Chapter 1 What is employability and what does it mean for you? - Wiley

Chapter 1 What is employability

and what does it mean

for you?

Lisa Taylor

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School of Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

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Introduction

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Employability may be something that you have never really considered in

detail before. Perhaps you have been focusing on completing your studies

without really thinking about what will happen when you have finished? Will

you continue studying as a postgraduate, go travelling or try to find a job in

your chosen profession? Your consideration of your own employability

should start as soon as possible and is a lifelong journey of learning and

reflection about yourself and what you can offer the world of work. What can

the world of work offer you? In a changing health and social care environ?

ment the opportunities within your profession are changing too ¨C What do

you need to do to respond to that in a proactive manner?

This chapter provides you with some of the history and theory behind

employability and encourages you to consider where you are in your employ?

ability journey. There are suggestions on what you can do to help develop

your own employability. The remainder of the book builds upon the concept

of employability presented in this chapter, focusing on key areas of personal

and professional development that are particularly relevant for healthcare

employability. Throughout this chapter you are encouraged to reflect and

consider how the information presented affects you own perceptions of

employability and your own employability journey.

Time for reflection

What do you think employability is? How have you considered employability

so far in your life? How do you think employability is different to employment?

How to Develop Your Healthcare Career: A Guide to Employability and Professional

Development, First Edition. Edited by Lisa Taylor.

? 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Lisa Taylor

What does the literature say on employability

and how it has evolved?

Employability is complex and it is clear from the available literature that being

able to develop a precise and clear focus on it as a concept is difficult (Harvey,

2001; Hillage and Pollard, 1998). Employability and career development are

very often conflated as concepts but are addressed individually in this book.

The debate on employability has been longstanding, reaching far beyond the

United Kingdom (Harvey and Knight, 2003). Although the meaning of

employability has changed over time (Moreau and Leathwood, 2006), the

importance of employability within the strategic direction of the Depart?

ment of Education has been highlighted (Hillage and Pollard, 1998). Some

authors state that employability has historically been viewed from a number

of ?perspectives ¨C economic social, organisational and individual ¨C with the

individual perspective emerging more in the 1990s (Nauta et al., 2009).

Rosenburg, Heimler and Morote (2012) discuss employability as the basic

skills needed for job performance and once an individual is in employment,

employability develops into transferable core proficiencies. They are, therefore,

suggesting that employability is a continuing process of personal and profes?

sional development. Yorke (2006) states that employability as a concept was

developed within education and focuses on the possession of relevant achieve?

ments and the ability to function in a job, not actually the process of acquiring

a job. Dacre Pool and Sewell (2007) support this assertion, suggesting that

employability is more than just getting a job. Employability is rarely defined as

an individual being equipped to do a job (Harvey, 2001). Some approaches

appear to confuse employability and employment (McQuaid and Lindsay,

2005). Harvey and Knight (2003) present different perspectives on employabil?

ity ¨C from developing attributes for graduate employment to the ability of a

graduate to get a job and to succeed in a job. Therefore, there are a wide range

of perspectives on employability, most of which reinforce the notion that

employability is more than just a set of skills and is a continuing process.

Time for reflection

How does the literature above inform your understanding of employability as

a concept? What and who do you think influences your own employability?

Towards a common language of employability

Despite the arguments presented that propose that employability is wider than

just a group of skills that individuals develop, skill acquisition still appears to be

the basis used for policy formation (Holmes, 2001). There appears to be an

What is employability and what does it mean for you?

3

assumption that skills are synonymous with employability (Holmes, 2006). It is

critical that education establishments and e? mployers have the same understand?

ing of employability (Holmes, 2001). This shared understanding is essential to

ensure consistency in expectations and to assist the transitions individuals make,

firstly from studies to employment and then within their careers. It is unfortu?

nate that little research exists to underpin the alternative approaches to the skills

approach to employability (Hinchliffe and Jolly, 2011). With employability being

high on some governments¡¯ agenda (Moreau and Leathwood, 2006), it is crucial

that this concept is adequately defined and researched to ?enable individuals to

understand and enhance their employability through a common language.

