Development Of Employability Skills Research Articles

Efforts of Kokoon Hotel Banyuwangi to Retain Potential Employees

The hospitality sector is one of the impacted industries, as it is closely connected to the tourism sector by providing lodging for tourists. However, there have been some favourable effects, such as the establishment of Kokoon Hotel Banyuwangi in reaction to the pandemic scenario. Increase in staff turnover is correlated with the appearance of opportunities that have resulted from the tourism recovery programme that the Indonesian government has implemented as a response to the Covid-19 outbreak, as was stated before. The research aims to investigate the employees' perception of the workplace climate at Kokoon Hotel Banyuwangi and determine the extent to which the work environment impacts their intention to continue working at the hotel. The qualitative method offers an opportunity for an in-depth exploration of Kokoon Hotel Banyuwangi's Efforts in Retaining Employees. This research found that skill development, career advancement, pay, work culture, benefits, and outstanding relationships affect employee satisfaction at Kokoon Hotel Banyuwangi. To retain staff, Kokoon Hotel Banyuwangi offers cross-training programmes, fair promotion processes, and a comfortable work culture for employee development. Kokoon Hotel Banyuwangi employees depart for financial, professional, and outside experience reasons. Kokoon Hotel Banyuwangi has to strengthen work culture, interactions with supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates, and employee skill development.

Students-staff classroom co-creation as model of employability skills development in a Nigerian university

PurposeThe paper explored students-staff classroom co-creation and students' involvement in out-of-class engagements as means of fostering employability skills in higher education institutions (HEIs). The paper aimed to present an alternative but equally effective means that HEIs can leverage to foster relevant 21st Century employability skills among undergraduates using day-to-day in-class and out-of-class activities and other non-formal campus activities.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted descriptive survey design. A total of 350 undergraduates who participate in out-of-class activities were purposively selected from seven (7) faculties. An instrument designed by the author was used to gather data for the study. The instrument was subjected to Cronbach Alpha analysis for item-by-item consistency and it yielded the reliability co-efficient of 0.88. Data collected from the respondents were analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency count, mean and standard deviation.FindingsInteractive classrooms, where students and lecturers co-create to provide solutions to problems enhance students' self-esteem, problem solving, analytical, communication and leadership skills amongst others. It was also found that students who got involved in one or more out-of-class activity on campus acquire specific competencies such as networking, collaboration, communication, leadership, multidisciplinary thinking, etc.Research limitations/implicationsDue to a limited sample size, it might be inappropriate to generalize findings. Researchers are encouraged to test this proposition further.Practical implicationsThe paper highlights the need for HEIs to leverage student-staff co-creation and out-of-class engagement in their bid to produce employable graduates.Originality/valueThis paper clearly presents alternative but effective means of fostering employability in HEIs.

IMPACT OF EMPLOYEE SKILL DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES ON EMPLOYEES JOB SATISFACTION AT (THE AEC ASSOCIATES)

This master thesis of Strategic Human Resource (HR) Management, focusing on Impact Of Employee Skill Development Practices On Employees Job Satisfaction. This research explores the relationship between employee skill development practices and job satisfaction within the context of “THE AEC ASSOCIATES” Noida, a leading organization in its industry. In today's competitive business environment, organizations recognize the significance of investing in their employees' skill development to faster a talented and motivated workforce. Likewise, employee job satisfaction remains a crucial determinant of organizational performance and employee well-being. The study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews, to examine the existing skill development practices at THE AEC ASSOCIATES Noida and assess their impact on employee job satisfaction. Quantitative data analysis includes descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and regression analysis, while qualitative data from interviews is analyzed thematically. Findings indicate a positive correlation between effective skill development practices and employee job satisfaction. Employees who perceive their organization's investment in their skill development positively exhibit higher levels of job satisfaction. The study also uncovers key factors influencing employee satisfaction, including the availability of training programs, career advancement opportunities, and supportive organizational culture. The research offers practical implications for HR practitioners and organizational leaders, suggesting recommendations for enhancing employee skill development practices to improve job satisfaction. By understanding the dynamics of skill development and job satisfaction, organizations like THE AEC ASSOCIATES, Noida can optimize their talent management strategies to foster a culture of growth, engagement, and fulfillment, thereby positioning themselves for sustained success in a dynamic business landscape.

