Skills gaps are real, but capability gaps run deeper

Prof Elaine Limond, vice-dean of Business School at University College Birmingham, said: “As vice-dean of the Business School at University College Birmingham (UCB) and employability and skills leadership board member for the Centre for the New Midlands (CNM), much of my work is focused on ensuring our teaching and learning experience not only equips our graduates for life in the working world, but crucially, also sets our graduates on a path to success by being able to offer the skills, experience and insight that employers tell us they need.

“At a recent CNM ‘Skills to Success’ roundtable event, what emerged was not a shortage of ideas or goodwill, but a shared frustration that too much effort still fails to translate into lasting, system-level impact.

“Skills gaps persist, the ‘usual’ recruitment pipelines are no longer paying off, and repeated recruitment cycles are costly and time-consuming.

“Youth unemployment remains stubbornly high, but well-intended businesses are still not sure how to make an impact.

“Work experience is consistently cited as one of the most effective interventions, yet it remains difficult to scale without placing additional pressure on already stretched teams.

“At the same time, the wider skills system continues to feel fragmented, shaped by short policy cycles and a lack of funding.

“What struck me most, however, was that these are not just skills problems – they are capability problems, and, to my mind, at the centre of those capability gaps sits leadership.

“The event also served as a reminder that education providers, including business schools, need to be honest about their own role.

“Employers want graduates who can operate in ambiguity, communicate clearly and make decisions with incomplete information; we all recognise that ‘human-centric’, or soft skills, have got even harder. They do not want rhetoric, frameworks or ever‑longer inductions to compensate for gaps elsewhere.

“My extended blog for the CNM argues that today, leadership is a productivity issue rather than a developmental “nice to have”.

“I go on to outline how UCB has responded to this reality, recognises that there is plenty of encouraging practice across the region, and also asks how activity can be coordinated to create a system that works.

“If we are serious about skills, we must be serious about leadership, not as a programme added at the end, but as a practice that runs through the whole system and continues throughout our careers.”