Employability Skills: A Review

This assignment is a literature review examining the concept of employability skills. It analyzes various definitions and frameworks used to understand employability skills, exploring strategies for their development in higher education settings. The review also delves into the impact of employability skills on student outcomes, including graduate employment and career satisfaction. It draws upon scholarly articles from reputable sources to provide a comprehensive overview of the current understanding and debate surrounding employability skills.

EMPLOYABILITY
SKILLS

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
A.............................................................................................................................................1
B.............................................................................................................................................2
C.............................................................................................................................................2
D.............................................................................................................................................3
M1...........................................................................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
A.............................................................................................................................................4
B.............................................................................................................................................4
C.............................................................................................................................................5
M2...........................................................................................................................................5
D1...........................................................................................................................................5
D2...........................................................................................................................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
A.............................................................................................................................................9
B.............................................................................................................................................9
C...........................................................................................................................................10
M3.........................................................................................................................................10
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................11
A...........................................................................................................................................11
B...........................................................................................................................................11
C...........................................................................................................................................12
D3.........................................................................................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Different roles require distinct set of skills, abilities and knowledge. It assists an
individual to build career in the desired field. These skills assist a person by adding value in an
individual’s knowledge in practical aspect. These are the most required skills and abilities in an
organization to get optimum results. On the basis of present case study, Coca-Cola has taken into
consideration. It is a global leader in beverage industry where it aims at providing quality soft
drinks to its customers. Purpose of report is to define the responsibilities and objectives that are
performed by an individual. It is going to depict an appropriate solution to the work based
problems. Present report is prepared with an aim to enlighten the importance of employability
skills and its various aspects.
TASK 1
A
An organization is made up of different people who come from different backgrounds,
culture, aim and values. In order to attain corporateorganizational objectives, they work on a
common platform. However, On the basis of present case study variety of tasks and duties are
required to be performed in Coca-colaCoca-Colacorporates. The eEmployees of the company It
needs to have quality skills and abilities that assist a subordinate an employee to get the desired
goals. In order to create a development plan for next three years, it is required to first set the
responsibilities to be performed. For the first year, my responsibilities are to learn core business
concepts and its operations so that I can get an idea about my duties to be attained. After 2years,
I see myself as a Human resource manager in company. In order to attain my objective, it is
necessary to get practical knowledge of recruitment process and plan (Andrews and Russell,
2012). It will assist me to conduct recruitment and selection process being an HR manager. The
duty of a manager is not only to get the things done by employees but to enhance their interest
and make them resist in the organization with the help of motivational techniques.
CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLAN
OBJECTIVES RESPONSIBILITIES
First year To get knowledge of HR practices
and procedures
I will perform the duties related
with recruitment specialist.
1

Second year My objective for second year is to
become the HR manager.
I will analyse the HRM process and
administrative functions.
Third year To become a senior Human
resource manager
Responsibilities to be performed
isResponsibilities to be performed
are to supervise the recruitment and
selection process.
B
In order to evaluate the effectiveness of responsibilities, above plan is going to specify
my objectives. As it is explained above, at initial level, I will focus on working toon
understandingon understanding the process and procedure of HRM. I already have got plenty of
theoretical knowledge and found myself to be successful at this level. Further, I worked on
analysing the recruitment and selection process which leads to attain my personal goals. Process
remained effective where I improved myself in different areas. Earlier, I had small amount of
knowledge about the internal sources of recruitment but with the help of this plan, I came to
know about the external sources. It will help me to make better analysis of the administrative
process (Chertkovskaya and et.al., 2013).
For the third year, I will be responsible for supervising the selection and recruitment
process. I aim to be the senior human resource manager and to achieve the same, it is necessary
to perform responsibilities effectively. Earlier, I had some theoretical knowledge of selection and
recruitment process. But with the help of setting responsibilities and objectives, I can better
attain my goals.
C
On the basis of above career plan, I have analysed my two strengths and weaknesses that
are required to be improved. My strengths are good at communicating with the members and
leadership skills. On the other hand, my weaknesses are not good at planning and presentation.
For better performance of tasks and to meet the future needs and demands, it is crucial to
overcome weaknesses. In order to improve the areas where I lack, it is recommended that
planning skills should be improved with the increased knowledge. With better understanding of
planning theories and updated ideas, my skills can be amended. Another weakness is my
2