Fostering the development of computer science graduate employability through agile projects

ABSTRACT This article presents the usage of Integrated Course Design (ICD) in the design and evaluation of applying agile methodologies within an undergraduate module of study to foster the development of computer science students employability skills. Undergraduate programs of computer science typically follow traditional educational methods which can lead to students unable to connect knowledge learned in class to actual situations and students are often assessed individually, whereas collaborative group projects are more akin to industry practice. The teaching experience reported gives students the opportunity to relate concepts learnt in class to a practical group-based project. Students must meet the requirements of a ‘client’ who will provide feedback and additional challenges for students while following the Agile framework SCRUM. Positive student feedback and module grades 7.70% higher than the department average over a four year period indicates the teaching structure and assessment presented is an effective method to foster the development of technical and soft skills of undergraduate computer science students.

Assessment for employability: Is synoptic assessment the answer?

The production of job ready graduates remains one of the key requests of the business community. The purpose of this paper is to re-examine the importance of assessment in developing employability skills and in making graduates more employable. One criticism often levied at higher education institutions, is that students understand ideas in subject context, but cannot transfer that knowledge into a holistic business context. As such, they have silo ‘mentality’, when to be successful in the modern complex working and business environment they need to understand and command multiplicity. As a conceptual paper, this article seeks to discuss the importance and relevance of assessment and its links to employability. The paper provides a case for the inclusion of synoptic assessment as a tool for developing and demonstrating employability skills. The article emphasises the importance of employability and surrounding issues. The paper provides originality through linking the concepts of education and assessment with the end goals of job-readiness and employability. This paper argues for a new approach to assessment which is employability driven.

Employability and entrepreneurship in the training of translators and interpreters: A proposal to develop the entrepreneurial skills of translation and interpreting graduates

Since the Bologna Process came into force, many Higher Education (HE) institutions have started to include in their curricula professional competences and skills that help to develop entrepreneurship in their graduates in the context of a constantly evolving labour market. Within the framework of Translation and Interpreting (T&I) Studies, although numerous initiatives are being carried out in recent years to improve professional skills and encourage students' entrepreneurial attitudes, several recent research studies show that professional and entrepreneurship contents are not clearly integrated in all undergraduate T&I curricula. This article aims to describe the scene of T&I training in Spain in relation to entrepreneurship between 2015 and 2020. To do so, we will first analyse the concept of entrepreneurship in the current HE framework, paying special attention to its integration into the curricula for translator training in Spain. Subsequently, we will present a specific proposal for the development of employability and entrepreneurship skills in this context, developed at the University of Valladolid over several academic years.

Nutrition students’ employability skills: need for a graduate employability framework

For a qualified nutritionist to obtain registration with the Nutrition Society of Australia they must first demonstrate that they meet a set of competencies relating to required nutrition knowledge and skills(1). However, theoretical knowledge and a technical skillset may not be enough to actively contribute to the workforce as a new graduate(2). Employers have previously expressed a desire for nutrition graduates to also develop employability skills in undergraduate studies to be better prepared for the workforce(3). Universities across Australia appear to have heterogeneous approaches to building nutrition students employability skills. To better understand student workforce readiness and employability skills, the research team undertook a mixed-methods study. A validated work-ready tool was used to survey undergraduate nutrition students self-perception of work readiness (n = 88) and semi-structed interviews of students pre/post nutrition industry placements (n = 18) were conducted to assess factors impacting student understanding and development of work readiness. Preliminary data from the survey showed higher levels of perceived ability related to higher age in, written communication (P<0.05), decision making (P<0.05), working unsupervised (P<0.05) and managing challenges (P<0.05). Lower age showed lower perceived ability in understanding how to apply skills (P<0.001). Lower levels of work experience showed lower perceived ability to work in a team (P<0.01), collaborate (P<0.01), work under pressure (P<0.05), and identify problems (P<0.01). Thematic analysis from interviews revealed themes related to improved confidence following a placement experience, communicating to stakeholders, the importance of translation skills, the benefits of networking and self-efficacy. The results suggest there are numerous identified gaps and significant room for improvement. To have a systematic approach to skill development, universities training nutrition students should consider developing a framework that builds understanding and scaffolds skill development across year levels. An employability framework has the potential to increase students employability skills and knowledge, enhance student confidence and increase graduate employment.

