We’ve written elsewhere about the predictability of some press stories concerning students. Every year in August, the UK press rely on exam results to fill a couple of days pages. Are exams easier? Are students less able? The inference being that it was so much harder in “the old days” and so on.
A few years ago, there was an interesting development in the months following the August coverage. Bosses at 25 leading UK retailers signed an open letter to the Times noting a massive skills gap among school leavers and graduates. One report of this letter can be seen at: http://retailgazette.co.uk/articles/12012-retail-bosses-to-combat-skills-gap
We don’t really want to be drawn into a political debate, but I suspect it’s natural that business people used to measuring returns on investment, will be concerned if the nation’s education budget still doesn’t prepare their workforce for basic numerical and literacy tasks.
This is obviously a problem for lots of different businesses, as the following article illustrates: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/51188c9a-cd84-11df-9c82-00144feab49a.html#axzz15eLwnIkiÂ
A part of what we hope to acheive with Bizenko is this idea that the “simple things” that everyone should know about business can be passed down through the Bizenko community. Â By making business stories the focus of any communication on the website, we hope to both promote the contributor, and educate the “viewer” about the value and importance of business skills and expertise.Â
How can a business anecdote resolve under-performing literacy and numeracy? (I hear some of you ask!?)
Simple. If a company is smart enough to demonstrate how poor numeracy affects a business, if they can illustrate how they might measure the impact of a mis-spelled letter, then they can encourage a change in behaviour and attitude, and prove themeselves to be highly competent commercial minds, worthy of new business enquiries. If someone understands a problem, they can resolve it easily.
These retailers can do their bit by promising new apprenticeships, the rest of us can do our bit by sharing our wisdom on a website like Bizenko. (Please email us at: contact@bizenko.com to learn more)
