Employability and

Professional Development

What is employability ?

Employability is about being capable of getting and keeping fulfilling work.

“Employability is having a set of skills, knowledge, understanding and personal attributes - that makes graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations , which benefit themselves , the workplace , the community and the economy.

What is Employability Skills ?

Things Recruiters Want To Hear: People who can show they volunteer to do more

than is required of them in the workplace People who “know what they don’t know”. People who can explain what they did in a past job

that makes them valuable to a future employer. People who can understand recruiters are

professional service providers who deserve respect. People who make an effort to establish a mutually

beneficial relationship, by addressing them personally, offering to help find other candidates for positions if they aren’t the right fit themselves.

Personal responsibility or Individual Responsibility is the idea that human beings choose, instigate, or otherwise cause their own actions.

Decision-making is a key skill in the workplace, and is particularly important if you want to be an effective leader. Whether you're deciding which person to hire, which supplier to use, or which strategy to pursue, the ability to make a good decision with available information is vital.

A significant part of decision making skills is in knowing and practicing good decision making techniques.

One of the most practical decision making techniques can be summarized in those simple decision making steps: Identify the purpose of your decision. What is

exactly the problem to be solved? Why it should be solved?

Gather information. What factors does the problem involve?

Identify the principles to judge the alternatives. What standards and judgement criteria should the solution meet?

Determine the best alternative. This is much easier after you go through the above preparation steps.

Put the decision into action. Transform your decision into specific plan of action steps. Execute your plan.

Evaluate the outcome of your decision and action steps. What lessons can be learnt? This is an important step for further development of your decision making skills and judgement.

ability to learn anddevelop within the work role Identify Priorities Adopt a Good Attitude Build Essential Skills Time Management Communication Skills Stress

Soft Skills

Leadership Skills Problem Solving Emotional Intelligence Understanding Creativity

Anything you can do to enhance these skills will pay off in the workplace.

employment legislation•Minimum daily pay•Meal breaks•Payment of earnings (paydays)•Hours of work•Overtime•Annual vacation•Vacation pay•Employment of people under 18•Leave from work

•Termination•Maternity leave•Keeping records•Sexual harassment•Probationary periods

Ethics

employment rights andresponsibilities Employers and employees have responsibilities to each other These rights and responsibilities relate to areas such as Health

and Safety

Employees are expected to carry out their work in a way that has regard to the safety of others. Employers are expected to abide by a range of requirements governing such aspects as providing safe machinery and equipment, carrying out regular health and safety checks, ensuring the training of employees in health and safety issues, and carrying out a risk assessment to assess the dangers of particular work activities.

setting and monitoring performance objectivesIn order to set effective objectives, the acronym SMART is often seen as a useful tool. The key principles of SMART should be applied to each objective.S Specfic What, and how, it should be done

M Measurable

Identifies how it will be known that the activity has been achieved

AAchievable or Action-orientated

A plan to deliver the objective is identified

R RealisticThe staff member has the resources and is equipped to be able to do the activity successfully

T Time-based

Clarity on any date/deadline by which the activity needs to be completed. Allocating too much time can sometimes negatively affect the achievement of the objective

Contd…

Sales reports Deadlines met Accuracy reports Documents Proposals Plans Budget forecasts It’s easy to see if your employee is achieving a sales target or submitting accurate work .

uses of performance appraisals

salary levels and bonus Payments promotion strengths and weaknesses training needs

Appraisal criteria Production data is information that is persistently stored and used

by professionals to conduct business processes. It must be accurate, documented, and managed on an on-going basis to ensure its value to the organization.