An internship program that empowers international students to grow professionally and find their voice in the nutrition field

During the COVID-19 pandemic, our international students were confined to their rooms in a foreign land and were unable to return to their home countries during their semester break due to border closures. A summer internship program, underpinned by Asian philosophies including Confucianism(1) and collectivism(2), was designed to bring them together physically in a COVID-safe environment and collectively develop employability skills. Twenty-five international students across six year-levels and from 11 countries participated in the five-week internship program. Our in-house dietitian presented participants with an authentic nutrition problem, i.e. observable unhealthy eating habits being prevalent amongst the international student client group. Participants were empowered to draw on their cultural knowledge, international student experience, cooking skills and evidence-based nutrition knowledge, in the development of an educational nutrition resource to be used in the dietitian clinic. Employability skills self-assessment was completed pre- and post-program for comparison. In addition, a collective reflection was facilitated at the end of the program to gather in-depth understanding of the unique learnings from the students’ and program facilitators’ perspectives. Thematic analysis was adopted to analyse the narrative data. It was found that the student-participants developed a website with healthy eating information, including tailored to international students’ habits of late-night snacking and suggestions for quick meals during exams. They developed 50 healthy, simple, multicultural recipes with cooking videos. The internship served as an opportunity for the students to work together with a shared purpose. They reported a strong sense of community which was longed for and extended the established friends outside of the internship program. Students were observed sharing acculturative experience and knowledge with one another when socialising together. Upon reflection, students reported feeling challenged by the lack of structure and assessment guide for the internship tasks. However, they were able to develop confidence in their judgement and decision-making skills through this process and work together exploring the uncertainties. Many reported feeling empowered from this internship as their cultural differences and unique international-student-experience were valued and utilised in the resource development. This low-cost education strategy contributed to the development of professional skills and formation of professional identity, and for the students to find their voice in the nutrition field.

Financial technology education provision and perceived skill gap in the United Kingdom and Sri Lanka

The current spread of financial technology (fintech) adoption within the financial and business industries across the globe is expected to increase the demand for employees with fintech skills and competencies. This in turn is likely to shift the traditional skill set required for financial and accounting professionals. This article investigates the competency level of employability skills required for the current job market from employers’ perspective in the United Kingdom and Sri Lanka. The United Kingdom and Sri Lanka are typical of industrialized and emerging economies, respectively. They are at the end of two opposing poles in terms of financial infrastructure, economic development, regulatory framework and educational system. This suggests a significant divergence of the two countries in terms of skills gap. We test for this via three main hypotheses. To this end, we identify the competency level of employability skills as expected by employers and identify the skills gaps between expected and observed competency levels of employability skills. Information on a set of twenty skills is collected via a questionnaire. We find no major skills gaps in the United Kingdom. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, shows severe skills gaps. The gaps are particularly acute within the soft skills such as critical thinking, problem solving and decision making. Our findings reflect the importance of expanding the fintech higher education curricula by assessing and implementing employability skills development activities.

PERCEIVED DIFFERENCE AMONG THE EMPLOYERS AND GRADUATES OF ARUNACHAL PRADESH REGARDING THE ESSENTIAL EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS

The study was conducted as a prelude to research on employability skill development among the graduates of Arunachal Pradesh. It focussed on the difference in the perception of both employers as well as graduates concerning the skills essential to employability. Managing Directors of twenty companies mostly linked with manufacturing and financial sectors and 75 candidates who were either employed within a year of their graduation from any of the HEIs in the State or at least attended placement or job interviews responded to a questionnaire that dealt with the perceived importance of essential employability skills. According to the employers, lack of apt skills continues to be the major hurdle to employing graduates. Compared to employers, skills regarded as most important by graduates are communication, integrity and interpersonal skills, self-management skills, and teamwork. Whereas, those the employers consider essential are technical skills interpersonal skills integrity, self-management skills, and teamwork. However, personal integrity, interpersonal skills, self-management skills, and teamwork find a place among the top-ranked six skills according to both groups of respondents, which indicates that employers and graduates ascribe similar importance to individual attributes.

