Realise your goals
This section provides an opportunity to review your work with employers:
- What you are already doing?
- What do you want to achieve?
- How will you get there?
- Are you making the most of help available from others?
- Are you taking a strategic view?
As well as helping you identify possible gaps, it will suggest some ways that you can develop this aspect of your role and also link you to useful resources in this employer engagement guide.
The self assessment is also available to download as a paper version.
Realise Your Goals
Instructions
The questionnaire has five sections, each with a series of questions. The purpose is to evaluate where you are already engaging effectively and highlight areas for further work. Each section links to you resources in this guide for information, examples of activities and advice.
To give an indication of present performance in this area rate yourself as follows:
- 1 - Needs improvement
- 2 - Reasonably satisfied
- 3 - Very satisfied
Section One: What are you doing already?
- I know what skills and experience my students will need to be successful when they graduate
- I understand the job market into which my students will graduate
- I have a network of employers contacts who I can call on to work with me
- I regularly seek advice and feedback from employers / professional bodies and use this to keep my programme up to date and relevant
- I provide opportunities for my students to gain relevant work experience
- I provide opportunities for my students to meet employers
- Students on my programme are actively encouraged to reflect on their personal and career development, identifying areas for future actions
- I ensure that employers providing work placements are aware of, and able to offer the amount of staff time needed for effective supervision and support of my students on the job
- I provide employers with real examples of benefits that others have gained from working with me and my institution
Section Two: What do you want to achieve?
- A range of businesses involved in the design and delivery of my programme
- Past graduates involved in the design and delivery of my programme
- To produce graduates with the skills that employers need
- My students to undertake work placements which meet the needs of employers and my students
- Employers to recognise the benefits of working with my programme
- To have a clear understanding of the benefits which employers can gain from working with me and my students
- My students to gain work experience
- Engage my students in actively reflecting on their personal and career development and to give them the tools to do this
- To have a network of key employers in my discipline area
- Employers to work with my students to help raise their confidence, skills and aspirations
Section Three: How will you get there?
- I will work with colleagues in my institution to promote to business the benefits of working with us
- I will make use of up-to-date labour market information to help me understand where my graduates might work
- I will identify prospective business partners
- I am able to uncover hidden opportunities, or create new ones for myself
- I have enough stamina not to be deterred when employers are difficult to engage
- I treat businesses as individuals with different needs
- I receive new business referalls from others in my institution
- I allow sufficient time for engageing businesses
- It is easy for businesses to contact me through the information provided by my institution
- I have an entrepreneurial approach to working with business
- I work with business intermediaries to help me make new contacts
Section Four: Are you making the most of the available help?
- I am clear about why I engage with businesses and what we can gain from each other
- I know which employers I want to work with and why
- I allow time to keep in contact with employers
- I know who in my institution can help me to extend my employer contacts
- I am skilled in networking in order to gain the support of others and know how to communicate with employers in my professional area
- I am clear on the skills which my students will need to success in their future career
- I know what past graduates from my programme are doing
- I know what funding is available to encourage businesses to work with me
- The culture on my programme is compatible with employers in my professional area
- I find working with businesses rewarding and enjoy this aspect of my role
Section Five: Taking a strategic approach
- I have a clear strategy for engaging with business
- I have a flexible approach which enables me to juggle the needs of by business, my institution and those of my students
- I ensure that the work-based learning on my programme is based on business demand
- Businesses receive regular marketing from my institution
- I have reviewed my procedures so that only essential work is needed for business engagement activities
- I contact employers periodically to find out their projected requirements for future recruitment needs, skills needs and occupational areas
- I respond quickly to business enquiries
- I ensure that employers are regularly and actively involved in ensuring my programme is up to date and relevant
- I maintain an up to date record of my business contacts
- I seek to widen the base of employer support by using existing employer contacts and by networking with other agencies
