Employer Engagement

No matter which part of the sector an institution operates in, the employer community is becoming an increasingly vital stakeholder group. With FE now providing over half of all vocational qualifications, and with HEIs measured on employment outcomes, to say nothing of the opportunities for research projects or fund raising, engaging with that group must sit at the heart of everyone’s marketing activity.

Providing the skills that companies and the economy needs is becoming an evermore central issue.

The institution’s brand is an enormous source of strength in this context, distinguishing as it does between an FE College or HEI and potentially less intellectually rigorous training companies, for example. It is the recognition of this fact that drives our belief at 360 Education that brand, reputation and engagement are joined at the hip – values lead to behaviour patterns, which lead to reputation, which lead to engagement.

Listening to and understanding their needs, seeking to identify required behaviours and attitudes, are key drivers for us, when working with institutions to develop propositions and communication strategies for engaging with employers across all sectors.

To achieve the required level of quality partnership with a client, you have to be there for them whenever they need you, you have to understand the differing needs of an institution and an employer, the tensions between “education as a means to an end” and “education as an end in itself”, and find the way of communicating coherent messages to this important stakeholder group in line, of course, with the institution’s brand values.

Our colleagues in the 360 Group talk to corporate employers all day, every day, as we help them with their recruitment, education advertising. Between us, we think we know how to bring education and business closer together.