Nurturing the skills for a work-ready generation

ENTERING the workforce for the first time can be a real challenge. School leavers and graduates face the daunting task of standing out from a crowd of eager but equally inexperienced candidates.

Even if they do manage to pip their counterparts to the post, young people can struggle to get on in the world of work if they are not equipped with the right skills. Without a reference point as to how to meet the expectations of their employers and colleagues, even the most academically strong can stumble, and stall, at an early stage in their career.

The fact is, many employers feel that young people simply don’t have the skills necessary to be effective members of the workforce. A study conducted by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants found that eight out of 10 school leavers “lack essential workplace skills”, whilst two-thirds of businesses cite graduates’ failure to master abilities like resilience and self-management as barriers to their success.

Although academic achievement and technical ability are highly important, having work-ready life skills – so-called “soft skills” such as problem-solving, resilience, confidence and time management – are equally, if not even more, important to many job roles. Given this, it is vital that we do more to prepare our young people for the world of work if we want them to succeed.

Often, young people’s acquisition of these soft skills is left to chance. Many seem to take the attitude that you either have these skills or you don’t. But soft skills are not necessarily innate. Just like “hard” skills – technical abilities like mathematics, computer programming, writing and translation – soft skills can actually be learned.

Schools and educational institutions can play a big part in

‘Soft skills’ such as problem-solving, resilience, confidence and time management are important

overcoming the problem of the skills gap, to the benefit of future employers and employees alike. By nurturing these essential life skills in pupils from an early age, we can ensure that young people can enter the world of work with confidence.

At George Heriot’s School we have introduced programmes and activities which have been designed to encourage the development of our students’ soft skills. These include a work experience and voluntary service programme, enterprise challenges, lessons to help students identify their strengths and workready qualities, and challenges that encourage teamwork and creativity. We also focus on promoting a culture of kindness – such an important but often overlooked trait in the world of work.

Local businesses can also play a significant role in enhancing young people’s employability prospects. By partnering with schools, businesses can actually help to overcome skills gaps by identifying the areas where young workers are underperforming, and then work with schools to provide pupils with the experience necessary to gain these abilities. This is not only of benefit to students, but also to businesses, who themselves struggle to find suitable young candidates to fill vacant roles.

Over the past few years, we have forged strong connections with some of the exemplary businesses that are based in Edinburgh. By providing our students with the opportunity to get hands-on experience at these fantastic companies, we provide them with the resources to thrive in a place of work.

We firmly believe that equipping our students with these abilities from a young age will prepare them to transition into the world of work with much less turbulence and stand them in good stead for their future careers.

Agenda is a column for outside contributors.

Contact: agenda@theherald.co.uk