Soft Skills in Demand to Enhance Employability: what are they and why are they on demand?

  

By Clive Mutame Siachiyako 

Job seekers equate to more than just their resumes that outline their educational and employment histories. However valuable these may be, there are other qualities that recruiters look for in potential candidates. These are often referred to as “soft skills”. In the ever-competitive job market, the measure of an individual’s general career success is the ability to use these soft skills to adapt to any assignment.

It cannot be expressed adequately how important soft skills are and how they can position a candidate for success in the workplace. Job seekers should thus critically leverage soft skills to land on a new job. Employers place a premium on employees’ ability to communicate, to think critically and solve difficult problems, to learn new skills, to lead others, to function independently, to work as part of a team to accomplish a common goal, and to accept and thrive with constant change. The problem is that the importance of soft skills is often undervalued and there is far less training provided for them than hard skills.

What are soft skills?

Soft skills are personal attributes such as the ability to give and receive feedback, work collaboratively, and manage time. They are usually self-developed (as opposed to hard skills, which you typically acquire in school or on the job). They are helpful in acquiring a wide range of jobs, not just one’s target job. Particularly with increase numbers of graduates, recruiters look for people who can become leaders, and leadership, itself, depends on several key soft skills.

Here are the top soft skills in demand for today’s job market:

1. Communication: the ability to communicate with others is a critical soft skill in workplaces today. Communication in the form of written materials (such as emails and letters) can support business objectives. Communication delivered to peers and customers in a verbal format can make or break a business. All job seekers can develop the soft skill of communication and become more valuable to employers by taking public speaking classes, honing their writing skills and learning more about body language’s role in communication.

More than just clearly speaking the language, communication skills involve active listening and excellent presentation and writing capabilities. One highly sought-after communication skill is the ability to explain technical concepts to partners, customers, and coworkers who are not tech-savvy.

2. Organisation: Organisational skills allow individuals to arrange their thoughts, time and tasks in a structured way. Individuals with this skills take a systematic approach to every task. They complete work without having to rush through it, balance multiple assignments and cut down on the number of mistakes. This include allotting the appropriate amount of time to each step of your plan and making decisions regarding required supplies and personnel.

 3. Teamwork Skills: Teamwork is the art of collaborating with others effectively and is vital in most professions. It has to do both with how different pieces of a larger puzzles come together, with different workers taking on different puzzle pieces, and how you approach specific colleagues when you are working together. Many people have different working styles and if you are great at teamwork you are able to interpret and adapt to these, ensuring that you work well together.

The bigger the company you work for, the bigger the chance that you are a member of more than one team, which means solid team player skills are crucial. How well do you work with other team members in reaching team goals? How do you help other team members? Are you an asset to every team that you’re a part of, and how? Good teamwork involves a combination of other soft skills. Working in a team towards a common goal requires the intuition and interpersonal acumen to know when to be a leader, and when to be a listener. Good team players are perceptive, as well as receptive to the needs and responsibilities of others.

4. Punctuality: No one likes to wait. Not for employees late to a meeting; not for candidates late to a job interview; and certainly not for colleagues who deliver their work late on million-dollar business projects. Punctuality and good time management are skills demanded by employers across all industries. That is because being late has the ability to negatively affect the whole team, disrupting meetings and giving yourself and others a reputation for being unprofessional. While it might be a big shift to how you organise and manage your life, learning to be punctual will benefit your career immensely.

There is no shortage of reasons for why being on time is a valuable soft skill to have. Exhibiting your consistent punctuality will show you are reliable and serious, and will always play a positive role should you want to be considered for more senior positions. It also has the following positive effects:

a)    It shows you are dedicated and serious about your work

b)   b) It exhibits respect to your colleagues, managers and stakeholders. If you’re always running late (even by a couple of minutes), then meetings, briefings will not start on time. This is productivity disruption

c)    You appear organised and professional. Much of being punctual is knowing the details, data and facts of the situations you face at work

d)   It reduces stress. Any action or habit that reduces stress and anxiety in your professional life should be pursued feverishly, so consider learning to be punctual a must. Arriving late is a known stressor and can make people feel isolated, ill-prepared, ineffective and fearful of discipline that being consistently late might warrant

