Linkages between business and education

Employers, in cooperation with educators, must ensure that the system responds positively to structural changes in the Canadian economy. New innovative approaches to educate and train employees must be developed in cooperation with the education community. Some roles for employers suggested in the report of the Business Liaison Group of the CLFDB include:

• employer input into the development of curricula focusing on basic skills and workplace needs;
• employer-sponsored cooperative work terms for students (e.g., apprenticeship training);
• employer-initiated presentations on career planning;
• employer award programs for exceptional academic and vocational performance;
• use of employers' facilities for school assignments;
• courses offered by employers and recognized by schools for credit;
• employer cooperation with career counsellors to inform them of changes in the workplace;
• employer support for reward programs for educational excellence (for example, the annual Skills Canada competition).

For an employer, training is not the sole objective. The primary aim is to ensure that the training leads to better organizational performance. To achieve this, owners and managers must take the lead in moving toward a stronger private-sector training effort for the employed workforce.

• Firms should explore the benefits of sectoral training initiatives within an industry.
• For small firms, local training consortia must be developed (e.g., cooperative efforts by firms, assisted by colleges, vocational training institutes, and governments).
• Employers must find innovative ways to encourage governments and public school authorities to adopt higher standards. For example, business together with major public sector employers and interested post-secondary institutions could develop a generic employability test to assess the competencies of high-school graduates in basic literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving skills.