Verbal communication looks at the tone of voice, the speed in which we talk and the language used when talking. This is used in our every day life and is the most common form of communication. Examples of this are general chats, news broadcasts and speeches. Verbal spoken communication can help a student to make new friends, feel more confident and socialise more. Students can improve this skill when talking to teachers or classmates, giving presentations or socialising with friends. A future employer would find this important as a worker would need these skills to be efficient in the workplace. For example, an employer would want its employees to be able to communicate with customers to bring good customer service and colleagues to promote team building. However, not all jobs require good communications skills. Working in a factory that uses flow production such as a car manufacturer would mean that workers are more efficient if they concentrate on their work rather than talking with other employees. This type of job does not require a worker to communicate with customers so communication skills may not be that important to employers in the primary sector. However, communication with colleagues helps to motivate employees which suggests that all employers would want their workers to have good verbal skills therefore makes it important in all sectors of work, although the tertiary sector may be the most important.
Another form of communication is non-verbal. This is facial expressions, body language and general actions are used to communicate to one another. We use this form everyday naturally which tells others what we are thinking or how we are feeling. Our physical appearance will also give an impression people we first meet. For example, if an employer was to interview a student, their first impression would be based on appearance. They would also notice body language which could determine whether or not an employer is interested or not. The importance of this to the employer is that it shows them a persons personality through dress code, eye contact and physical actions and reactions.
Team work is another transferable skill that students will acquire at university. This is where students are able to work in a team and show leadership within a group. This is normally acquired through group tasks such as presentations. According to team builders.com, teamwork within a company “reduces downtime, increases productivity, reduces turnover and lowers implementation time. Working in a group requires leadership and careful planning to allocate tasks accordingly. Teams must all agree on decisions in order for them to work efficiently. ‘The Students Skill Guide’ by Sue Drew and Rosie Bigham outlines group work as being an activity involving working with others where you are able to share resources, ideas and abilities and being able to help and learn from each other. The effectiveness of group work is determined by who is actually in the group as well as individual skills, confidence and leadership. Employers would see this as important as in the workplace, employees may have to work with each other in order to complete set tasks. This will enable staff to be motivated as they are able to socialise whilst working. In group work there must be a clear direction therefore a leader is needed to organise people and work, objectives and goals. Employers would certainly want to hire someone who has the ability to lead and direct others. People who are unable to work well in teams can cause de-motivation to the work force as they could let others down. This would affect production within the business meaning that employers would not employ someone who lacks team working skills. However, team working skills may not be important to an employer if employees are to work solely on their own. Team working skills would therefore not be needed in this type of business so some employers may not find this skill too important depending on the business itself. Although team work is a good skill to have, not all jobs require it, therefore not all employers would find this essential.
Overall, transferable skills are important to employers for different reasons. Some skills are more important to employers than others, mainly depending on the sector of market. Communication skills tend to matter more to employers in the tertiary sector as this involves a lot of customer service and communicating to external people. This would mean messages and are more clear within a business therefore operating more efficiently. However communication skills are not that important when working in the secondary sector. Jobs such as manufacturing cars do not normally require communication skills as work is mainly machine orientated. Team working skills in an individual would increase their employment prospects. Employers tend to employ people who are able to work well in teams as this would motivate the whole workforce. However, this also depends on the type of business as a job such as being a cleaner does not really require any team working skills due to mainly working alone. However most tertiary sector jobs do use team working in day to day life so employers working in this sector may find this skill very important when considering candidates.
Books used:
‘The Student Skills Guide (second edition)’ by Sue Drew and Rosie Bigham
‘Skills Development for Business and Management‘ by Kevin Gallagher
‘Developing Essential Study Skills’ by Elaine Payne and Lesley Whittaker
‘Team Building: An Exercise in Leadership’ by Robert B. Maddux, Barb Wingfield
Websites used:
http://www.teambuilders.com/index.php/learn/importance_of_team_work/
http://
http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=191726