presentation skills. I can overcome it attending technical sessions where training is provided
regarding the same. Training session will assist me in imparting required knowledge. It will help
me to face my competitors effectively.
This weakness can be enhanced with the consideration of above methods. It will assist in
proper implementation of career development plan. Effective implementation of plans will lead
to attainment of desired goals and objectives. Updated level of knowledge will result in better
formulation of plans. It will not only achieve the personal goals but also helps in achieving
organizational goals (Chertkovskaya and et.al., 2013).
D
Being the manager at Coca-Cola, it is my responsibility to motivate my employees time
to time so that, they would not feel overburden with work and work effectively. I will suggest
same to the branch manager of Birmingham. Different motivational theories can be considered
by the manager. Mainly, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Herzberg theory can be adopted. On
the basis of Maslow’s theory of motivation, certain needs of the employees are required to be
understood. With the help of these factors, employees of Birmingham will be willing to work.
Benefit of using this theory is that understanding the needs by organization will result in the
achievement of organizational goals. Management can also implement Herzberg’s two factor
theory. The advantage of this theory is that level of job satisfaction will be increased. With the
consideration of these theories, organization would be able to understand the factors that can
improve the performance of the employees. Concerned theories will define the importance of
providing incentives and rewards.
Management of Birmingham can also adopt another tool to improve the position and
motivation level of employees i.e. appreciation. Timely appreciation will assist employees to
increase their level of interest in work. It will also uplift their willingness to work and make them
integrated towards the duties and responsibilities of company. It will result in timely
achievements of goals and objectives of the company (Dhiman, 2012).
3

M1
My aim is to pursue career in the area of human resource because I like to communicate people. I
have completed my diploma in the field of HR.I want to make my career as an HR manager
because it is an area where I like to work. It is very demanding job an as per my interest. I will be
happy if I provide the best human resource to the organization.
TASK 2
A
Being a manager in charge of production unit at London, I was told to solve the problem
related to lack of space and Edinburgh unit is not utilised fully. On the basis of present case
study, a problem has arisen with the production unit at London and Edinburgh. It results into
wastage of money and space. It is also affectsting the production of the company because over
utilization of resources is done. To overcome this problem, a better solution is found. At Wales
production unit there is a problem of warehouse storage due to lack of space. On other side,
Edinburgh unit is not properly utilised. An optimum solution of this problem is that goods
produced from Wales production unit can be transferred to the Edinburgh unit. With this, So
that, wastage of material can be reduced and Edinburgh unit can also be is properly utilised. It
results into overcoming the issue of storage problem at WalesWales’s production unit.
It will also help in solving the problem of Edinburgh unit. Overall impact of these acts
areimpact of these acts is reduction in wastage and proper utilization of resources. In addition to
this, it will assist in proper management of goods and resources used. In order to solve the above
issue the management of Wales and Edinburgh can adopt the given solution (Wang and Tsai,
2014).
B
DeliveringCommunicating appropriate solution to the staff members of Coca-Cola will
result in proper management of operations. In order to communicate the required information,
different ways can be used by the manager. At top level, the information can be delivered by
conducting meeting where the problem and solution can be discussed among the mangers. At
middle level, using the company portal will help in providing information. It will assist the
company to send information at large level. At operational level, the number of employees
arenumber of employees is large so seminar can be conducted so that requiredthe piece of
4

information can be deliveredreached to each and every employee of operation level. On general
level, emails will be forwarded to all the members of hierarchy so that for a while in written form
information can be delivered. It will assist the management of Coca-Cola to pass on the
information to all the employees. It will make them feel they are equally required in the
company. There is one advantage of this is that if any employee has better solution then it can be
used by the management. It will help in getting optimum solutions to the company.
C
Being a manager at coca-colaCoca-Cola, I have analysed my organization is facing the
problem of accomplishing the tasks on time. It leads to affecting the productivity and
profitability of the company. It is crucial to overcome with the issue so that things can get done
on time. In order to sort this issue, time management techniques can be used. It will assist in
identifying the wastage of time. It will also help in knowing the areas or tasks that are time
consuming for the employees. Certain strategies are mentioned below which help in sorting the
issue of time management (Rosenberg, Heimler and Morote, 2012).
Setting priorities: I will suggest my staff to set priorities where the important task
should be done first. A list will be prepared by me to delegate the work to mythe team members.
Delegate: Delegation is the process of shifting the work from one person to another so
that workload on one person can be removed. It will help in allowing the person not to feel
overburden with the tasks.
Use of planning tools: Planning tool can be offered to the employees so that they can
write down the tasks to be performed. These tools' can be a diary, notepad, index cards etc.
With the consideration of the above strategies the time management issue can be sorted out. It
will result into increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the work.
M2
On the basis of above scenario, another method of communication can be used is video
conferencing. It can be used to delivered information to the employees who are not available or
present at workplace.
D1
On the basis of above scenario, the two methods of time management is considered i.e.
use of planning tools and delegation of work. It is concluded that planning tool is more effective
5