5. Critical Thinking: The ability to use imagination, reasoning, past experience, research, and available resources to fundamentally understand and then resolve issues is attractive for obvious reasons. Critical thinking is the objective analysis of facts to form a judgment. It is the ability to think clearly and rationally, understanding the logical connection between ideas. It is thinking about things in certain ways so as to arrive at the best possible solution in the circumstances that the thinker is aware of. Highlight this skill by listing an example (or speaking of one in an interview) of a time when your company was dealt a sticky situation and you effectively addressed/resolved it via critical thinking skills.

6. Social Skills: They are also interpersonal skills. They are skills for interacting with other people. They include verbal skills (the ways of speaking to others) and nonverbal skills (body language, gestures, and eye contact). Almost every job requires social skills for effective interpersonal relations.

7. Creativity: This skill is helpful in developing innovative solutions to problems. It requires an openness to innovation and mental flexibility. In many sectors, creativity techniques are seen as a means to an end and are designed to achieve better results. This is probably the most underrated soft skill because it usually takes someone creative to appreciate the need for others who are, and most people just are not that creative. Creativity does not mean being an artist, it means being resourceful and innovative in finding solutions to problems at work.

8. Interpersonal Communication: The ability to work in teams, relate to people, and manage conflict is a valuable asset in the workplace. Interpersonal communication is an important skill to hone to get ahead, and as you advance in your career, the aptitude to work with others becomes even more crucial.

Interpersonal communication is the process by which people exchange information, feelings, and meaning through verbal and non-verbal messages [face-to-face communication]. It is not just about what is actually said - the language used - but how it is said and the non-verbal messages sent through tone of voice, facial expressions, gestures and body language. How something is communicated can be a source of conflict or building the team in workplaces.

9. Adaptability: industries can change at any time, leaving employees scrambling to adjust to new ways of doing things and new skills to learn. The ability to adapt well to change is a soft skill that is highly valuable to employers. When you can switch gears well and adapt to the conditions and procedures of a workplace, your status rises to that of a go-to person. Learn to be an observer and a problem-solver when developing this soft skill.

Naturally, people can be wary of leaving the comfort zone formed by their repertoire of hard skills. Adaptability is an important soft skill, inasmuch as it demonstrates an ability and willingness to acquire new hard skills, and an open-mindedness to new tasks and new challenges. Employers often seek candidates who can show a willing and upbeat attitude. The ability to adapt to changes should not be underestimated in today’s tech-driven and rapidly evolving business environment. The ability to pick up on new technologies and adjust to changing business surroundings is critically important.

10. Friendly Personality: People want to work with people they like, or think they will like—people who are easygoing, optimistic, and even fun to be around regardless of situation. Do other people tend to come away feeling good after working with you? How can you tell?

Some additional soft skills that are often in demand include:

a) Strong Work Ethic: Employers are looking for employees that take initiative, are reliable, and can do the job right the first time. Managers don’t have the time or resources to babysit, so this is a skill that is expected from all employees.

b) Emotional Intelligence: Although you will most likely never see this in a job description, Emotional Intelligence (EI) is a highly sought-after skill that relates to your ability to identify and manage not just your emotions, but those of others. Think of it this way: an employee who can talk another employee off a ledge—say, someone who’s having a particularly bad day, and showing it with their actions and emotions—would be considered someone with a high EI.

