Employment and Learning Minister, Sir Reg Empey, has said the Annual Skills Conference will help local business with their operations
Sir Reg announced the Conference will be held on Thursday 25 March at the La Mon House Hotel Belfast and said “We will focus on the importance of management and leadership skills development and the impact each can have on Northern Ireland’s growing number of Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs). I encourage SMEs to develop their business operations with the help of key management and leadership techniques on the agenda for the conference.”
The Department for Employment and Learning’s highly successful management and leadership campaign, Made Not Born, which featured Roadshows and Masterclasses events, is complemented by the Skills Conference which will feature renowned business figures such as keynote speakers. Ellis Watson, former Managing Director of Celador International - the creators of ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’, and policy analysts Dr Cristina Martinez-Fernandez from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the European Commission’s Robert Straus are to participate. Each will engage with attending delegates and illustrate why the development of employee skills and the promotion of progressive management techniques are so vital to business growth and economic prosperity.
Sir Reg said; “This year’s Conference will reinforce the message, previously delivered through the Made Not Born Roadshows and Masterclasses, that the development of management and leadership skills are central to Northern Ireland’s future economic well-being. In addition, delegates will have an opportunity to share their opinions on how the skills agenda should be shaped as we move towards our aim of developing business skills that can help to ensure economic stability.
“My Department’s Skills Strategy spells out the ambition for Northern Ireland to be a leader in developing and deploying management and leadership capabilities fit for 21st Century challenges. As the global economy struggles to counteract the effects of the recession, the need for such skills is now more important than ever.”
The Minister concluded; “Our local SMEs are the trailblazers for the local economy. As such, we will be doing all we can to equip each with the right tools and to provide practical support so that these businesses can take advantage when the economic upturn occurs.”