In the midst of talent shortages, many
organizations may be missing out on the best talent
by focusing too much on diplomas instead of
competencies. What is true education? What skills do
employees in the 21st century workplace need to be
successful?
Findings in an October 2006 survey from the
Conference Board, an organization of American
businesses, showed that many recent college
graduates are unprepared for the workplace. Of the
431 employers surveyed, only 10% said that
graduates of two-year colleges were "excellent" in
their overall readiness and preparation for work and
only 24% rated graduates of four-year colleges
as "excellent."
The business respondents cited communications
as the greatest area of weakness. More than a quarter
of new workforce entrants with four-year degrees and
more than half of those with two-year degrees were
rated as "deficient" in their ability to write and
comprehend written material. The respondents said
81% of workforce entrants were deficient in written
communications, such as memos, letters, and
complex technical reports, and 72% were deficient in
grammar and spelling. The majority of employers
were dissatisfied with graduates' inability to read and
understand instructions and other materials and to
perform simple math, such as calculating and
applying proportions, rates, percentages, and ratios.
Many graduates were also unable to select and use
audience-appropriate formal, informal, literary, or
technical language. These findings are not surprising
given the results from the 2006 National Assessment
of Adult Literacy, which concluded that literacy among
college graduates was not only shockingly low but
trends show it continues to decline.
When asked to identify the most important skills
for new workers to possess, employers cited
communication skills as the most important. More
than half the Conference Board respondents said that
critical thinking and problem-solving were "very
important" for successful job performance. Yet, in
focus groups and roundtables conducted throughout
the U.S., local employers said the public education
system has done a poor job in equipping students
with academic and nonacademic competencies.
Employers stated that new workers need more than
specific content knowledge. To be successful in
today's workplace, new workers need soft skills and
the ability to apply skills across academic areas.
Researchers point to the success of individuals
who possess excellent "habits of mind." Anthony
Carnevale, an economist and researcher at George
Washington University, says that the most valuable
workers, those who have "higher mean earnings
across all levels of education," are those "who score
higher on measures of complex problem-solving,
critical thinking, creativity, and fluency with ideas." The
workplace generally requires proficiency in writing to
persuade or inform or conducting research and using
evidence to support a position, but educational
institutions rarely prepare students with these skills.
David Conley, in a report for the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, discussed the importance of "analysis,
interpretation, precision and accuracy,
problem-solving, and reasoning."
Harvard University psychologist Howard Gardner
discussed in his new book, Five Minds for the
Future, the cognitive abilities that workers will
need for the future. These skills are hard to acquire in
the education system as it currently exists. Workers
who will command the highest salaries are those who
can "master ways of thinking in one or more content
disciplines or a professional craft; synthesize ideas
across disciplines and communicate that to others;
uncover and clarify new problems, questions, and
phenomena; be aware of and appreciate differences
among individuals; and know and act on one's
responsibilities as a worker and a citizen."
A Washington-based nonprofit group Achieve,
which examines college and workforce readiness,
reports that there are many high-skill, high-wage jobs
that don't require a four-year degree, but rather some
training and education beyond high school. No one
denies the link between education and earnings, but
education and competencies can be developed
outside of the classroom through experience and
through engaging in activities and reading that spans
disciplines.
Many graduates today are deficient in the most
critical skills because of lowered academic
standards. Many tests no longer require essays but
rather use true-false statements because they are
easier and faster to grade. Book reading in many
schools has been replaced by videos. As a result,
even college professors have lowered their reading
and writing standards to appease students who
dislike and avoid reading and writing assignments.
Peter Sachs, author of Generation X Goes to
College, says he lowered academic standards
and increased the “fun” quotient in his
courses so he could keep his job.
True education, as results from these and other
studies show, is accomplished by building
competency through developing and cultivating one's
mind—one's thinking. While education plays a
crucial role in developing the mind, lifelong learning is
as important. Statistics show that less than
one-quarter of college graduates read even one
book a year after graduating from college. Too often,
recruiters are screening out excellent, high-performing
talent by focusing too much on college degrees as
proof of future performance. Ultimately, successful
businesses are ones that are more interested in
competencies, not just diplomas.
The trend toward outsourcing HR processes has
led to increased use of education as a primary
screening tool because it's easier. Companies would
be better served to benchmark key positions to
understand what competencies, academic and
nonacademic, are truly needed. By examining what
high performers in various positions do (behavior)
and possess (competencies), companies can utilize
recruitment strategies and tools that are far more
effective in assessing candidates' true abilities. That
way, companies are more likely to find and hire the top
talent (Sources: "Diplomas Count: Ready for What?"
Education Week, 6/12/07; Skills College Grads
Really Need," Higher Education Brief No. 938, John
William Pope Center for Higher Education, 2007).
