Graduate Talent Consultant, Warren Chughtai discusses the challenges businesses face when looking to introduce new skills into their operations, and how companies are not capitalising on the free resources available to them.

When the time comes to expand you may need to upskill your existing employees or get another pair of hands on-board to help you achieve your latest growth objectives. As a manager of a small or medium sized business, it can be difficult to find the precious time to identify the skills you need, search for them and pay the recruit fees needed to find the perfect candidates, that can often be more costly than you would like to spend.

“Three quarters of recruiters expect to see a skills shortage within the sectors they operate”

A recent survey found that three quarters of recruiters expect to see skills shortages within the sectors they operate within increase over the next two years. In a competitive job market and with growing demand, it’s important to be able to find the right talent to grow your business. You need to know exactly what skills you’re looking for in a new employee and there are lots of recruitment services and options to consider, but it can be time consuming and costly to engage with them if you don’t have a clear idea of exactly what you need.

Introducing new solutions

Birmingham City University’s Higher Level Skills Match (HLSM) service is designed to help local SMEs identify the skills they need and find suitable candidates and/or appropriate upskilling opportunities for existing employees. You will receive a dedicated HLSM Account Manager to help you identify the skills your business needs and find you the best solution so you don’t need to be 100% sure of what you want before getting in touch. And what’s more, the HLSM service will not cost you a penny in search or recruitment fees.

“HLSM service can take care of the whole search and recruitment process for you…saving you crucial time, money and resources”

What is Higher Level skills Match?

Birmingham City University’s free HLSM service was created in October 2017 to establish genuine partnerships with the SME community within the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership Region (GBSLEP)and help them find the skills they need, whether that be through recruitment or upskilling. HLSM account managers will give you a personalised service and will work as an extension of your business to help you achieve your skills goals. After performing an accurate skills gap analysis of your current businesses to diagnose any recruitment or talent challenges your business faces, your account manager will be able to recommend the best course of action and begin creating your solution.

Finding upskilling opportunities for your staff

Identifying a gap in your workforce doesn’t always necessarily point straight to recruitment. Birmingham City University’s HLSM team specialises in helping local SMEs upskill through training and development opportunities, such as workshop programmes and courses. As a client of the HLSM service, you and your employees will have access to these upskilling opportunities. You and your team can benefit from the academic knowledge of industry specialists from across the university, enabling you to boost business skills and your potential as a SME.

Finding fresh talent to bring in

Not only a great source of new skills, hiring a graduate is a cost-effective way to bring fresh new ideas and innovation to your growing business. Your HLSM account manager can find the work-ready graduates that match the requirements identified in your skills gap analysis and help you recruit them through your internship, placement and short-term/permanent employment opportunities. Part-funded by the European Social Fund, the HLSM service can take care of the whole search and recruitment process for you, including generating job descriptions, advertising to a wide pool of talent, shortlisting suitable candidates and hosting interviews, saving you crucial time, money and resources.

Would you like to find the skills your SME needs within two weeks?