Personal data  Employees’ personal data should be kept safe, secure and up to date by an employer. Data an employer can keep about an employee includes: name address date of birth sex education and qualifications

Contd…

work experience National Insurance number tax code details of any known disability emergency contact details employment history with the organisation employment terms and conditions (eg pay, hours of work,

holidays, benefits, absence) any accidents connected with work any training taken

Rating methods

Ranking

Stacked ranking is an employee evaluation method that slots a certain percentage of employees into each of several levels of performance.

paired comparison

Method of evaluation in which each employee and job is compared with each other employee and job. Employee comparisons are performed usually on the basis of overall performance, whereas job-evaluations are usually on the basis of skill, knowledge, and time required in their performance. Total number of employees (or jobs), however, places a limitation on this method because such comparisons require N(N - 1) ÷ 2 pairs (where N is the number of employees or jobs being compared).

management by objectives

Introduction

Management by objectives (MBO), is also known as management by results(MBR),  is a process of defining an objectives within an organization so that management and employees agree to the objectives and understand what they need to do in the organization in order to achieve them.

MBO is a systematic and organized approach that allows management to focus on achievable goals and to attain the best possible results from available resources.

The concept of MBO is closely connected with the concept of planning.

MBO Principles

Cascading of organizational goals and objectives Specific objectives for each member Participative decision making Explicit time period Performance evaluation and feedback

What are Objectives?

Work Objectives Targets Tasks/Projects Behavioural Parameter Values Performance Improvement Developmental Objectives

MBO Process

 Collectively fixing objectives. Collectively making a plan. Subordinates implements the plan. Collectively monitoring performance.

Where to use MBO?

The MBO style is appropriate for knowledge-based enterprises when your staff is competent.

It is appropriate in situations where you wish to build employees management and self-leadership skills and tap their creativity, tacit knowledge and initiative.

Management by Objectives (MBO) is also used by chief executives of multinational corporations (MNCs) for their country managers abroad.

Advantages

Develops result-oriented philosophy Formulation of dearer goals Facilitates objective appraisal Raises employee morale Facilitates effective planning Acts as motivational force Facilitates effective control Facilitates personal leadership

MBO In Organization

Glaxo Laboratories (India) Limited, now GLINDIA. Xerox Hewlett-Packard (HP) Springfield Remanufacturing corporation DuPont

Skills Audit

A skills audit is essentially a process for measuring and recording the skills of an individual or group.

The main purpose for conducting a skills audit in an organisation is to identify the skills and knowledge that the organisation requires, as well as the skills and knowledge that the organisation currently has.

evaluating self-management

Self-management skills are those abilities that allow an employee to feel more productive when doing daily routine regardless of the working environment.

Well-developed self-management skills will help you efficiently communicate with co-workers, management and customers, make right decisions, plan your working time, and keep your body healthy

Stress-Resistance - you can avoid many mistakes that people usually make when being stressed out.

Problem Solving -  use your brain as a mechanism for making right decisions. 

Communication - Productive employees always can efficiently communicate with their colleagues and management.

Time Management  Memory - An ability to memorize events, names, facts, etc., allows an

employee to remember about everything he/she needs to do daily tasks and duties.

Physical Activity - Keeping your body in good shape is a critical self-management skill example.

personal and interpersonalskills  personal skills refer to the abilities possessed by an

individual which are considered to be his/her strengths 

 interpersonal skills refer to the set of abilities required by a person to communicate effectively and efficiently with others.

A List of Interpersonal Skills Includes: Verbal Communication - What we say and how we say it. Non-Verbal Communication - What we communicate without words, body

language is an example. Listening Skills - How we interpret both the verbal and non-verbal messages

sent by others. Negotiation - Working with others to find a mutually agreeable (Win/Win)

outcome. Problem Solving - Working with others to identify, define and solve problems. Decision Making – Exploring and analysing options to make sound decisions. Assertiveness – Communicating our values, ideas, beliefs, opinions, needs

and wants freely.

leadership skills

The ability to lead effectively is based on a number of key skills.

 Leader A leader is one who o Inspires a follower o Accomplishes work o Develops the follower o Shows how to do the job o Assumes obligations o Overcome various obstacles in attaining the goal

Leadership

 Leadership is lifting a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond his normal limitations

Leadership is the process of influencing the behaviour of others towards the accomplishment of goals in a given situation.

