Focus on: workplace skills and productivity
Explore our resources to help you plug the skills gap and drive engagement in the workplace
Explore our resources to help you plug the skills gap and drive engagement in the workplace
The world of work is evolving rapidly, with technological advancements, shifting employee expectations, and widening skills gaps presenting constant challenges. As a people professional, you’re at the forefront of tackling these issues—ensuring teams are equipped, engaged, and ready for the future.
Addressing skills gaps and adapting to change can feel daunting. Without the right strategies, teams risk burnout, disengagement, and falling behind the demands of an ever-changing world of work. The need to develop adaptable, skilled, and motivated employees has never been greater.
Your expertise as an HR or L&D professional makes you uniquely positioned to lead this charge. By assessing team strengths, identifying development needs, and enabling flexible working arrangements, you can create an environment that boosts engagement and productivity. Strategic planning for future skills needs will also ensure your organisation remains competitive and prepared for what lies ahead.
Our ‘Focus on’ pages make it easy to access our practical resources and insights - such as guides on workforce development, or reports on UK skills policies like the Apprenticeship Guarantee – for help making informed decisions and shape impactful strategies. By staying informed and proactive, you can continue to build resilient, future-ready teams that thrive in an ever-changing world of work.
Understand what we mean by skills in the workplace, UK skill levels and the government’s skills policy.
Read the factsheet
Understand how to build an effective approach to performance management, including the tools that can support it.
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We discuss how L&D teams can create value and impact and improve performance through focusing on skills development
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We discuss how L&D teams can engage with new technologies such as generative AI to create impact and improve performance.
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The CIPD examines the state of innovation in the UK and its connection with productivity to inform policy-making and investment.
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Discover our insights into productivity and people management practices.
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Analysis of the current UK Apprenticeship Levy and policy recommendations for how it can be adapted to provide a better apprenticeships system and workforce training support.
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We explore the changes needed to develop a more progressive policy on the UK’s productivity, growth and industrial strategy.
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An analysis of the effectiveness of the skills system and whether it meets current and future needs.
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UK-wide pilot programme will put CIPD members’ expertise in the spotlight and could pave the way for more funding to help SMEs access vital support.
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We examine the changes the youth labour market has undergone over the last two decades and call on the UK Government to increase support to help young people into quality work.
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Using and deploying people’s skills effectively in the workplace. This guide offers advice on assessing skills, planning skills development and deploying and redeploying staff.
Explore the guide
Find out how traineeships, T Levels and apprenticeships can help young people succeed in your organisation
Explore the guide
Our research explores individual and team performance, how it can be measured, and which models can be used to evaluate it
Read our review
Our research explores the factors that make feedback effective in improving performance and how this can be put into practice by people professionals
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Explore the latest research on how to create a positive environment to build and nurture effective teams
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Understand what apprenticeships are, their role in workforce development, and the current UK policy context.
Read the factsheet
Research examines how the way workers are matched to jobs can have important implications for current and future productivity for their organisations.
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Research examines how organisations can use redeployments to properly manage and grow knowledge sharing across their business and wider networks.
Explore the research
CIPD members get an exclusive 15% discount on learning courses.
