The 2015 General Election will require policy programmes that pass the ‘Manifesto for Work’ test if the economic recovery is to be sustained, according to the professional body for HR and people development.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has published its ‘Manifesto for Work’, a call to the UK’s political parties to focus on the key issues facing employers and the workforce in the run up to the General Election 2015.
CIPD South East Wales has welcomed the report, stressing the need for employers to ‘keep pace’ with the new flexible ways of working to attract and retain the best workers in Wales as a means of attracting more inward investment.
The national report suggests a sustainable recovery and successful future economic performance is dependent upon future governments adopting policies that address fundamental skills and productivity issues, as well as looking at other agendas which will actively shape the future of work.
In the manifesto, the CIPD calls on the Government to:
- Boost productivity and skills utilisation in the labour market – identifying the skills required by today’s employers and how people are managed and developed, with a view to creating the high-performance workplaces the UK needs.
- Take a long-term, people-focused approach to corporate governance – encouraging greater appreciation of how people drive value in organisations, looking at the way employers currently measure the output of their workforce, and focusing on diversity as an important contributor to business success.
- Support opportunities that enable young people to succeed in the labour market by facilitating higher quality careers guidance, incorporating youth enterprise education into the national curriculum and creating more high-quality Apprenticeships.
- Ensure a pensions framework through which workers can build a sustainable retirement – by making sure employers are given continuous support to automatically enrol their workforce into pensions schemes, and providing clear, transparent advice to employees on the saving options available to them.
- Make sure our welfare system works for employers, jobseekers and the low-paid; helping low paid workers keep more of their earnings, and reconsidering the National Insurance Contributions threshold with a view to encouraging more employers to consider increasing hours for their staff.
- Extend the personal tax-free allowance, over time, to take those working full time on the National Minimum Wage out of income tax altogether – allowing the lowest paid in our society to keep more of their earnings, making sure work continues to pay.
- Take a “good practice” approach to employment regulation and policy by supporting the creation of a Workplace Commission, with the aim of helping employers raise standards of people management.
Nerissa Williams, Vice Chair CIPD South East Wales and managing director at Blue Turtle Consultants, says: “We welcome the CIPD’s ‘Manifesto for Work’ running up to the next General Election. The issues addressed are relevant to the particular challenges Wales faces in terms of its economic policy and the businesses that operate here.
“Our labour landscape is changing and employers in Wales need to keep pace with new flexible ways of working in order to attract, retain and develop the right skills and talent for their organisations.
“Issues such as prompting gender diversity at the top of Welsh organisations and supporting opportunities for young people to succeed in moving from education to employment though careers advice and guidance need to be tackled. We also need to improve work incentives to support the economically inactive and develop further ways into sustainable employment from long term unemployed and others facing particular challenges entering the labour market.
“Our economy is growing at a steady rate, but we need to attract more inward investment companies. Wales has huge potential to offer the UK and overseas business markets and we need to be able to demonstrate that we have a skilled and talented workforce to fill these future roles.
“A concerted focus from the next government on building better work and working lives, driven by a new Workplace Commission, can help shape a better and more prosperous future for organisations, current and future employees.”
