EMPLOYER ENGAGEMENT THE COMMONWEALTH CLUB 13 MAY 2009
EMPLOYER ENGAGEMENT THE COMMONWEALTH CLUB 13 MAY 2009 How far should universities go to meet the needs of employers? Organised by: In partnership with: Sponsored by:
Colin Monk Brighton University Organised by: In partnership with: Sponsored by:
Employer Engagement “How can universities help small businesses survive the recession and reposition for the upturn? ” 13 May 2009 Colin Monk Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Business and Marketing) University of Brighton
Profit. Net (Profit through Networks) Origin - Industrial clusters - Hastings - HEFCE What is it - Peer to peer support - Groups of 15 decision makers External facilitation University project manager Meet ½ day each month 15 months
Meeting schedule • Business Planning – each company presents plan • Action Learning – explore business issues • Creativity Workshop – new information from external experts, practitioners
Results • • • Turnover + 13%; profits 19% (195/300 organisations) 24 new business start-ups New products (78%); new services (92%) 89% members increased business strategy skills 76% members increased problem solving 72% members developed new innovation strategies
Figure 1. Comparing business performance, 2006 -07 2006 to 2007 7. 7% Profit (BT) 18. 9% Wage costs 4. 6% 14. 5% 12. 0% Turnover 14. 1% 0% 10% 20% Per cent change Sussex firms Profit. Net firms Sussex firms (N) = Turnover and Wages (1375); Profit (1441) Profit. Net firms (N) = Turnover (48); Wages (31); Profit (40) 30%
Figure 2. Comparing business performance, 2007 -08 2007 to 2008 9. 0% Profit (BT) -15. 2% 25. 0% Wage costs -0. 1% 18. 7% Turnover -20% -10% 3. 2% 0% 10% Per cent change Sussex firms 20% Profit. Net firms Sussex firms (N) = Turnover and Profit (401); Wages (402) Profit. Net firms (N) = Turnover (39); Wages (28); Profit (33) 30%
University impact • • 17% increase in university collaboration New short courses identified, well supported 6/11 new KTP programmes in 07/08 Beyond Profit. Net ….
Current situation • 10 groups; 150 companies • Key features Ø positive outlook Ø pro-active approach Ø focus on innovation Ø larger SMEs report high team morale Ø starting to plan for end of downturn
What Profit. Net is doing • • Building, maintaining peer to peer support Process makes SMEs confront issues Take close look at business model Supporting innovation • In summary; managing rather than reacting
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