Michael Westman

Following a successful career with BT in Network operations and transformation I am now the founder of Digital INnov8ors Ltd a social enterprise based in the West Midlands.

Our aim is to support young people who are not following the traditional education pathways gain successful employment by providing them with the confidence, self belief, skills and digital tools to make a difference.

In 2018 Digital INnov8ors was named the startup business of the year by the Solihull chamber of commerce.

Digital Innovators is a pre-apprentice training and Flexi-Job Apprentice Agency that supports young people, aged 14 to 24, to develop their essential skills enabling them to successfully transition from education into employment. We do this working with local education providers and directly in the community.

The UK continues to face a skills problem due to the mismatch between the skills employees possess, and those employers need. This has resulted in skills shortages and skills gaps, which are compounded by the need for businesses to improve and have the digital competencies to survive. Several factors contribute to this seemingly perpetual issue:

• Education and training: A lack of investment in education and training, particularly in technical and vocational education, has left a generation of young people without the competencies employers value. 
• Technology evolution: Advances in technology are creating new job roles and increasing the demand for employees with technical and digital skills.
• The digital divide: There are significant disparities in access to digital technologies, particularly among low-income households and inner-city communities, resulting in a lack of skills to use digital technologies effectively.
• Access to digital talent: Employers are struggling to find employees with the right skills, both digital and personal, for their specific needs, and in ensuring that their current workforce has the most up-to-date digital skills.
• Digital Knowledge: Employers may not know what digital skills they are missing. The inability to recruit effectively will result in a workforce who are potential ineffective in addressing an employer’s issues. 

Much is said about diversity and inclusion, and yet if as a young person you are ‘different’, for whatever reason, you may find your educational needs are not being met. The current vanilla approach to education does not suit everyone and isolates Creativity and Innovation which are undervalued competencies. There is a danger that many such young people are left demotivated, and without direction. Self-describing themselves as LOST.

The implications of this problem for economic growth and productivity are significant across the UK, and addressing it requires a coordinated effort. This coordinated effort between employers, educators, and the third sector is needed to release untapped potential, accelerate education and training, attract, and retain skilled employees, and adapt to changing technological, social, and demographic trends. Not doing so will undermine the desire for the UK to become a technology and innovation leader.

In creating Digital Innovators, we recognised the need to support employers, education providers and communities by bridging the gap between them, and to create a collaborative environment that equips the learner with the mindset, behaviours, insights, and tools to make a difference. Our goal, to provide meaningful career pathways. Our Limited company is designed to work directly with employers, whilst our community interest company supports education providers and the local community.

We offer an exciting and innovative solution based on the principles of Change Management. Our consultancy-led approach to solving business problems, whilst providing people in vocational education, or in community settings, enables the skills employers tell us they need. 

We aim to create alternative career pathways to entry level roles via apprenticeships for 16 to 19 year olds. We provide applied learning in a business context to skills training, which supports partnered education providers, who face increasing squeezes on their budgets, to deliver the skills employers are looking for.

In taking a consultancy approach, we integrate the expertise and experience of our coaches, mentors, and the employers subject matter experts with the unconstrained innovative ideas of our diverse students to solve problems, unlock opportunities and create solutions with a fresh perspective. These digital solutions help businesses identify areas for improvement, develop digital strategies, implement digital solutions, and create sector innovation. They also provide the vehicle for practical learning opportunities that motivate and inspire the learner. 

Apprenticeships are pivotal in solving the digital skills gap. They provide learners with hands-on training, practical experience, and a deep understanding of the employer's business. Today’s ‘digitally innate’ learner can also act as a ‘reverse mentor’ to the business professional and their co-employees creating value and introducing current digital tools. For SME’s apprenticeships can be tailored to meet their specific needs, ensuring that apprentices develop the skills and experience needed for the digital jobs that are in demand at an affordable price. Digital Innovators is adept in understanding these needs and ensuring that learners are experienced and skilled to meet an employer’s requirements.

We have observed that Gen Z, and soon Gen A, differ in how they acquire skills - they are more interested in learning hard skills and are most likely to use digital platforms for learning. For employers it is important to understand this and provide opportunities for learning and growth. These opportunities must be focused on the skills future generations want to develop and must be delivered in the form they want to consume them. 

The key to our learner’s success is founded in the training prior to their work with employers. This training focuses on developing individual core strengths, building confidence and self-efficacy, and developing a growth mindset. The latter being key in supporting continuous improvement and contribution to business growth. Importantly, the shift in preferred skills acquisition is pivotal in our engagement and training methods with learners. As we are not able to predict future skills, we have adopted the four most recognised attributes of the future workforce, Collaboration, Creativity, Communication and Critical thinking, the 4C’s.

Digital Innovators’ approach provides businesses with the expertise, talent, insight, and support needed to become more digital, helping them to increase efficiency, improve customer experience, and stay competitive in a rapidly changing digital landscape. Our proven process has gained recognition from many employers and education providers in the Greater Birmingham area including awards from the Chamber of Commerce and recognition from across the business community. Most recently we have been appointed as one of the new Flexi-Job Apprenticeship Agencies by the DfE.

Having proven the model, we are looking at the investment necessary to create the long-term capability required to provide a universal offering at scale for the West Midlands and beyond. This includes the need for Community based Digital Hubs, and a technology showcase, or Live Lab, that would allow students to get ‘hands on’ with new technology to discover the art of the possible.

Digital Innovators provides businesses with the opportunity to bridge the skills gap and equip the next generation of employees with the digital competencies needed to thrive.