Emotional Intelligence describes the ability identify, assess, manage and control the emotions of one’s self, of others, and of groups. In addition to having a cadre of transferable skills relevant to a particular career field, employers are looking for candidates with sound emotional intelligence when hiring. Emotional Intelligence helps us connect and communicate with colleagues on a deeper level. In this very global world-of-work, EI helps us create stronger multi-cultural relationships and celebrate differences by allowing distinctive points of view to be valued.

c) Computer and Technical Literacy: Almost all jobs nowadays require basic competency in computer software, but many job seekers fail to provide this section because they think it’s implied. If computer skills are relevant to your field, insert a “Technical Skills” or “Systems Proficiencies” section to your resume.

d) Research Skills: With Google at the tip of your fingers, it’s easy to find answers to common issues. However, hiring managers seek employees that are skilled at assessing situations, are able to seek multiple perspectives, and gather more in-depth, harder-to-locate information.

e) Process Improvement Expertise: The number one goal every company has in common is to save money. Optimizing business procedures can save a company time and money. Quantify results in your resume by listing the before and after facts of projects that you took on.

Being able to grasp new skill, concepts and programmes takes a combination of soft skills that can set a candidate apart. The ability to then translate these new ideas into meaningful work tasks and when handling projects is what can help grow teams and develop more efficient methods. As a career professional, it is advisable to seek new opportunities to learn. As an employer, it is critical to provide learning opportunities to boost skills for your teams. The teams should be availed chances for learning leadership skills. Developing leadership skills can be a ticket to success in any industry. Leaders and managers take responsibility of their personal growth and development, thus inspiring others to do the same. Leaders are good decision makers, know how to tactfully deal with others and solve problems effectively. Courtesy of https://www.livecareer.com/career-tips/career-advice/soft-skills-in-demand

Sustainable Actions: South Luangwa declared first sustainable wildlife park in Africa

By Clive Mutame Siachiyako

Sustainability is a buzzword and desirable practice in many sectors in order to take care of today’s development without comprising the development of the future. Likewise, sustainable tourism practices are being embedded in tourism to meet tourists’ ecological preferences in tourist destinations they visit or plan to visit. After assessing the South Luangwa National Park’s potential to meet tourism needs of current and future generations, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) declared the national park Sustainable Wildlife Sanctuary. It is it the first to get that status in Africa.

The national park’s declaration was made during conference in Lusaka to commemorate 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. The UNWTO Secretary General Dr. Taleb Rifai made the pronouncement.

 

The Conference was held under the theme “Sustainable Tourism, a tool for inclusive growth and community engagement in Africa.” The symposium came at the backdrop of the framework of the 70^th United Nations General Assembly in December 2015, which designated the year 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. The designation of the year 2017 is an important milestone in the 2030 UN Agenda and in the progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and recognising tourism as a pillar of development.

Among other areas, the conference focused on sustainable tourism that benefits host communities of resources that attract tourists. Its deliberations were around continuous capacity building through [re]training so that as the tourism landscape changes, human resources to manage tourist sites are reskilled to keep the tourism sector in each country competitive. Identification of ecological tourism (ecotourism) skills and how to impart them on human resource in the sector was viewed an important aspect to tourism.

Deliberations on identifying ecotourism skills during the symposium were on: a) what kind of skills and knowledge were required for sustainable tourism, b) how will they be imparted (training system/methodology) on individuals working in the sector, c) who will offer the training (training providers), and d) what type of training will it be (short or long term).

Sustainable tourism is gaining prominence in tourism, inter alia, because of tourists’ preferences in minimising carbon footprint of their traveling or eating. They thus travel with climate in mind by planning wisely and choosing modes of travel/food stuffs consciously. Sustainable tourist sites that are as natural as possible, that provide organic food stuffs or use environmental friendly transport systems become preferred destinations to climate minded tourists.

South Luangwa National Park is habitat to many wildlife 

Other conference storylines were on how host communities can benefit from ecotourism, especially when they are vested with skills/knowledge that give them an edge to apply themselves amid changing tourist preferences and other sectoral dynamics. Research on emerging trends and designing training systems that ensured relevant human capital availability to harness sustainable tourism topped the discussions. The conference was the first flagship on sustainable tourism activities earmarked for different countries.

The conference also focused on partnerships between the public and private sector towards developing sustainable, quality and innovative tourism products. It provided public and private sector practitioners chance to share experiences on opportunities and difficulties to successfully collaborate on tourism development. Participants looked at partnership models that contributed to job creation, connectivity and inclusive growth in areas such as infrastructure, development finance, and service delivery.

