1 Executive Summary
Introduction
1.1.1 The Institute of Local Government Studies (Inlogov) and BMG Research
were commissioned in Spring 2006 by the UK Workforce Hub to undertake a
pilot and feasibility study looking at skills gaps and skills shortages in the
Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS).
1.1.2 The aim of the proposed first stage of the research for the UK Workforce
Hub was to conduct an evidence review and develop a suitable
methodology through which to examine the nature, scope, and impact, of
skills shortages in the paid and unpaid workforce of the Voluntary and
Community Sector (VCS).
1.1.3 : The programme of work included the following key elements
Conducting an evidence review exploring previous research in to skills
gaps and skills shortages in the UK voluntary and community sector
(both regionally and nationally)
Selecting a solid sampling frame for the Phase Two national study,
including testing the feasibility and impact of a number of different
sampling strategies on the profile of the selected sample
Developing and piloting a questionnaire for the Phase Two national
study
Trends affecting the VCS workforce
1.1.4 The workforce in the VCS comprises two main groups: paid staff and
volunteers. Trustees form a special group within this description, as they are
the people entrusted with the governance of the organisation, which entails
leadership and overseeing that the organisation is run effectively and in
compliance with relevant legislation. The distinction between the different
people involved in Voluntary and Community Organisations (VCOs) is not
always clear, often the boundaries between trustees, volunteers, paid staff
and beneficiaries are blurred.
1.1.5 VCOs are in need of general managerial skills such as strategic
management, project management, planning, change management,
budgeting, ethics, equal opportunities, IT, contract management,
performance and quality management, accounting and financial reporting,
and relationships with other organisations and government. Although an
organisation’s mission is often quoted as a driver for staff, low wages are
identified as a key reason for difficulties with staff retention, and pay-for-
performance schemes have emerged as one possible way of dealing with
this.
1.1.6 Skills that are specific to the VCS include communication with different
stakeholders, such as board members/trustees, beneficiaries and officials
from various levels of government as well as partners from the private
sector. Due the sector’s heavy reliance on voluntary income, fundraising is a
major function for most organisations. Another challenge for the VCS is to
find and keep volunteers, especially volunteers with the right skills. Both
fundraising and volunteer recruitment and retention require specialist skills
in the sector.
1.1.7 When recruiting board members VCOs need to balance their need for
specialist skills with the personal experience needed in the leadership of the
organisation. . The mixture of voluntary and paid staff within VCOs, and
particularly the blurring of boundaries that often exists between these
groups, may lead to tensions when interests diverge.
Existing research on the VCS workforce
1.1.8 The National Employers Skills Survey (NESS) is the main survey on skills
and workforce issues that is available in the UK. The survey questions are
not specifically aimed at the VCS workforce, thereby making the data not as
informative as for other sectors. Although the NESS comprises around
3,000 organisations that have identified themselves as ‘voluntary sector’,
prior research has not made extensive use of the availability of the NESS
data. The following definitions from the NESS were adopted for this project.
Skills shortages refer to a lack of skills available in the labour market
from which an organisation recruits its staff, and are therefore external
to organisations.
Skills gaps on the other hand are internal, as they are shortcomings in
the proficiency of an organisation’s current workforce.
1.1.9 Regional VCS infrastructure organisations have different approaches to
workforce development, with some developing elaborate strategies based
on a wide variety of sources and consultations, and others being much less
explicit about their strategy but providing training opportunities on various
sector specific issues. A wide range of skills has been identified that need
improving in the VCS workforce. Many of them centre around management
and leadership, such as change management and strategic planning. Other
categories of skills include specialist skills related to the area of work
organisations are involved in, and VCS specific skills such as fundraising.
1.1.10 The only source of information to provide comparative data across different
years, other than the NESS, is the VSNTOs Futureskills 2003, which
provides comparisons with data from a similar survey in 2000. The data from
Phase 2 of the current project will provide further comparative data across
time, both at national and regional levels where data are available.
Questionnaire design and piloting
1.1.11 The first draft of the questionnaire was based on the NESS, but this proved
to be too far removed from the experiences of VCOs. The next step was to
use existing VCS workforce questionnaires as a basis for questionnaire
development. In balancing the need for detailed information from various
stakeholders and practical considerations about the length of the
questionnaire, it was decided between the client and the researchers to
divert from the original brief and focus on paid staff only in this project.
1.1.12 The final draft of the questionnaire was used in cognitive piloting, where a
small number of participants completes the questionnaire in the presence of
a researcher and then discussed this process in detail afterwards. The
cognitive piloting led to improvements to the formatting of the questionnaire
and the adding and/or combining of answer categories to minimise any
confusion.
1.1.13 The survey was then tested in a ‘live’ quantitative pilot, testing both
questionnaire and methodology. Three surveys were completed using
different fieldwork methods :
A postal survey – mailing 150 questionnaires, allowing a completion
period of 2 weeks;
A paper-based telephone survey – using a database of 150 contacts
over a 2 week fieldwork period;
A hybrid postal and telephone survey – mailing a further sample of 150
contacts, allowing a completion period of just under 2 weeks, and then
following up any non-returned questionnaires by telephone, during the
final, third week.
1.1.14 In terms of response rates, the telephone survey yielded the highest
response rate, with 59% of contacts responding to the survey; 23% with paid
staff and 35% with no paid staff. In comparison, 39% of the postal contacts
returned a questionnaire, but a fairly small proportion of these were full
completions [i.e. those with paid staff (9%)].
1.1.15 It is important to conduct fieldwork over a minimum of three weeks, and
ideally four. Often the types of respondent targeted by surveys of this
nature are not office based, and need several telephone calls in order to
contact them. For a similar reason, interviewing should be undertaken
during the evenings/weekends as well as during office hours
Conclusion
1.1.16 The final questionnaire is similar in its approach to other surveys in the
sector. The content is similar as questions on job roles and skills were
based on existing surveys and refined by means of the cognitive piloting.
The approach is similar as previous surveys have also been telephone
based. The sampling frame and method ensure sufficient coverage and
representation of organisations with paid staff to enable grossing up to
population level. Therefore the survey developed in this phase will meet the
objective of providing a national evidence base on skills gaps and shortages
in the UK VCS.