Evaluating Education's Impact on Workplace Readiness: A Meta-Analytical Examination

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the conceptualization of skillset development, particularly in the context of higher education, with a focus on its impact on employability. Given the challenges faced by graduates in meeting the expectations of employers due to perceived deficiencies in their skills and abilities, this research aims to explore the varied skills, personal traits, and knowledge bases necessary for successful employability. By conducting a review of existing literature and meta-analysis of research investigations, the study seeks to elucidate the theoretical underpinnings of skillset development, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This study employs a systematic approach, involving a review of existing literature and a meta-analysis of research investigations on skillset development. Special attention is given to employability skills, task-related skills, self-management, and technical knowledge required by employers. The researchers analyze scholarly articles and empirical studies to identify conceptual frameworks and key themes related to skillset development in higher education. Through rigorous examination and synthesis of this literature, the study aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of skillset development processes and their implications for employability. Results and discussion: The review and meta-analysis of research investigations reveal insights into the multifaceted nature of skillset development in higher education. Employability skills, task-related skills, self-management, and technical knowledge emerge as critical components influencing graduates' success in the job market. The study discusses how these skills and attributes are conceptualized and cultivated within the educational context, considering factors such as pedagogical approaches, curriculum design, and industry relevance. Furthermore, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on skillset development and employability is examined, highlighting both challenges and opportunities for higher education institutions and graduates. Implications of the research: The findings of this research have significant implications for higher education institutions, policymakers, employers, and graduates. By providing insights into the conceptualization and development of employability skills, the study informs strategies for curriculum design, teaching methodologies, and career counseling services. Additionally, the research underscores the importance of addressing the diverse skill needs of industries and adapting educational practices to meet evolving demands. For graduates, the study offers guidance on enhancing their skillset and improving their employability in a competitive job market, particularly in the context of post-pandemic recovery and economic transformation. Originality/value: This study contributes to the literature by offering a comprehensive analysis of skillset development in higher education and its implications for employability. By synthesizing existing research and identifying key themes, the study provides a theoretical framework for understanding skill acquisition and enhancement processes. Moreover, the examination of skillset development during the COVID-19 pandemic adds a novel perspective to the literature, shedding light on the challenges and opportunities presented by this unprecedented global event. Overall, this research offers valuable insights for stakeholders involved in education, workforce development, and career advancement.

Building Competitive Advantage Through Information Technology Integration in Marketing and Branding Management Strategies

This study delves into the crucial role of information technology (IT) integration in marketing and branding management strategies, highlighting its significance as a pivotal element for businesses aiming to secure a competitive edge in the rapidly evolving digital landscape. In an era marked by digital transformation, the confluence of innovative IT solutions with traditional marketing and branding frameworks emerges as a strategic necessity for companies navigating the complexities of today’s marketplace. This research posits that such integration is instrumental in revolutionizing how organizations communicate with their target audiences, offering new pathways for differentiation and value creation. Exploring the paradigm shift induced by the advent of digital platforms, social media, and data analytics, the paper examines how these technologies have expanded the opportunities for businesses to engage with consumers on a more personalized and impactful level. It asserts that the digital transformation enables the harnessing of data-driven insights, thereby optimizing marketing strategies, brand positioning, and customer relationships. This integration transcends operational enhancements, dictating the long-term success and sustainability of businesses through strategic necessity. Moreover, the study addresses the dynamic and ever-evolving nature of digital technologies, emphasizing the importance of agility and innovation in exploiting new tools and platforms to maintain competitive superiority. It explores the potential of artificial intelligence, blockchain, and augmented reality in enhancing marketing effectiveness and brand appeal. However, it also acknowledges the challenges inherent in IT integration, such as data privacy, cybersecurity, and the need for continuous adaptation and employee skill development. Drawing upon theoretical frameworks and practical case studies, this research aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the role of IT in enhancing marketing and branding strategies. It seeks to offer insights into the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities within the digital marketing landscape, facilitating a deeper understanding of how businesses can leverage technology to foster a sustainable competitive advantage. Ultimately, this paper endeavors to illuminate the strategic importance of IT integration in marketing and branding, guiding businesses towards more effective and innovative practices in the digital age.

