Today, at its Annual Symposium, The 5% Club has announced the award of Bronze, Silver and Gold Membership to 129 members who participated in its accredited membership scheme, the Employer Audit.
One hundred and seven members met the Gold Standard which recognises those who have exceeded 5% of their workforce in “earn and learn” schemes – Apprenticeships, Graduate Schemes, and Sponsored Students. Fourteen members were awarded Silver membership and eight the Bronze level.
The Employer Audit is an annual recognition scheme and provides participants with:
- Official accreditation of their commitment to providing ‘earn and learn’ opportunities for their employees;
- Enhanced logo – to reflect that they have achieved the prestigious Bronze, Silver or Gold membership;
- A confidential research report analysing the organisation’s ‘earn and learn’ data – benchmarked with other employers so that all participants can learn from each other.
Today’s Symposium was attended by over 200 members of The Club and included a presentation of the key findings by Martin Birchall, the Audit Research Director (and Managing Director of Highfliers), as seen through the lens of the 85 Larger Employers as well as that of the 44 SME participants. Headlines included:
- Larger Employer participants were averaging 9% of their workforce on earn and learn schemes.
- The SMEs were performing better with an average of 15%.
- Both the larger employers and SMEs were looking to grow their apprenticeship and graduate schemes.
These outstanding 129 employers will be further recognised at The Club’s Celebratory Event to be held in the Palace of Westminster in late November.
Mark Cameron OBE, Chief Executive at The 5% Club said,
“I am delighted that in year two of our Employer Audit recognition scheme, we have so many members being recognised for their commitment to providing ‘earn and learn’ opportunities for their employees.
In these challenging times, it is hugely encouraging to see so many members achieve the Gold level of membership and to have so many SMEs participating – they are really making a difference to the lives of their workplace learners providing them with the skills and experience needed for successful careers, and to contribute positively to much needed economic recovery and growth.
The 5% Club Employer Audit 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. As always, I applaud their commitment and efforts.”
Gill Cronin, Director of Operations at The 5% Club said,
“The Audit results and the impressive number of members awarded Bronze, Silver and Gold demonstrates that they are the crème de la crème of employers working hard to provide skills and opportunities for so many of their employees.”