compare to delegation of work. Delegation is useful only at team level but the another method is
effective for individual. The management focus on improving individual's performance.
D2
6

7

8

TASK 3
A
On the basis of present scenario, team members are not agreed over the given solution.
Being a manager at Coca-Cola, I need to convince them to implement the decision. In order to
attain this, I will make them understand show them the advantages of implementing the solution.
It will result into helping them to know making them understand the positive aspects of the
implementation. The difference can be removed with the adoption of Belbin's theory. It will
assist the team members to understand individual and team roles as well. The concerned theory
consists of three roles i.e. action oriented, people oriented and thoughts oriented. Employees
under action oriented likes facing obstacles and challenges. They are ready to work with these
conditions. On the other side, employees under people oriented are the one who coordinates with
team members. Whereas, thoughts oriented are the one who are innovators. It is necessary for the
team members to understand each other’s behaviours and way of working. It will help in
achieving team goals and differences can be removed (Wang and Tsai, 2014).
B
Team dynamics is way that cab be adopted to understand the behaviour of team
members. The result of task can be affected by the members of team. For better understanding of
9

subject knowledge, Tuckman's model can be used. The model includes four stages i.e. forming,
storming, norming and performing. At first stage, the members have no idea about what I to be
done. Further, they get to know the personal duties and task. Here, it may happen when conflicts
arise. At norming stage, level of understanding is created among the employees. The conflicts
are resolved and perceptions are understood. At last, the whole team work in a same direction for
a team goal. Here, the team leader can divide work among its members. This theory helps in
understanding the team dynamics through which the behaviour of an individual in a team is
analysed. If the concept is followed by each and every team member then it will give fruitful
results. The duty of team leader is to conduct normative stage so that employees can make
effective introduction with each other. So that the differences can be eliminated and better
understanding among members will result into optimum performance of team goals.
C
There are some alternative ways that can be used to understand how to achieve set targets
by team members. The three alternatives can be taken are stated below (Rao, 2014).
Setting standard: The important tasks can be attained by setting standards. It will assist
in evaluating and identifying the team performance. The evaluation can be done with the
comparison of past performance of team with the stated ones.
Communication: It is a fruitful way to interact with the team members. At each and
every level communication is required so that a piece of information can be passed out. A leader
can communicate with the team members so that effective information can be delivered.
Motivation: It is a tool that assists in getting work done by others. It is the duty of leader
to motivate the employees so that they can improve their performance. It can be enhanced by
offering incentives and rewards so that they can uplift their interest towards the operations of the
company. It is the best way to get done work by others (Andrews and Russell, 2012).
M3
In this section, alternative ways are given that depicts how team leader can help its
members to set targets. In this section, communication with shareholders and different leadership
styles are used. Where it concludes that, effective leadership will help the members to work in
fixed direction.
10