Charting futures: understanding anticipatory professional socialisation practices of prospective accountants within higher education

ABSTRACT Drawing on Bourdieu’s sociological framework, this study examines how prospective accountants engage with professional socialisation opportunities within the accounting higher education field. Prospective accountants globally experience anticipatory professional socialisation through which they develop employability skills and shape their professional trajectories. Through interviews with Malaysian prospective accountants and insights from local accounting professionals and academics, this study reveals that the prospective accountants’ professional socialisation practice is not solely a conscious and deliberate process. Instead, it involves ongoing negotiation between an individual’s habitus (way of being), capital (resources), and the opportunities that the accounting higher education field offers to them. The findings also highlight the ways in which an individual’s way of being is influenced by their class and ethnic background, and how this impacts their socialisation and career orientations. Individuals from privileged backgrounds tend to possess greater cultural and social capital, positioning them advantageously to benefit from professional development opportunities provided by their institutions compared to those from less privileged backgrounds. These findings raise questions about the role of higher education institutions in promoting equity and expanding access to the accountancy profession for underprivileged groups.

Strategi Inovatif Dalam Pengelolaan Sumber Daya Manusia: Meningkatkan Kinerja Organisasi Di Era Digital

This journal discusses innovative strategies that can be applied in human resource management (HRM) to enhance organizational performance in the digital era. With rapid changes in technology and the business environment, organizations need to develop innovative approaches in managing their human resources. The article explores various innovative strategies, including the adoption of cutting edge technology, employee skill development, and adaptation to organizational cultural changes. The implementation of these innovative strategies can help organizations remain relevant and competitive in the evolving market.

Development of Employability Skills through Work-Based Learning

Employability is the ability to participate in the workforce. It comprises a variety of elements that are required to obtain employment, while the skills needed to get employment are employability skills. These skills are essential for upgrading knowledge, skills, ability, and entrepreneurial enthusiasm of a learner. Work-based Learning (WBL) is an education strategy that increases participation in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) because there is support to enhance employability and upgrading skills for a competitive market. The aim of this article is to systematically review published research and explore the employability skills enhanced by WBL through the school-production unit. The finding of the review shows WBL in the school production unit of TVET institute is a positive indicator of employability, and they develop valuable competencies and employability skills. The review further shows that students enhance subject-specific technical skills, generic skills, or soft skills like communication skills, teamwork, problem-solving skills, critical thinking, leadership skills, entrepreneurial skills, and management skills. Likewise, they enhance personal skills like self-confidence, a positive attitude, and ethics. The article concludes that students gained their technical, generic, and personal employability skills from WBL through the school production unit in TVET institutions.

Malaysian Graduates Employability Challenges: A Critical Review

The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching implications for individuals, societies, and economies, disrupting established patterns in education, employment, and career trajectories. This paper explores a narrative review of the literature that studied the graduates’ employability post pandemic. Narrative review is suitable to be applied in this study, as it tends to achieve exploratory research where a new or emerging field is explored, providing holistic perspective in which a wide range of studies is summarized, consequently synthesizing diverse evidence that highlight the trends across various studies. This review highlights the multifaceted challenges facing Malaysian graduates, emphasizing the far-reaching circumstance of the COVID-19 pandemic on graduates' employment dynamics. It underscores disparities in the quality of employment, wage gaps, and the vulnerability of workers in informal sectors. A range of factors impacting employability can be considered, including self-efficacy, curriculum support, employability skills development, and work placement learning. The study also explores the impact of postgraduate studies on employment prospects, gender disparities in employability skills, and the significance of soft skills and non-technical skills in aviation careers. Furthermore, it delves into how graduates' knowledge and soft skills development vary by education level and how emerging concepts like Industry 5.0 are reshaping the employment landscape. Confronting globalization and evolving labor market dynamics, graduates must embrace self-development and adaptability so forth meeting the changing needs of the job market.

