Today, employers in every industry sector emphasize the need
for employees with certain foundational skills. These include a strong academic
grounding in reading and math, as well as individual abilities such as
teamwork, problem solving, work ethic and integrity.
While employers rely on employees to have the same basic
skills, they do not always talk about or label them the same way. This makes it
difficult for prospective employees and educators to know exactly what it takes
to be ready to succeed in any career path in any industry. Anishjai has brought
together the organizations that represent employers from major economic
sectors, and they have worked to identify the core set of fundamental skills
that potential employees need in the workplace – and a common vocabulary to
explain them.
Employ-ability skills, also known as key competencies or soft
skills, are those basic skills necessary for getting, keeping, and doing well
on a job. These are the skills, attitudes and actions that enable workers to
get along with their fellow workers and supervisors and to make sound, critical
decisions.
Employ-ability skills are generally divided into three skill
sets: (a) basic academic skills, (b) critical thinking skills and (c) personal
qualities. The three skill sets are typically broken down into more detailed
skill sets.
The Anishjai has identified the Common Employ-ability Skills
for all jobs, which benefit:
• Employers, who can
now identify the common skills that all their employees should exhibit.
• Potential employees, who know what basic skills employers
expect them to have for any job in the workplace, and can better communicate
their skill levels to employers.
• Educators and other learning providers, who know what
foundational skills to emphasize.
Core Skills
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initiative & problem-solving
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communication
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team-work
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leadership
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commercial awareness
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organisation & planning
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self-management
What Are Employ-ability Skills?
The two greatest concerns of employers today are finding
good workers and training them. The difference between the skills needed on the
job and those possessed by applicants, sometimes called the skills-gap, is of
real concern to human resource managers and business owners looking to hire
competent employees. While employers would prefer to hire people who are
trained and ready to go to work, they are usually willing to provide the
specialized, job-specific training necessary for those lacking such skills.
Most discussions concerning today’s workforce eventually
turn to employ-ability skills. Finding workers who have employ-ability or job
readiness skills that help them fit into and remain in the work environment is
a real problem. Employers need reliable, responsible workers who can solve
problems and who have the social skills and attitudes to work together with
other workers. Creativity, once a trait avoided by employers who used a cookie
cutter system, is now prized among employers who are trying to create the
empowered, high performance workforce needed for competitiveness in today’s
marketplace. Employees with these skills are in demand and are considered
valuable human capital assets to companies.
Employability skills are those basic skills necessary for getting, keeping, and doing well on a job. These are the skills, attitudes and actions that enable workers to get along with their fellow workers and supervisors and to make sound, critical decisions. Unlike occupational or technical skills, employability skills are generic in nature rather than job specific and cut across all industry types, business sizes, and job levels from the entry-level worker to the senior-most position