Some difficulties cited in the sector included; a) access to finances b) access to land c) cost of doing business d) easy access to some tourist sites by tourists due to poor road infrastructure or lack of air transport to such destinations, and e) limited specialty training. Financial inabilities have excluded local people from tourism business opportunities. Inclusive growth should thus embrace financial inclusion to ensure local people become part of the sector. The cost of doing business and moving tourists from one place to another hinders most players in the sector to remain viable. Furthermore, limited specialised training excluded local people from the sector and frustrated them when they see outsiders earn good income from resources they [local people] should equally benefit from in terms of livelihood. Some training requirements cited were to do with making cuisines, handicrafts, jewelry and others. 

Other areas of interest during the conference were the role of technology in and for tourism development. Discussions were on advances in electronic-based information and communication technologies that contribute to the improvement of the value chain of services/products and to help develop viable sustainable models that mitigated some negative impacts of tourism. Opportunities for enterprises and tourism destinations to use technologies in a strategic and tactical manner to improve their position in the market while benefiting from the new customer trends were explored.

Global tourism trends show that contemporary customers were digital travelers. They are tech-savvy and tech-utilisers to get as much information as they want about potential destinations and their packages. Affordability of internet bundles emerged as a handy aspect in creating opportunities for customers and enterprise owners to consistently update their offers and respond to issues almost instantaneously to meet digital travelers’ expectations. Training needs around this topic were on a) information communication technology (ICT) literacy among entrants in the sector b) the need to upgrade curriculum for improved quality of skills and ability to entrants into the sector to utilise ICTs to maximise their potential in marketing their services and products c) training institutions’ deficiencies in terms of having modern training equipment in ICT and qualified trainers.

The conference further looked at “wildlife conservation and community engagement”. Ideas were shared addressing increasing levels of poaching and illicit trade of wildlife products that threatened achievements made in leisure tourism niche market. The UNWTO places Zambia top in providing wildlife viewing, nature destinations, adventure trips and cultural heritage tours. However, poaching and illicit trade of wildlife products endanger some of the most iconic species of Zambia. Wildlife conservation emerged as a valuable priority as it also contributes to job creation and engagement of local communities into tourism activities so that they are not left behind.

Overview of TEVET in Zambia: from the perspective of five pillars

By Clive Mutame Siachiyako 

A large part of the Zambian population is young and will in the next few years seek employment. Many of them are at crossroads today, trying to find answers to what they want to or what they can do in their careers. It is imperative that every individual is equipped with at least a skill such that they can earn their livelihood and contribute within their families. An overview of the TEVET sector is important to help career explorers, policy makers, parents and stakeholders in deciding pathways to pursue in policy making, sector investment, career options or initiatives to improve the sector.

This overview shows grey areas in TEVET and responsive strategies and innovations to address them and leverage TEVET's role in meeting labour market demands for skills development as well as i) job and wealth creation, ii) national goal of attaining the middle income status by 2030 and iii) industrialisation vision of the country in 2064 or iv) value addition, among others.

TEVETA uses government pronouncements, goals and visions as action plans in consultation with stakeholders in addressing grey areas in TEVET. Key questions in addressing these issues could be on: i) what kind of skills are needed to meet national goals and visions taking into account the country’s comparative advantage in terms of geographical position, weather and natural resources endowment?; ii) how are those skills going to be developed, in what quantities and in which sectors (strategies for skills development)?; iii) what challenges may emerge in developing required skills and how those challenges can be addressed?; and iv) what action plans are required at implementation and policy levels?

The main highlights of the TEVET sector are presented in five pillars as below:

Pillar 1: State of TEVET – Access and Participation

There is an increase in the number of training providers offering institutional qualifications, which are not recognised on the Zambia Qualifications Framework. An institutional qualification is awarded by a training institution rather than TEVETA or TEVETA accredited examination board contrary to TEVET Amendment Act No. 11 of 2005, Section 5 and subsections 2 (J, K and M). TEVETA is mandated to award qualifications and accredit foreign examination boards to award qualifications in Zambia according to TEVET Act Number 13 of 1998 read with Amended Act Number 11 of 2005. This Act mandates TEVETA to offer qualifications in TEVET as well as accredit examination boards in the sector for quality assurance purposes and standardisation of assessments (TEVET Amendment Act of 2005 section 5, subsection J).