The nexus of work integrated learning and skills among engineering students in Nigerian Universities: A structural equation model approach

Higher education providers have redefined their focus to include work-integrated learning (WIL) as an alternative way to prepare graduates for professional and future employment. Although WIL was designed to enhance graduates' work readiness, there is little evidence that the program supports the development of behavioural and employability competencies among participating students. Thus, this study aims to predict the effect of WIL through the partial least square path model on seven employability competencies. The sample consisted of 375 final-year engineering students from two Nigerian universities who had participated in a WIL program. A two-stage composite-based structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data. The average variance extracted and Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio were used to establish the validity and reliability of the instruments. A structural model was used to test the hypothetical constructs' relationship and level of significance. The findings supported all hypothesized direct relationships that WIL enhances graduate employability skills. The study concludes that WIL has immense benefits for students, including developing employability skills (i.e., Analytical, adaptability, communication, fundamental, ICT, interpersonal, and 4IR skillsets) for future employment. Consequently, it was recommended that higher education providers strengthen and establish frameworks for effective work-integrated learning program to enhance graduate employability.

Formative Assessment Practices and its Effect on Employability Skills to Vocational Students in Tanzania

The study evaluated the effect of formative assessment practices on employability skills development. Specifically, the study explored students’ perceptions on essential employability skills for vocational career; examined formative assessment practices in vocational training centres and assessed the influence of formative assessment practices on employability skills among vocational students in Tanzania. It adopted a pragmatism paradigm which enabled the use of sequential explanatory mixed methods design. Data were collected from 97 vocational students and six vocational tutors sampled from Chang’ombe and Mwanza Vocational training centres. The quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed using regression model and content analysis techniques respectively. The study found that, vocational Students perceive a number of employability skills as essential for their career. The vocational education and training centres employ workshop, industrial projects and field placement as formative assessment practices to enhance such employability skills. However, formative assessment which is essential for employability skills, accounts only for 40%, compared to 60% of its counterpart summative assessment. Therefore, the study recommends for curriculum review to give formative assessment a more weight than summative assessment. Further study may develop measuring scale for employability skills among vocational education graduates in Tanzania.

Improving placement learning at scale: a case study evaluation

PurposeIn this study, the authors explore students' and industry’s perceptions about the challenges and opportunities of participating in a large-scale, non-compulsory, individual, in-person and unpaid business placement programme at an Australian university. The placement programme aims to support students' workplace transition by emphasising the development of key employability skills through reflective learning and linking theory to practice.Design/methodology/approachUtilising a case study methodology and integrating survey questionnaires, the authors collected both quantitative and qualitative data with large sample sizes.FindingsThe results highlight curriculum areas for improvement, emphasising tailored feedback to manage placement expectations and addressing employability skill strengths and weaknesses.Practical implicationsRecommendations include co-partnering with students to develop short, tailored and hot tip videos along with online learning modules, including the presentation of evidence-based statistics to inform students about post-programme employment prospects.Originality/valueThe study contributes to benchmarking good practices in non-compulsory, individual, in-person and unpaid placement pedagogy within the business education context.

Science students develop multiple employability literacies from large, early-year courses without employability modules

Concerns have been raised about the employability of Science graduates, however undergraduate Science curricula rarely focus on building employability. Our goal is to harness existing Science-focused curricula to improve Science graduate employability. In this study we asked whether students could identify learning of employability literacies from their experiences in undergraduate Science courses that do not explicitly teach employability literacies. To address these questions, we employed a short reflective activity in three large first year courses; these courses focused on scientific content and processes, and did not include employability modules. We asked students to choose an employability literacy from a menu and describe how components of the course prompted them to develop this literacy. Students chose a wide variety of literacies and linked their development to multiple aspects of their course experience. They also consistently indicated they had achieved multiple literacies from their course. Course coordinators highlighted the strength-based quality of the reflections, which differed from the usual course evaluation comments given by students. Coordinators who used the reflection activity in the first year were eager to continue in subsequent semesters and years. This mechanism gives students and staff the opportunity to understand the wide and varied opportunities for employability skill development that already exist in undergraduate Science courses. The approach does not require course teaching amendments or student skill-building instruction. This study shows that students can achieve multiple employability literacies from early-year courses, and raises new possibilities around how we can boost students’ understanding and development of their employability.