Training is a vital part of the arts industry and through it, the arts can directly engage with the emerging national drive to raise skill levels, claims Brian Kelly.
Training and skills (increasingly known as workforce development) are like virtue; everybody is in favour of them at least in theory. Practice, however, can look very different. In the world of arts and entertainment, this gap between theory and practice is compounded by the widespread belief that the sector is somehow different. There is a continuing perception that in the arts and entertainment labour market (the demand for workers and the supply of workers) there exists an excess of available, competent applicants compared to the work available for them to perform. This has two effects: first, many employers feel no need to offer premium wages to attract new staff; second, where employers believe that there is a ready supply of trained potential employees outside, they can frequently fail to pay sufficient attention to the development of those staff inside! The result is a vital economic sector where business strategies rely on low wages and poor conditions, including a lack of investment in training.
However, in stark contradiction to this perception, the reality is that there are ongoing skill shortages in many areas, including technical workers. The Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU) represents all grades of non-performing workers in theatre, film and TV. One of BECTU’s functions as a major specialist trade union for the sector is to point out the contradictions between perception and reality. The failure to invest in people and skills undermines the vibrancy, creativity and profitability of the whole sector. BECTU is not just making noises off; we are getting involved with like-minded individuals and employers to change things for the better.
Who to train?
Arts and entertainment, like any other business sector, prospers from the talent and skills of those it employs: all those it employs. Research shows that access to training is closely related to status at work, and that those who have qualifications and status get trained while those without them are bypassed and get left further behind.
So whom should we train? For BECTU the answer is straightforward. Production workers, performers, managers, technicians, administrators, cleaners and caterers; front of house or back of house; everyone. Full-timers, part-timers, casuals and permanent staff, freelancers, everyone. Graduates, professionals, people with no qualifications, everyone.
This is not political correctness gone mad. This sector depends upon teamwork and trust and this must mean that everyone participates in workforce development. The government presented a mass of evidence in its National Skills Strategy in 2003 to demonstrate that learning is a bottom line investment for employers. It has direct, tangible and measurable benefits. Meanwhile, for individuals, learning is empowering wherever you work and whatever your qualifications. Workforce development is an investment and not a cost!
What training?
A recent report for the National Institute for Adult and Continuing Education concluded that ‘on the job’ training was the most valuable and best quality. In Germany, probably the best trained country in the world, they combine on the job learning with ‘off the job’ generic training at colleges. Workers learn not just to be competent and how to do straightforward tasks; they also learn why it is done that way and the alternatives. They are taught to reflect and criticise constructively, and they learn to think and imagine new ways of doing established tasks. The arts and entertainment sector must aim just as high.
The central tasks of raising skills levels and investing in workforce development are:
• Measure what people know and can do
• Find a form of accreditation/ qualification that will recognise the skills people already have. The accreditation/qualification must be widely recognised and valued by both employers and individuals
• Arrange for everyone to enhance their existing skills by engaging in structured learning that leads to qualifications
• Combine on the job learning with off the job provision with partner educational institutions
• Manage effectively to utilise fully the skills of the people who work in the industry
• Prepare workers to engage with new developments and new technology.
Leading the process
The new Sector Skills Council for the Cultural and Creative Industries has been given a lead role by the government to raise skills levels in the arts and entertainment sector, but workforce development is a partnership issue that involves everyone and there are plenty of partners in the industry. This means that everyone has to take responsibility. As a union with deep involvement in training issues, BECTU supports many existing training initiatives and will continue to do so. However, now is the time for a decisive step-change in all our attitudes – it is time to start raising and investing substantial resources in the people in the arts.
Once again these are not just noises off. BECTU has a network of Union Learning Reps (ULRs) ready to assist in raising training and skills issues. The TOSCA project, operating within a small number of theatres, has co-ordinated the work of ULRs to the benefit of entire organisations. The role of ULRs has been welcomed recently by both the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and also the government-supported Learning and Skills Research Centre. Where they are encouraged and involved they support the creation of a workplace learning culture and bring new learning opportunities to previously excluded groups of workers.
The sector has to change and that will demand real leadership. However, leading a process of change takes place at a number of levels and not just at the top! Leaders can be found in different places and go by different names, but genuine partnership that really empowers all employees is the key to making it happen. Partnership between all stakeholders should involve workers and their unions in planning, developing and delivering world-class workforce development. This will give the process credibility in an industry low on trust and high on cynicism after many years of low investment in education and training.
Brian Kelly is Training Officer at BECTU. t: 020 7346 0900; e: info@bectu.org.uk;
w: http://www.bectu.org.uk