Questions have been raised on the status of qualifications examined by training providers. Individuals with institutional qualifications in TEVET should know that those qualifications do not have a national recognition. The qualifications cannot be placed on the Zambian Qualification Framework or as entry for further studies.  Although some employers accept them either due to lack of knowledge of their status or otherwise, the papers do not meet national recognition requirements as TEVET institutions do not have legal mandate to examine and certify learners.

Demand for training and learners’ unawareness has created a fertile ground for offering institutional qualifications. Time and resources are unfortunately invested into qualifications that do not carry their prima facie value.  Information, Education and Communication have been some of the measures TEVETA is using to help learners not to invest into training qualifications that are not recognised. But when engaging institutions offering such training is not working as desired, law enforcement will be engaged to help avert the problem.

In addition, training has remained concentrated in 4 provinces along the line of rail (Central, Copperbelt, Lusaka and Southern provinces) disadvantaging provinces off the line of rail. 82% of training institutions registered by TEVETA are in the 4 provinces (see chart and table below). The areas away from the line of rail i) are denied access to training, ii) have limited skilled persons to drive and stimulate development in their locations, and iii) import skilled labour to undertake government and other projects, hence depriving such areas income.

Government policy to construct new Trades Training Institutes is key in increasing access and participation in TEVET and empowering people with lifelong skills required in adding value to products, job and wealth creation, and meeting medium and long term national development goals.

Furthermore, there is a shift from technical/vocational training to business training in TEVET institutions. This threatens Zambia’s competitiveness in the region (as artisans/technicians and other skilled persons required in the country’s economic mainstays of mining, tourism, agriculture and other sectors) will be in further short supply. Strategies such as 20% construction contract allocation to local people may not be actualised amid inadequate skilled Zambians to undertake them. The shift may put Zambia into a more consumption and trading country position instead of production and value adding to earn more from the resource endowment. Job creation, wealth and industrialisation are risked when skilled persons to drive the process are in short supply by training providers.

Pillar 2: TEVET financing – sustainable financing

Efforts to increase access to TEVET and improve efficiency/productivity among SME/Informal sector players have been made through the provision of funding. Both donor driven and government financing has been provided by TEVETA. The introduction of the Skills Development Levy, which translated into the establishment of the Skills Development Fund (SDF) is valuable financing window for improved TEVET. The SDF was established under the Skills Development Levy Act Number 46 of 2016. The Levy is 0.5% of the wage bill to an employee every month.

The Levy is however not payable by employers in the i) public service or local government, ii) employers who annual turnover is below K800, 000 (eight hundred thousand Kwacha), iii) public benefit organisation approved under the Income Tax Act and iv) Minister. Besides the SDF, the African Development Bank’s Support for Science Education and Training Project (SSTEP) provides funding to TEVET. More than K10.8m has been disbursed for SME/Informal sector and out of school youth training mostly for self-employment in 2016 and by June 2017 for the benefit of more than 5, 000 learners.

The principle objective of SSTEP is to increase access and improve quality and equity of science and technology in the three Higher Education institutions, namely University of Zambia, Copperbelt University and Mulungushi University. The other objective is to increase access and improve quality and equity of science and technology in the Trades Training Institutions, namely Northern Technical College, Nkumbi International College, Choma Trades Training Institute and Lukashya Trades Training Institute, in line with Zambia's Vision 2030 priorities on Skills Development.

