Organisational skills top list of employable traits - Report

Dr Joweria Mayanja Teera , presenting findings of a study titled: Skills Matching, Wages and Productivity Gains: Creating a Competitive Advantage for Ugandan Youth in the Labour Market, at the College of Business and Management Science, Makerere University (COBAM). PHOTO/ISMAIL MUSA LADU.

Summary

• The research principal investigator of the study, Dr Joweria Mayanja Teera- noted that organisational skill is one of the most valued employable traits in the labour market. 
• 61% employers demand for workers in possession of organisational skills and socio-emotional competencies.

By ISMAIL LADU

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Workers with good organisational skills and strong emotional intelligence are highly sought after than those who possess other competences, including technical know-how—knowledge.     

This is according to a study titled: ‘Skills Matching, Wages and Productivity Gains: Creating a Competitive Advantage for Ugandan Youth in the Labour Market,’ which indicates that six out of 10 employers tend to prefer workers with organisational and soft skills over many other employable traits. 

Presenting the study which sought to identify employable skills that Ugandan youth lack and while offering possible solutions, Dr Joweria Mayanja Teera, the chair in the  Department of Economic Theory and Analysis, School of Economics, College of Business and Management Sciences at Makerere University, notes that most employers are likely to employ workers with organisational competence ahead of technical skills, which is equally an important employable trait.        

“61 per cent of the employers demand for workers in possession of organisational skills and socio-emotional competencies, 58 per cent demand for workers with participatory and generic skills, while 53 per cent demand for workers with methodological or technical skills,” Dr Teera, who is also the report principal investigator said last week at Makerere University. 

Regarding employers demand for skills, the director of labour and employment at the Ministry of Gender, Mr Martin Wandera, said the study confirms his long held view that technical skills, although critical, are not decisive in terms of whether one gets employed or not.

According to Mr Wandera, technical skills are trainable and in many cases can be learnt through on-job training.  This explains why employers are not as concerned about it as they are about organisational and social skills.  

In terms of emotional intelligence, it emerged that this can be instilled right from a young age at the family level all through the educational stages rather than hoping that it can be gained naturally at a later stage in life or professional career. 

The study recommends for regular updated labour market information to guide career choices among the youth and ensure that students are equipped with a solid foundation of organisational, technical and participatory skills, let alone generic and socio-emotional competencies.

The good, bad and ugly
The study reports that a high percentage of youth indicated having not only organisational but also participatory skills, generic skills and socio-emotional competencies with proportions above 60 per cent. But many lack the technical skills which do not come cheap in terms of cost, time and opportunity.  

With recent changes in work as a result of technological change and digitisation, jobs are becoming increasingly skills-intensive. This, according to Dr Teera, calls for a proper match between the demand for and supply of skills in the labour market. 

The study finds that firms face skills gaps as employees tend to have different skills and capabilities from those required at workplaces. The findings also show that well-matched employees in reference to organisational, participatory, generic and socio-emotional skills receive a higher wage compared to their under skilled or over-skilled counterparts. 

Skills gaps...Unemployed youth
The economy still faces skills gaps and skills mismatch offered by training institutions and those demanded in the job market especially in the key sectors of the economy, something that affects the country’s growth potential.

The latest National Labour Force Survey (2016/17) found that the majority of youth aged 18-30 years are either unemployed or employed in the informal sector. Less than 15 per cent had formal jobs. About seven in every 10 Ugandans are engaged in subsistence farming.
iladu@ug.nationmedia.com