Employability skills for Australian small and medium sized enterprises: report of the interviews and focus groups with small and medium enterprises

The Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) and the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) funded a project in 2001 to analyse and report on industry requirements for 'employability skills'. This project was jointly managed by the Business Council of Australia and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and was completed in March 2002. Employability skills were defined for the purposes of the project as 'skills required not only to gain employment, but also to progress within an enterprise so as to achieve one's potential and contribute successfully to...  [+] Show more

The Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) and the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) funded a project in 2001 to analyse and report on industry requirements for 'employability skills'. This project was jointly managed by the Business Council of Australia and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and was completed in March 2002. Employability skills were defined for the purposes of the project as 'skills required not only to gain employment, but also to progress within an enterprise so as to achieve one's potential and contribute successfully to enterprise strategic directions'. The project was commissioned to provide: (a) advice on possible new requirements for generic employability competencies that industry needs, or will need in the forseeable future, since the development of the Mayer key competencies; (b) clear definitions of what Australian industry and enterprises perceive as employability skills and the terminology being used to describe them; and (c) a proposed suite of employability skills and assessment and reporting options. The project also investigated industry reactions to the proposed suite and reporting options and undertook case studies involving a number of large enterprises and focus group research with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This document reports on the case study research undertaken with 40 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to determine their views on the employability skills needed by individuals to enter employment and continue to participate in the workforce, with a focus on the future needs of their enterprises and the implications of these changes for their skill requirements. The research also investigated the relevance of the Mayer key competencies in the context of workplace change and employers' opinions on how the education and training system could facilitate better understanding and development of employability skills.

The project final report is indexed at TD/TNC 70.178. The literature review is indexed at TD/TNC 70.179 and the report on detailed case studies with large enterprises is indexed at TD/TNC 70.180.