The process by which a person motivates and guides the group towards a visualized goal

Leadership Qualities

o Motivating capacity o Courage o Initiative ness o Source of Knowledge o Responsibility o Integrity o Ability to communicateo Loyalty

Leadership Qualities

o Judgement o Selflessness o Problem solving capacity o Openness to change o Distant vision and close focus o Balance

 Ways to develop Leadership Qualities Learn to think more critically Do more to enthuse your team Make your goals and future vision attractive and

attainable Learn to communicate clearly Improve your speaking skills Organize and allocate workflow Make sure work is done correctly and on time

Contd…

Find better ways to do things Encourage progress and recognize efforts Try to match individual skills and work Build team spirit Encourage people to work cooperatively Recognize success and learn from failure Trust your subordinates

Motivational Theories

1) Equity theory2) Expectancy theory3) Reinforcement theory4) Goal-setting theory

Motivation Techniques

•Fair pay and conditions•A comfortable, safe, working environment•Opportunities for employees to socialize and make friends•Clearly defined work responsibilities and goals•Education and training opportunities•Career opportunities

Rewards and Incentives

Leaders use a variety of rewards and incentives to motivate employees. “organizations use a variety of rewards to attract and retain people and to motivate them to achieve their personal and organizational goals.”Through workplace rewards and incentives, employers and workers enjoy a positive and productive work environment.

Manager’s role

The primary goal of a manager is “make people productive”.In order to do that, they need to perform five functions: Set objectives and establish the goals that employees

need to reach.  Organize tasks, coordinate his/her allocation, and

arrange the right roles for the right people.  Motivate and communicate in order to mould staffers

into cooperative teams and to convey information continually up, down, and around the organization.

Establish targets and yardsticks that measure results and clarify outcomes to ensure that the firm is moving in the right direction.

Develop people through finding, training and nurturing employees, a firm’s primary resource.

Essential roles of a manager

Hire great people Performance management Team development Setting overall direction Being an important and supportive team member Doing unique work that no one else could or should do Manage resources  Improve processes and quality  Self-development

Self-motivational factors

Maintain inner momentum and drive your business to success by honing your personal motivational skills. Healthy Self-Confidence. People who have a healthy level of

self-confidence are probable candidates for setting and reaching goals.

Optimistic Attitude. Setting Goals. Supportive Environment. Sweet Rewards.

Opportunities and Threats to careerprogression Personal SWOT Analysis Strengths What advantages do you have that others don't have (for example, skills,

certifications, education, or connections)? What do you do better than anyone else? What personal resources can you access? What do other people (and your boss, in particular) see as your strengths? Which of your achievements are you most proud of? What values do you believe in that others fail to exhibit? Are you part of a network that no one else is involved in? If so, what

connections do you have with influential people? 

Weaknesses

What tasks do you usually avoid because you don't feel confident doing them?

What will the people around you see as your weaknesses? Are you completely confident in your education and skills training? If

not, where are you weakest? What are your negative work habits (for example, are you often late,

are you disorganized, do you have a short temper, or are you poor at handling stress)?

Do you have personality traits that hold you back in your field? For instance, if you have to conduct meetings on a regular basis, a fear of public speaking would be a major weakness.

Opportunities

What new technology can help you? Or can you get help from others or from people via the Internet?

Is your industry growing? If so, how can you take advantage of the current market?

Do you have a network of strategic contacts to help you, or offer good advice? What trends (management or otherwise) do you see in your company, and how

can you take advantage of them? Are any of your competitors failing to do something important? If so, can you

take advantage of their mistakes? Is there a need in your company or industry that no one is filling? Do your customers or vendors complain about something in your company? If

so, could you create an opportunity by offering a solution?

You might find useful opportunities in the following: Networking events, educational classes, or conferences. A colleague going on an extended leave. Could you take on some of

this person's projects to gain experience? A new role or project that forces you to learn new skills, like public

speaking or international relations. A company expansion or acquisition. Do you have specific skills (like

a second language) that could help with the process?

Threats

What obstacles do you currently face at work? Are any of your colleagues competing with you for projects or roles? Is your job (or the demand for the things you do) changing? Does changing technology threaten your position? Could any of your weaknesses lead to threats?

aims and objectives

achievement dates review dates; learning programme/activities; action plans; personal development plan