•You will hear an interview with Susan Gates, Director of Human Resources Policy at Robertson’s, a national chain of supermarket

Man: Perhaps I can begin by asking you why you think it’s important for business leaders to be involved in higher education?
Woman: Well, although most graduates still enter the teaching profession, an increasing number are employed by the business community - this is a major destination for new graduates. So it’s only natural that we should want to have a say in higher education, the courses that are being offered, and so on.
Man: And why do you think the supermarket chain, Robertson’s, needed to be represented on the government committee?
Woman: Well, about 50% of jobs that come onto the market don’t require a specific degree, so they’re known as non-specialist. This area’s made up mostly of the service and retail sectors, with the retail sector alone accounting for 11% of graduate jobs. The high-tech industries, for example, IT and manufacturing, were already represented on the committee, and we thought that the opinions of the non-specialist employer, like Robertson’s, should also be taken into account.
Man: What about the findings of the committee? What was important to you there?
Woman: Well, firstly, that employers are looking for more than a body of knowledge. In today’s world, the knowledge that a student gains has a short life span - it won’t necessarily be relevant in 20 years’ time. The committee recognised that higher education needs to take on board the fact that employers are looking for important, universal skills - in particular, those of communication, numeracy and IT.
Man: So what role do these skills have?
Woman: Well, take numeracy. The sort of people who reach the upper levels of organisations are all highly numerate. They have the ability to work with numbers at a very sophisticated level. So it’s important that people can understand numbers and spot a mistake very, very quickly - even if there are a lot of noughts at the end.
Man: What other findings of the committee were important to you?.
Woman: Another finding was recognising the importance of work experience. I think it’s true to say that graduates with work experience are much more likely to get a job than those without. At Robertson’s we employ 25,000 students throughout the country and we’re looking to increase that. We need people with experience of working with others - this makes a big difference. Oh, and the third important finding was recognising the importance of applied research. One problem is the gap between the discovery of certain innovations and actually putting them into practice. That’s where, as a country, we don’t do as well as some of our competitors. We’ve got a wonderful record for pure research but it isn’t translated into economic growth. That’s where we need to build better links between business and industry, and higher education.
Man: And do you think these findings are equally important for small businesses?
Woman: Yes, even more so. Small businesses don’t have time to train people to the extent that large organisations do. It’s particularly important to them that graduates have the skills to go into the workplace and make a contribution right from the start. I think the key skills that we’ve already talked about, together with work experience, are very helpful in that situation.
Man: And finally, what should the business community and the world of higher education be aiming for in the future?
Woman: We need to work more in partnership and that requires effort, I think, on both sides. Business leaders could invest more time in higher education, for example sitting on higher education councils, collaborating on research. Some of this goes on already, but more links are needed. And while business solutions don’t apply exactly to higher education, we still have a lot to offer in terms of the management of change.
Man: Susan Gates - thank you for coming to the studio to talk to us.