Nineteen year-old Hugh Marsh is about to compete in the Olympics.

But he's not taking his trainers - instead his suitcase is full of pots and pans and pastry brushes.

Hugh is one of 30 young British workers, competing in the World Skills Championships in Korea, a type of workers' Olympics.

Hugh is a pastry chef at a top London Hotel.

Since being selected to go to Korea he's been working round the clock preparing for the event.

The heat is on

"The preparation has been intense," says Hugh.

"After my normal working day in the pastry kitchen, I spend hours in the evening practising. I also use my weekends and holidays to prepare."

In Korea, Hugh will have four days to produce a variety of culinary creations, including a large chocolate and sugar sculpture, fancy cakes and marzipan animals.

The judges won't just be looking for good cooking. They'll also assess him on presentation, cleanliness and technique.

It's taken Hugh four years to reach this level of skill. As well as on the job training, he's also been to college and completed a national vocational qualification.

The hotel Hugh works for is keen to support his training. Without a skilled work force they wouldn't be able to run their business.

Golden opportunity

Winning the competition would also greatly enhance Hugh's career prospects.

It certainly did for chef and former gold medal winner Simon Hulstone.

"Winning the competition gave me a ticket to work anywhere," says Simon. "I landed a job in New Zealand almost immediately."

Hugh will be hoping for similar success. He and the rest of the UK team, which includes hairdressers, jewellers and builders, will all be hoping that a Gold medal in Seoul will be the secret to a brighter future. To find out more about the UK Skills Championship team click here.

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Student Guide

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Simon Hulster is bubbling with skills.

He runs the business and cooks up delicious dishes. People flock to his restaurant because he's made a name for himself.

He knows his skills make a difference.

There are endless restaurants that are just OK but if you want something special, top-notch skills really count.

In Simon's case, cooking is just one of many.

Just think...

What skills, apart from cooking, does Simon need to run his restaurant?

What skills are people using to make your school work?

What skills can you identify in a business you know about?

Training people

Hugh, Simon, and Lucy probably went to college to learn the basics before they got a job.

From then on their training would have been a mixture of:

On-the-job - where people learn while they are working

Off-the-job - where people are taken off to a classroom to learn

Large businesses have a human resources department to organise training for people who work there.

There are often lots of opportunities for developing skills in all sorts of ways.

People can learn:

To improve their professional skills, like cooking or office skills

To develop new professional skills

To learn a language

To work in a team

To lead people

To solve problems

In small organisations, training is more difficult to arrange.

The Learning and Skill Council, which is run by the government, helps businesses to identify needs and organise training.

Just think...

Have you seen people being trained while at work?

Keep your eyes open while you are shopping or having your hair cut. You will often find that people are busy learning new skills.

How are they doing it?

Why train people?

Training is expensive. People cannot work while off on courses.

So why does business do it?

Businesses are always looking for ways to add value. This means increasing the difference between the cost of inputs and the price that people are prepared to pay.

Training people can mean:

They become more efficient so produce things more cheaply

They become more highly skilled so they produce better products which people will pay more for

Either way, they have added value

In a very competitive world, a business probably has to train people just to stay as successful as it is.

If everyone else is training their staff, you'll need to as well.

Continuous improvement is the name of the game.

Just think ...

What about the products or services that you buy?

Can you see improvements from the last one you bought?

Did people need training to help them to produce something better?

What's in it for the individual?

Being trained might sound dull, but in fact it often helps to motivate people.

Learning to do things a new way can keep people interested.

It often goes with increased responsibility so the job becomes more interesting and may be better paid.

It also makes a person more saleable.

Having lots of high quality skills often makes it easy to get a new job.

Sometimes businesses are afraid that people will leave when a lot of money has been spent on their training so they create incentives for them to stay.

It might be more pay, more holidays or other things that will tempt people to stay put.

Just think...

Ask your family and friends if they have been trained at work recently

What did they learn?

Why did they need to learn something new?

What did they get out of it?

What did the organisation get out of it?