FUTURE TALENTED Spring Term 2019 - Issue 2 | Page 20

Gatsby Benchmarks
1
2
3 4
5
6
7
8
Defining ‘work
readiness’ for today
and tomorrow
Barclays LifeSkills’ survey of educators and employers reveals current
thinking and disconnects around employability and work readiness.
ith secondary schools required to address pupils’ employability as a
priority, educators need to know what ‘employable’ looks like in
today’s world of work – and what it might look like in tomorrow’s.
There is no static blueprint; today’s business takes place in a
volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous environment, shaped and reshaped
by evolving technology, and skills needs are evolving under the same conditions.
To provide a snapshot of current thinking, Barclays LifeSkills conducted a major
study in 2018, asking more than 1,100 employers and educators about the state of
employability skills in the UK. Research was conducted via two surveys, an online
forum and interviews with five industry experts.
Their findings highlight which employability skills employers and educators
consider most important now and in the future, skills gaps, and how they think
skills should be developed. ‘Employability skills’ here relate to resilience, proactivity,
problem solving, communication, creativity, leadership and adaptability.
W
A SKILLS-BASED SUMMARY OF EDUCATOR
AND EMPLOYER PERSPECTIVES
Which skills are growing
in importance?
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the
uncertainty in the UK labour market
and changes in the way that people
move within it, adaptability and
communication are the two skills most
employers believe have become more
important over the past 10 years
(highlighted by 61% and 54% of
respondents respectively).
For today’s workplace, almost a fifth
(19%) of employers rank problem
solving as the most important of the
seven skills, followed by creativity (17%)
and leadership and adaptability (both
16%). Looking ahead, 35% predict that
communication will prove “extremely
important” over the next 10 years,
followed by adaptability (30%).
Perception disconnect
PROBLEM SOLVING
CREATIVITY LEADERSHIP ADAPTABILITY
PROACTIVITY
Seen as
important as
increasingly
lacking in
students Low levels of Don't see it as
proactivity
likely to be as
among school important as
leavers
other skills in
the future Least
confident in
developing
this skill Skill students
least likely to
be equipped
with when
leaving Recognise
importance
but can be
difficult to
address
RESILIENCE
Also noticing
lower levels
among
recruits Another skills
gap for
employers Not seen as
something
that can be
developed
by training Area felt to
be lacking
in recruits Likely to
become
increasingly
important
Seen as
the most
important
skill right
now
Communication was the exception as it was prioritised in education and training. It was
also the skill educators and employers felt was least likely to be lacking in young people.
20 // EMPLOYABILITY
While 73% of educators agree that
communication will become
“extremely important” in the next 10
years, followed by resilience (71%) and
adaptability (66%), leadership was
the skill the smallest number of
educators felt would become
“extremely important” (32%).
This reveals a disconnect between
the perceptions of educators and
employers and a potential
misunderstanding about the skills
required in the labour market – plus a
corresponding need to raise the profile
of leadership skills within schools.