Jersey Employer Group

About Jersey Employer Group

The Jersey Employer Group (JEG) is an independent body which brings together representatives from all industries to help ensure that the Island's workforce is prepared for the jobs of the future.

• the factors that will influence Jersey's jobs market, and how jobs will change, by 2035
• the workstreams that JEG will use to address those changes:
• Future Jersey talent including the development of career pathways across sectors as well as cross sector coaching, mentoring and secondment opportunities
• early careers and school engagement working with Jersey employers and education providers to develop early career paths and opportunities
• diversity and inclusion launching a toolkit and working with Jersey employers to embed robust diversity and inclusion practices to ensure a positive workplace culture

Strategic Workforce Plan (SWP)

JEG's Strategic Workforce Plan (SWP) sets out how automation will radically change or render obsolete 27% of all jobs in Jersey by 2035.

The SWP proposes a two-phased approach to ensure that Jersey's workforce adapts, and Jersey has the mechanisms, resources and personnel in place to retain and attract talent into all industries. There are also wider considerations outlined in the plan such as migration policy, the cost of living, governmental engagement and measurement of progress.

JEG will use the SWP to implement a long-term plan which will involve:

• developing the skills required for Jersey employers' future business needs
• offering an attractive employee proposition to retain local talent and encourage talent from competing jurisdictions to move to Jersey
  
• recommending where Government action is needed
  

  Jersey Employer Group Strategic Workforce Plan

The Strategic Workforce Plan's key findings

The SWP's key findings were:

• automation will radically change jobs across all of the Island's major industries and so Jersey must take decisive steps to build the skills required for these evolving jobs
• education will require interventions in the education system. Work is already underway to embed digital skills in the curriculum, but it will be essential to build capabilities and mindsets that support the broader skills identified in the SWP throughout the education lifecycle, including apprenticeships, graduate schemes, and summer internships.
• shared knowledge is already successfully being used to build skills, and Jersey's educational institutions can learn from counterparts in the UK, and tap into their resources and programmes
• retaining talent will require robust data collection on the students who leave Jersey for higher education. Identifying and highlighting the courses that are attracting students from Jersey, will enable those education opportunities to be offered in Jersey, and so encourage them to stay.
• partnerships between Jersey's major employers and education can be built to help develop future-focussed capabilities
• coaching and mentoring by pairing students with senior colleagues from across Jersey's main industries. This will help them remain connected to a specific industry and the island when they leave Jersey for UK universities
• cross-industry mentoring programmes or secondments will build skills that are stronger in some industries and need to be developed in others. It will also encourage greater career mobility and development of transferrable skills. Each industry can provide alternative career paths by educating colleagues how their skills can be transferred from one industry to another.

The Strategic Workforce Plan's considerations

Data from the last My Jersey survey highlighted concerns about the increasing gap between cost of living and earnings, and the impact it had on many people's quality of life.

The SWP suggests that the Government should:

• manage the tracking and measuring of JEG's initiatives to make sure they are working and driving return on investment for the Island.
• consider the implications of immigration policy on the attractiveness of Jersey as a jurisdiction for talent to come and work in the Island. The current high cost of living could be deterring people from staying in Jersey in comparison to other, competing jurisdictions.
  

Jersey Employer Group Strategic Workforce Plan

Workstream 1: early careers and school engagement

The purpose of this workstream is to work together with Jersey employers, education and government representatives to consider the findings and recommendations of the SWP in relation to young people's career paths, future skills and opportunities.

Workstream 2: future talent (including coaching and mentoring)

The purpose of this workstream is to work alongside Workstream 1 and to collaborate with Jersey employers, education and government representatives to consider the findings and recommendations of the SWP in relation to Jersey's future talent.

Skills assessment survey

The skills assessment survey has been created to help Skills Jersey, Digital Jersey and Highlands College to better inform new professional development programmes. This will help develop islanders skills and provide a more structured progression pathway.

Employee Assessment 

This assessment will help to make sure that courses employees want are more likely to be available. 

Complete the employee assessment online

Employer Assessment 

This assessment will help JEG to better understand the skills gap in Jersey.

Complete the employer assessment online

Diversity and inclusion toolkit

About the working group

The working group will focus on a benchmark approach to diversity and inclusion within the workplace in Jersey. 