One of the components towards increasing access and quality of science and technology in TEVET is enhancing Work-based and Entrepreneurship Skills; which covers Skills and Entrepreneurship training for out-of-school Youths and SMEs. SMEs/Out of School youth training is done through TEVETA registered institutions. Funded training has been in i) agriculture (poultry management, pig production, fish farming, horticulture and vegetable production, bee keeping and goat production), ii) construction (carpentry and joinery, bricklaying and plastering, plumbing and sheet metal, power electrical), iii) engineering/manufacturing (metal fabrication, automotive mechanics, diesel mechanics, vehicle body maintenance and refinishing, design and fashion, welding) and iv) tourism/hospitality (food production, wildlife safari guiding, safari driving, canoeing, and camp site construction). The funding targeted SMEs, out of school unemployed youth and entrepreneurs needing up or reskilling. 

TEVET fund is an economic regulatory tool. Training providers funded have to meet required standards and align training behaviour with government policy and quality of training. Pre-assessment of training facilities in institutions applying for funding is done to ensure conformity to training standards.

Pillar 3: equity and inclusiveness – gender parity

Technical and science programmes (from craft, technician and technologist) are male dominated in TEVET while business ones are dominated by females. Assessment and certification statistics from 2010 to 2016 show that the trend in technical and science programmes has remained the same and fluctuated in business programmes. For the period 2010 – 2016, 92% of learners in technical programmes were male and similarly 56% in science programmes were male. In 2016 alone, 94% of the learners in technical programmes were male compared to females. In the same year, the gap was at 16% in favour of male learners in science programmes. Most of the females in science programmes pursue nutritional courses (hospitality related), hence the narrow gap with the males. However, when it comes to business/social science programmes, female learners as shown in the table below:

The trend, although similar in technical programmes at trade test levels and skills awards; the number of female learners in science at these lower levels is higher as shown in the trade test table. This means, the higher the level, the less the number of female learners getting into these programmes. Lower numbers of females in technical and science programmes limits their participation in technical and scientific world of work or research. They have concentrated on social sciences, business and hospitality programmes.

TEVETA believes that the increase in the number of Technical Girls’ Schools might change the current status quo. Girls with technical and science career inclination and strengths may come into tertiary education in numbers similar to boys. Providing incentives such as scholarships and employment quotas for girls with technical and science based training might help narrow the mismatch.

Technical and science training is significant in strengthening Zambia’s ability to; i) add value to raw materials for more earnings, ii) innovating ways of efficient production, fighting diseases (diagnosis/treatment), utilising ICTs in commerce and trade to ease doing business, and iii) developing a competitive labour force in attracting investment. That is, having relevant and adequate skilled persons to drive and realise return on the investment.

Pillar 4: TEVETA developed and approved Curricula– curriculum development

As at 31st December 2016 TEVETA developed, reviewed and approved 247 curricula at technologist, technician, certificate, trade test and skills award levels. 53 of the curricula were at technologist level, 22 technician, 57 certificate, 89 trade test and 41 at skills awards. It is TEVETA’s mandate to develop and review curricula in consultation with industry to ensure it remains relevant to industry requirements from learners.

Pillar 5: strategies to improve quality of TEVET

New ways of improving TEVET are pursued constantly to make it more responsive to skills development needs and labour market requirements. Among them are: i) Work, Innovation and Skills Competitions Based TEVET Learning System and ii) Recognition of Prior Learning.

Work, Innovation and Skills Competitions Based TEVET Learning System is a collection of complementary activities and experiences designed to enable individuals acquire the Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes and Values (Competences) which with time, professional practice, mentorship and/or incubation support should help them transform into internationally competitive skilled persons exhibiting the following attributes among others: i) international skilled performer ii) critical thinker, iii) entrepreneurial and innovative problem solver, iv) effective and ethical leader, v) productive and responsible citizen, vi) Science, Technology, Engineering Mathematics (STEM) literate, and viii) climate change resilience and adaptation agent.

The Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is a process by which individuals can claim and gain recognition towards specific national qualifications based on demonstrated learning that has occurred at some time in the past. Therefore, RPL recognises knowledge, skills and attitudes that have been acquired in other forms of learning that were not certified. RPL involves documentation, validation, assessment and certification of learning that is acquired outside formal training (traditional or classroom) system.