TASK 4
A
On the basis of present study, two tools are considered to solve problems and helps in
developing a solution. In order to find solution, force field analysis and critical path method is
used. However, force field analysis is a method that helps in listing, discussing and evaluating
the several factors at the time of change. In an organizationadministration, when a change is
planned this analysis is considered. It assists an organization to take better business decisions. It
is mainly used at the time of implementing changes in the company.
On other hand, critical path method assists in planning all the tasksprojectthe entire
projects that are required to complete a project. In this method the tasks are divided on the basis
of activities. Each activity has certain duration. At this situation, the activities are need to be
completed in a sequence where the steps are completed one after another (de Guzman and Choi,
2013).
B
Coca-Cola can adopt appropriate strategies co that the problem can be resolved. The two
strategies are given below.
Product promotion: In order to increase the market share and sales, the management of
Coca-Cola can advertise its product with the help of better promotion techniques. Organization
can use online marketing technique, where they can interact with the consumers. Using this
mode will assist the company to gain attention of the consumers towards the products. Even, the
management can also provide discounts on cold drinks which leadslead to gaining the customers'
attention.
Product enhancement: It can also be used to improve sales of Coca-Cola. The company
can launch the same product with innovative manner so that the consumers can attract towards
the product. The value of a product can be improved with the use of attractive packaging.
Company can use attractive packaging which will catch the attention of customers. As a result,
the market share of the company can be hiked. Simultaneously, the organization can increase its
sales.
11

Non-performance of tasks: Decrease in market share can because of non performance
of tasks by the employees effectively. In order to achieve this factor, company can motivate its
employees so that their interest towards organization can be developed.
C
With the use of above mentioned strategy, Firmthe organization can improve its
performance. However, it has found that Coca-Cola has improved its market share. The
strategies remained useful for the company to improve its market share. In order to get positive
results the management of Coca-Cola can offer incentives and reward to the deserving
subordinates so that employees can work effectively. With the help of product enhancement, the
sales of company have increased. The company can improve itself with the adoption of certain
innovative techniques so that the sales can be hiked. The overall impact of the two strategies is
that the company is able to improve its sales. On other side, the market share has also increased
with the adoption of the two techniques (Andrews and Russell, 2012).
D3
The product department of Coca-Cola can use attractive packing so that the attention of
customers can be diverted. The department can offer extra amount of drink in the same pack.
Discounts can also be provided with 2liters of bottle biscuits or wafers are free. With the use of
these techniques it is sure that customers will get attracted towards the product.
CONCLUSION
Employability skills Employability skills certainly help are the most useful skills for in
boosting the productivity and performance improvement of performance of an individual. With
the use of appropriate techniques and strategies, a better solution to work based problem has
defined. This concept plays a crucial role in the life of an individual. To get desired jobs it is
necessary to adopt and improve these skills. Also, it aids in completing work on time and aids in
managing stress related to work.
12

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Andrews, G. and Russell, M., 2012. Employability skills development: strategy, evaluation and
impact. Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning. 2(1). pp.33-44.
Avramenko, A., 2012. Enhancing students' employability through business simulation.
Education+ Training. 54(5). pp.355-367.
Burnett, N. and Jayaram, S., 2012. Skills for employability in Africa and Asia. ISESE Skills
Synthesis Paper.
Chertkovskaya, E and et.al.,2013. Giving notice to employability. Ephemera: Theory and
Politics in Organization. 13(4). pp.701-716.
Dacre Pool, L. and Qualter, P., 2013. Emotional self‐efficacy, graduate employability, and career
satisfaction: Testing the associations. Australian Journal of Psychology. 65(4). pp.214-
223.
De Guzman, A. B. and Choi, K. O., 2013. The relations of employability skills to career
adaptability among technical school students. Journal of Vocational Behavior. 82(3).
pp.199-207.
Dhiman, M. C., 2012. Employers' perceptions about tourism management employability skills.
Anatolia. 23(3). pp.359-372.
Rao, M. S., 2014. Enhancing employability in engineering and management students through
soft skills. Industrial and Commercial Training. 46(1). pp.42-48
Rosenberg, S., Heimler, R. and Morote, E.S., 2012. Basic employability skills: a triangular
design approach. Education+ Training. 54(1). pp.7-20.
Wang, Y. F. and Tsai, C. T., 2014. Employability of hospitality graduates: Student and industry
perspectives. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education. 26(3). pp.125-135.
Online
Developing your skills. 2015. [Online] Available through:
<http://www.monash.edu.au/students/career-connect/employability/employability-
skills.html> [Accessed on 29th August, 2016].
Effective Employee Retention Strategies, 2016. [Online] Available through:
<https://www.roberthalf.com/employers/hiring-advice/employee-retention> [Accessed on
29th August, 2016].
13

Employability Skills 2009. 2015. [Online] Available through:
<http://www.conferenceboard.ca/topics/education/learning-tools/employability-
skills.aspx> [Accessed on 29th August, 2016].
14