Accelerated Ambitions 
A Comprehensive Plan for Boosting Productivity

Matching Local Jobs to Talent, Enhancing Employability and Skills, plus the power of personal coaching
to make it all happen 

Accelerated Ambitions - A Comprehensive, yet Customisable Plan to Boost Productivity

Local businesses struggling to get the top talent they need... Young people eager to secure high-quality jobs... The requirement for modern skills, competence and expertise... These challenges are all too common and much is being done to alleviate them. But what if they could be tackled in a more efficient, joined up way? What if they could be tackled with a comprehensive plan that draws on a variety of proven ideas that work, yet with the flexibility to let innovation, local knowledge great ideas thrive?
 
With Accelerated Ambitions below, the basis of just such a plan is set out. Ideas here are open to being further developed, localised and customised to produce practical answers that work for people, businesses and the local economy. Ideally, the intention is then to develop and refine the plan, before proactively rolling it out as a managed scheme, initially in a region. It then has the possibility to be adopted in different locations, learning lessons and adapting.

Along side this, below we explore the traditional drivers of higher productivity, to further facilitate and make some of the ideas we mention a reality for small business and for individuals. These include technology-enabled productivity improvements (including software, automation and capital equipment), operational and process improvements, and investment in human capital (including up-skilling, retraining and leadership and management skills)

Funding and collaboration suggestions are welcome in facilitating this vision. As part of this exciting journey, we welcome your views - why not post your comments using the box at the foot of this page. We look forward to hearing from you...

Mark Lynch
Director and Founder, Advice Manufacturing

Qualifications / Training [Detail to Follow]

A Structured Vocational Route into High Paid Professional Work ... 
(... and a Robust and Respected Alternative to the Academic path to Employment)

For too long vocational routes into the world of work have  regarded as the poor relation to well trodden academic paths. Accelerated Ambitions provides an alternative vision; one where young people have a well structured alternative, built around both the skills and the knowledge modern employers are crying out for. Crucially, it offers more, in so much as a flexible personalised service where coaching and individual guidance compliments the industrial and commercial needs of local and regional employers. 

Local Application... Global Relevance... 

Note: Accelerated Ambitions periodically quotes ideas and examples from the UK. However, the challenges and solutions are global. Importantly, the plan is deliberately customisable where local, regional and international equivalents can be included to provide answers for people, businesses and local economies wherever you are.

Productivity Image 

Routes to Improved Productivity ... 
(How individuals and businesses can be more productive, by working smarter, not harder)

Investment in Management and Leadership Skills particularly for SMEs. 

Equipping SME directors and managers with cutting edge management practices - the business acumen, tools and commercial best-practice expertise to grow their company’s in the most efficient manner. The impact of the decision making, strategies, approaches, plans, delegated actions and specific activities of small business senior managers, will clearly have a huge impact on how a small business functions and by extension how productive it is. What's more, the behaviours, personal style and communication methods of bosses will also either help or hinder the drive for better productivity.

How willing are they to innovate, adapt and change? Do they encourage modernisation and the adoption of technologies and are they prepared to make the necessary investment to make them a reality? How do new ideas and management practices sit alongside their gut instinct? All these factors will influence productivity. But of course it's not just company bosses and managers who influence productivity - all workers do. Team leaders, operatives and support staff can all innovate and look for better, quicker, more productive ways of doing things, and should be encouraged to do so. 

Investment in the leadership and management practices to boost productivity can take a range of forms. Crucially, there are clearly personal employability benefits, as well as commercial advantages (which helps when justifying any outlay). 

Leadership and management knowledge can be acquired in a range of ways. Case studies relevant to your industry can be researched online, with short videos, reports and slide decks. Professional institutions specialising in management topics also exist, where both a tailored approach can be accessed, as well as general accreditations and qualifications. Plenty of online management and leadership courses are available, as are short courses where you can learn in a cohort and gain from others' experiences. Qualifications and accreditations also exist in leadership and management topics, again tailored and customised to industry sectors. Masters degrees and MBAs are popular with senior managers and small company bosses, who aim to think more strategically and professionalise their decision making, as a means to grow their businesses.

All these options are worth considering as part of a person development plan that can really drive productivity improvements in SMEs. Additionally, many are offered as flexible study options to fit around your existing commitments

Key leadership and management skills required to drive productivity improvements are featured below

• Engineering Leadership
• People Management
• Networking
• Public Speaking
• Project Management

Technology, Software and Digitally Enabled Productivity Improvements [MORE DETAIL TO FOLLOW]

Operations Management Productivity Improvements [MORE DETAIL TO FOLLOW]

Capital Equipment Investment Productivity Improvements [MORE DETAIL TO FOLLOW]

Employee skills and expertise  [MORE DETAIL TO FOLLOW]

Infrastructure Improvements  [MORE DETAIL TO FOLLOW]