“Insights from Audit” – benchmarking for continuous Employer Improvement
The 5% Club continues to grow and now has over 860 Employer Members, who between them have a workforce of over 1.6 Million (5% of the UK total) and deliver 100,000 workplace learning opportunities (10% of the UK total).
Its premier Employer Audit recognition scheme continues to grow also, with a forecast that 175 companies will sign-up for 2023. This trail-blazing scheme is easily accessed at subsidised cost and minimal time and allows employers to benchmark their workplace learning offerings against their peers, and then draw valuable insights to plan and deliver improvement.
The 5% Club have captured these insights in a their Employer Audit Summary Report, produced in association with Investors in People.
The key findings of this report are:
Over 140 Companies have completed the Employer Audit, with participation growing from 71 in 2021, to 129 in 2022. The ratio of participation is two-thirds Large Employers to one-third SME Employers.
On average, about 80% of participants achieve Gold Member status, with a slight increase in 2022 compared to 2021.
On average, SME Employers deliver a higher percentage of their workforce in “earn and learn” schemes, at about 14% of the workforce, compared to about 8% in the Larger Employer participants.
More Employers participating offer Apprenticeships than offer Graduate Schemes.
Whilst most employers can provide information on gender, ethnic background, and age, decreasing numbers hold information on family background, sexuality, or disability.
The information held on Graduates bettered that held on Apprentices.
Learning scheme completion rates amongst audit participants were reported as consistently higher than the national average.
When audited, participants were planning to scale back plans for their “earn and learn” schemes in 2023.
Mark Cameron OBE, Chief Executive at The 5% Club said:
“All of us in The 5% Club are delighted with the growing success and enduring relevance of our Employer Audit process and the associated UK Employer “Earn & Learn” Awards. The scheme provides the means for our members to demonstrate and underline the social impact of their actions, as well as their contribution to the future of skills in our economy. I applaud their commitment and efforts.”
Paul Devoy, Chief Executive at Investors in People, said:
“Investing in people has never been more important than it is today – which is why we are excited to support The 5% Club Employer Audit. Employers who join The 5% Club employer audit and achieve their status as a Bronze, Silver or Gold member are leading the way”.
Registration for the Employer Audit is open until the end of June 2023.
