, in particular the provision of specialised training and development opportunities. In summary these are defined as: the means to maintain and develop technical and specialist skills; quality assured CPD; an ambitious system of networking to encourage professional collaboration; and other membership services (telephone advice and support, support with needs analysis, advice and guidance).

Defining the ‘what to do’ part of the task was relatively straightforward. The more problematic issue is how to carry it out.

Responses to both the surveys had spelled out a nationwide growing shortage in the provision of training for people whose day-to-day responsibilities included work in labs, workshops, specialist analytical services, management of technical resources and so on. The reasons for this were largely cost (technical and science practical training is expensive as compared with that for soft skills). There is also the negative element in the indifferent cultural attitudes described by Lords Mandelson, Baker et al.

To counter this, the project team focussed on a simple idea: there is a wealth of technical skills and experience among the 30,000 technical and allied staff working throughout the UK university sector – would it be possible to use this as a source of training, and if so how?

The 2006 survey indicated willingness among the respondents to take part in training events. The inevitable consequence of this can be seen on the HEaTED website (http://www.heated.ac.uk/home.php):

“HEaTED is an agenda for change in the way the HE sector supports and develops its 30,000 technical staff. Its core mission is to gain their direct involvement in the project as users and, crucially, as providers. If HEaTED succeeds, technicians and allied staff will be part of the solution as to filling the burgeoning gap in the provision of appropriate technical training and personal development.

It follows that HEaTED’s vision and commitment is to deliver tools and opportunities that not only meet the professional needs of technical staff, but also support the requirements of UK HEI's, and the constantly changing education sector.
Currently, HEaTED provides the means that enable UK HE technicians to meet and to network as a community for development projects. It can represent technical and specialist staff within HEIs on a national platform, paving the way for professional recognition within the sector.”

The mission has turned out to be a working action plan that incorporates: a rapidly developing programme of courses; bespoke courses and materials for training technical trainers; an outline networking plan for discussion forums designed to put specialists in touch with each other; regular newsletters to keep people engaged; opportunities to meet, regionally and nationally; IST CPD Award for Technical Specialists; and materials and events promoting career planning.

The enabling force that will facilitate this is technical and specialist staff involvement. If this is to be sustained, then they will have to perceive a direct benefit for themselves. Perhaps the most decisive driver will be the realisation that there is a correlation between personal skills development and visible involvement in delivering training, and job security.