It is the employers that convert the employability of graduates into employment

(Harvey, 2001) ¨C so, as previously suggested, employability is the ?process of

equipping yourself for a job with employment being the outcome when you are

actually in a job. You need an awareness of what employers are looking for; this

may change in response to policy changes and economic changes, which are

?critical to keep abreast of. Professional bodies keep abreast and inform members

of changes that impact on their profession. However, on a local level the individ?

ual needs to understand the impact of changes on the work context. For example,

a speech and language service going through the tendering and contracting

?process requires flexibility and proactiveness of its employees. The journey of

employability continues for an individual as he/she continues to develop person?

ally and professionally in their job/s as they develop their careers (Figure 1.1).

Time for reflection

If you could design a model of employability ¨C what would it look like?

Models of employability

The main models of employability reported in the literature are presented

here. This provides an opportunity for you to consider how these reflect your

understanding of employability and whether they are models that you would

find helpful to apply to your own personal construct of employability.

Bennett et al. model on course provision

Bennett, Dunne and Carr¨¦ (1999) proposed a model focusing on course

?provision within education ¨C with five main areas of focus for education

establishments to adequately prepare students for the world of work:

1. Disciplinary content knowledge, for example anatomy and physiology.

2. Disciplinary skills, for example taking someone¡¯s blood pressure.

3. Workplace awareness, for example knowledge of what is offered and what is

required of you within the hospital workplace or area that you are working.

Your employability is

translated into employment ¨C

the OUTCOME

You being in employment.

Figure 1.1 The journey of employability

You develop your

employability

¨C the PROCESS

For example, being

involved in societies and

committees, developing time

management, team working

etc.

Undertaking additional roles

and responsibilities within your

job to further develop your

employability, e.g. supervising

staff, being involved in audit,

being involved in tendering

process etc.

Your journey of employability

continues to advance within

your current role ¨C PROCESS

Further

employment/promotion

opportunities ¨C OUTCOME

Being promoted to a new job.

What is employability and what does it mean for you?

5

4. Workplace experience, for example placement experiences.

5. Generic skill, for example team working, time management, communication.

Watts DOTS model

Further suggested models include the DOTS model, which is discussed by

Watts (2006). It is made up of four main components that break down

employability into manageable areas to focus on ¨C Decision learning,

Opportunity awareness, Transition learning and Self©\awareness. The inter?

esting aspect of the DOTS model is a self©\awareness of your skills interests

and values. For example ¨C if you are a physiotherapist ¨C does women¡¯s health

interest you or does musculoskeletal physiotherapy interest you? If you are

considering working within a social enterprise, do their care values match

your values and if they do not match up then how comfortable are you work?

ing within such an environment?

Dacre Pool and Sewell Career EDGE model

Career EGDE was presented in a paper by Dacre Pool and Sewell (2007). It is

a three©\tiered system. In the first tier, the following employability compo?

nents are included: career development, experience in life and work, degree

(knowledge and understanding), generic transferable skills and emotional

intelligence to motivate yourself and others. The second tier of the model is

a reflection and evaluation tier ¨C reinforcing the importance for you to reflect

upon your experiences. The reflection and evaluation feeds into the third

tier, which includes self©\esteem, self©\confidence and self©\efficacy. Reflection

upon your experiences is something that as healthcare students/practitioners

you are used to undertaking regularly.

The unique value of the Career EDGE model lies in its transferability to

any stage in a career. It is not exclusive to students, which reinforces the

?message that employability is a life©\long journey and does not end when

employment has been secured.

Yorke and Knight USEM model

The USEM (understanding, skills, efficacy beliefs and metacognition)

model presented by Yorke and Knight (2006) is reported to be one of the

most used and respected models of employability and offers another

model that looks beyond the skill development aspect of employability

(Hinchliffe and Jolly, 2011; Dacre Pool and Sewell, 2007). The USEM

model contributes to a large body of academic work on employability

which can make it inaccessible for individuals to use, resulting in it becom?

ing more of a guide for curriculum development rather than a clear guide

for personal employability development.

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