Delivering equality
August 1st 2007 Karren Brady, the most high profile woman in English football, is calling on women to join a national initiative aimed at giving them opportunities to improve their skills and careers.Working with the Sector Skills Councils,Asset Skills is handling the initiative for the cleaning industry and is testing new recruitment and career opportunities for up to 1000 women Karren Brady, head of Premiership football club, Birmingham City, is urging women workers to participate in a multi million pound initiative to help them secure better training and support to fulfil their potential. She is spearheading the second phase of the Women & Work Project which was launched last year by Gordon Brown as Chancellor. The project which is being delivered by Sector Skills Councils covers nine sectors where there are skills shortages and where women are under-represented and cleaning has been identified as a key priority.The strand of the project which is tailored for the cleaning industry is testing new recruitment and career opportunities for up to 1000 women and is being run by Asset Skills. The main aim of the scheme is to target women in low skilled/low paid jobs and give them the skills, confidence and support they need to progress.The scheme will also target women returning to work and offering them more challenging and rewarding career opportunities. "There has been progress since I started out but the glass ceiling still exists for women in the UK only 33 per cent of managers and senior officials in business and the public sector are female," says Brady. "But women are the hidden asset in ambitious companies looking to increase productivity.Working with Sector Skills Councils to unlock the potential of women in the labour market could be worth between 15 and 23 billion to the UK economy. The project provides support in the form of grants for upto 90% of the total training cost with the range and level of training split across three areas: Enhance literacy and numeracy skills of women within cleaning Provide a focussed skills needs analysis and facilitate training to enable women to access team leader and management roles Promote opportunities for access into management positions "From my experience, you need to enable women to take control of their careers, inspiring them to achieve higher and give them the right tools to succeed," adds Brady. The scheme has been designed to make it easy for employers to access training for their staff and Asset Skills has recruited a dedicated team of specialist project advisers to deliver the scheme and ensure that employers who take part are fully supported through the process and are satisfied with the level of training achieved. "We are confident that through this scheme we can train and upskill women within the industry and promote clearly defined career pathways into supervisory and management positions," says Asset Skills Project Manager Carol Shilito. The project is run in five straightforward steps from the initial discussion with an employer, through to developing a learning plan, confirmation of grant and training. Supporting the scheme,David Lammy,Minister for Skills, says: "We are investing 10m to address the skills gender imbalance. It's about getting a better deal for women and for all of us, as this has the potential to bring a greater rate of return to our economy and to our society as a whole." The project is due to run until 31 March 2008.For further information, or to register your interest in the Women & Work project please email: waw@assetskills.org or contact Jenny Drew on 01604 233336. More articles from Asset Skills: | 
