From the Business Communication Forum Lead – Miti Ampoma
As 2014 kicks off with the news that the British economy is finally emerging from a bruising recession, I reflect on an article I read in the Telegraph in 2013. It reported on a survey by the charity Young Enterprise and Citigroup which found that “British employers rate communication and literacy skills (59pc) as the most important skill” when recruiting a young person for a job. Yet “seven out of 10 managers in Britain think it is difficult to find good quality applicants with the right skills or personal qualities needed to fill junior positions”. So what’s going wrong?
Technology great as it is, is creating an over reliance on new forms of communication like texts, social media, smart phones and twitter for young people. For many it’s the only way they know. So of course it’ll be a shock to enter the job market and find you’re required to write with meaningful vocabulary not riddled with text speak, to articulate ideas face to face, to show initiative and be confident. These are skills that need to be taught. What employers are saying through surveys like the Young Enterprise and Citigroup is that personal attributes like communication and literacy skills are more important than top exam results. Yet these vital skills have been labelled “soft skills” and left largely to emerge by osmosis. Technology should support young people’s learning to acquire the skills to build relationships and communicate effectively, not replace it. Business, academics and government need to come together to push this topic far higher up the national agenda. If they don’t, we risk facing a different recession – the ticking time bomb of a generation of young people, great with technology but ill-equipped with personal interactive communication skills.
– Miti Ampoma