The workstream has developed a Diversity and Inclusion toolkit that will be available to all organisations. The toolkit provides the framework to start on, or improve, their diversity and inclusion journey.

Businesses can use the toolkit to attract talent and a more diverse workforce. It will provide guidance to employees and business leaders to put in place robust diversity and inclusion practices to make the workplace better for all.

Diversity and inclusion toolkit

The toolkit has been created to provide Jersey organisations with a free and accessible resource. The toolkit will help you to:

• understand your minimum statutory obligations
• provide guidance on how to exceed these requirements
• improve the culture of your organisation for your employees, job applicants, suppliers, contractors and clients
• make your business a better place to work and a more profitable enterprise 

Benefits of diversity and inclusion in the workplace  

Employee diversity is associated with better business results, including improved financial performance and increased employee retention rates.

People are generally going to have the same ideas and values if they have the same background, education, culture or geographical origin. They are less likely to challenge each other and are more likely to be influenced by the unconscious bias inherent in the community.. This will not lead to balanced or diverse ideas and is ultimately a disadvantage to your business.

Think about how a conversation or idea generation is likely to go if you have a room full of diverse people. There's likely to be far more ideas and different perspectives, views and emotions at play.

The majority of organisations' client bases are diverse. Having a diverse workforce can help to meet the expectations of that client base and improve the offering, value proposition and ultimately the success of the company. If you target the same type of clients all the time, your business growth will be limited. To attract a wider range of clients, show them that your team is diverse and that culturally this is important to you.

Within our Island community it can be difficult to recruit a diverse workforce, especially in smaller industry sectors or within small local businesses. This toolkit will provide the first steps you can take to consider the culture and values you want for a business, whether you are a team of 100, 10 or 1. We can all play our part to promote the right cultures to develop and support diversity and inclusion in our Island.

Toolkit index

 1. Leadership and the board's role

2. Top ten reasons for diversity and inclusion in your business

3. Checklist: where to start

4. Diversity and inclusion roadmap

5. Diversity and inclusion: culture statement

6. Guidance for employees

7. Recruitment: best practice guide

8. Inclusive recruitment guide

9. Eight powerful ways managers can support equality

10. Lean In Jersey: mentoring agreement template

 11. How to include diversity and inclusion in your marketing campaigns

12. Example policies from Jersey Advisory and Conciliation Service (JACS):

• parental leave policy
  
• inclusivity policy

For more information and guidance on local policies, you can contact Jersey Advisory and Conciliation Service (jacs.org.je)

13. Resources for your business:

• 10 benefits of diversity in the workplace image
  
• 30 ways to be inclusive poster
• Culture guidance and calling it out
• IOD Diversity and Inclusion Charter Journey 
• Jersey IOD Diversity and Inclusion checklist
• Things to learn to say campaign image
• Unconscious bias and tips for inclusion
• Diversity and inclusion learning on RBC.com
• gender bias case studies on leanin.org
• woman the workplace on leanin.org
• diversity and inclusion on n2growth.com
• tips for being a leader on venturebeat.com
• Simon Sinek on why diversity matters on YouTube
• the danger of a single story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Novelist
• inclusion, exclusion, illusion and collusion Dr. Helen Turnbull
• the paradox of diversity by Dr. Marylin Sanders Mobley
• cultural difference in business by Valerie Hoeks, founder China Inroads 
• 3 ways to be a better ally in the workplace by Melinda Epler

Help and information

If you need further help or information about diversity and inclusion in the workplace you might want to consider contacting one of the organisations below.

Also, if you are part of an organisation that can offer support contact us on jerseyemployergroup@gov.je and we'll add you to the list.

• Enable Jersey – Life Without Limits
• Eyecan
• Autism Jersey
• dDeaf Partnership Board (gov.je)
• Jersey Employment Trust (jet.co.je)
• Beresford Street Kitchen
• Les Amis
• Jersey Mencap
• DIFERA | Liberate Jersey Liberate Jersey run an employer accreditation scheme called DIFERA that demonstrates to employees, clients and suppliers that your organisation places diversity, inclusion, fairness, equality, respect and acceptance at the heart of what you do.

Getting involved in Jersey Employer Group

If you are part of an organisation that can offer support, email jerseyemployergroup@gov.je.