Employability Skills in Health Services Management: perceptions of recent graduates

Messum, DG; Wilkes, LM; Jackson, D; Peters, K

Employability Skills in Health Services Management: perceptions of recent graduates

Messum, DG Wilkes, LM Jackson, D

Peters, K

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Publisher:: Australasian College of Health Service Management
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management, 2016, 11, (1), pp. 25-34
Issue Date:: 2016-03-16

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Messum, DG
dc.contributor.author	Wilkes, LM
dc.contributor.author	Jackson, D https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5252-5325
dc.contributor.author	Peters, K
dc.date.accessioned	2022-08-16T22:12:13Z
dc.date.available	2022-08-16T22:12:13Z
dc.date.issued	2016-03-16
dc.identifier.citation	Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management, 2016, 11, (1), pp. 25-34
dc.identifier.issn	1833-3818
dc.identifier.issn	2204-3136
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/160388
dc.description.abstract	<jats:p>Background: Employer skill requirements of graduates are monitored by Graduate Careers Australia, but health services management (HSM) specific employability skills (ES) perceived by graduates to be important on the job and their perceptions of skills they need to improve are not well reported. Academics need this feedback to improve course employment outcomes by helping current students identify and articulate appropriatecompetencies to potential employers. Also teaching of industry requirements can help improve job matching for employers. Method: Recent graduates working in HSM in New South Wales, Australia were surveyed to rate ES for importance and rate their own skill levels on the same items. The gap between these two ratings was identified for 44 ES. Results: ES important to recent graduates in rank order were: verbal communication skills, integrity and ethical conduct, time management, teamwork, priority setting, ability to work independently, organisational skills, written communication, being flexible and open minded and networking. Highest self-ratings were found for integrity and ethical conduct, ability to work independently, being flexible and open minded, tertiary qualifications, interpersonal skills, written communication skills, time management, life-long learning, priority setting and administration skills. Generally graduates rated their skills lower than their ratings of importance. Conclusions: Recent graduates can provide valuable feedback to universities about ES required for HSM positions and identify their own skill gaps for development at work or through study. Generic skills rather than job-specific skills are what they rate as most important. Closer engagement of universities and employers is recommended especially through placements. Abbreviations: ES – employability skills; GCA – Graduate Careers Australia; HEI – higher education institutions; HRM – human resource management; HSM – health services management; IPC – interpersonal and communication skills.</jats:p>
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Australasian College of Health Service Management
dc.relation.ispartof	Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.24083/apjhm.v11i1.235
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.subject	1117 Public Health and Health Services, 1503 Business and Management, 1605 Policy and Administration
dc.title	Employability Skills in Health Services Management: perceptions of recent graduates
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	11
utslib.for	1117 Public Health and Health Services
utslib.for	1503 Business and Management
utslib.for	1605 Policy and Administration
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
dc.date.updated	2022-08-16T22:12:12Z
pubs.issue	1
pubs.publication-status	Published online
pubs.volume	11
utslib.citation.issue	1

Abstract:

Background: Employer skill requirements of graduates are monitored by Graduate Careers Australia, but health services management (HSM) specific employability skills (ES) perceived by graduates to be important on the job and their perceptions of skills they need to improve are not well reported. Academics need this feedback to improve course employment outcomes by helping current students identify and articulate appropriatecompetencies to potential employers. Also teaching of industry requirements can help improve job matching for employers. Method: Recent graduates working in HSM in New South Wales, Australia were surveyed to rate ES for importance and rate their own skill levels on the same items. The gap between these two ratings was identified for 44 ES. Results: ES important to recent graduates in rank order were: verbal communication skills, integrity and ethical conduct, time management, teamwork, priority setting, ability to work independently, organisational skills, written communication, being flexible and open minded and networking. Highest self-ratings were found for integrity and ethical conduct, ability to work independently, being flexible and open minded, tertiary qualifications, interpersonal skills, written communication skills, time management, life-long learning, priority setting and administration skills. Generally graduates rated their skills lower than their ratings of importance. Conclusions: Recent graduates can provide valuable feedback to universities about ES required for HSM positions and identify their own skill gaps for development at work or through study. Generic skills rather than job-specific skills are what they rate as most important. Closer engagement of universities and employers is recommended especially through placements. Abbreviations: ES – employability skills; GCA – Graduate Careers Australia; HEI – higher education institutions; HRM – human resource management; HSM – health services management; IPC – interpersonal and communication skills.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/160388