How many times have you listened to or read dreary rhetoric about the need to up our skills level?  It is perfectly true that we don't give nearly enough respect, or money, to the less prestigious kinds of skills, notably those that are developed in the further rather than higher education sector.  But the important questions are around how well competences are actually used. This is, of course, the exact focus of the Paula Principle.  It's also the topic of a telling new report from the CIPD.  Here is its sweeping overall judgement (my stress):  The focus of skills policy over the last three decades has been almost exclusively on…