Skills and Attributes Valued by Employers

Within the business society today skills and attributes which employees have help to build up the business as a whole. employers look to find different ways to make their business bigger and better and a way to do this is to employ people who have skills and attributes in which the business needs and requires. There are many different skills and attitudes in which employees could have although it is unlikely that they would have them all. Employees normally earn skills and attitudes by carrying out tasks such as powerpoints, and then looking back on that to see what improvements should be made. Below are a number of skills and attributes which have been described to show why employers look to employ certain people within them. these skills and attributes are based on three sections, specific attributes, general attributes and attitudes.Specific attributes are the skills neccessary to carry out the job, and the knowledge of the good working environment in which the employee is expected to carry out, general attributes are skills in which the business requires to carry out the job to some extent and attitudes are skills in which can be learnt.


Skills

1 Communication Skills:

Many employers within businesses look for communication skills, this not only includes speaking but also listening and showing an interest to what is being said. An employer will be looking for someone that has the confidence to put their ideas across to other members of the business and being clear and concise when doing so, they are looking for someone who will be confident in answering the telephone and being able to know what to say in advance, for example when an employer is looking to employ a secretary they are hoping to get an employee that has the skills to be clear and confident when taking on the task of answering the telephone. Employers are looking for someone that will have a positive body language and not giving across a negative feel to the business. Communication skills are highly important for an employee to have as they should be able to accept criticism when given by the employer.

2 IT Skills

IT skills are important within many businesses as there is an increase of computer software technologies and are seen to be one of the most important skills within a business in society today. Employers aim to employ someone of high IT skills if the employee will be mainly working with a computer. IT skills consist of the use of working a computer to a high standard and being able to use the software packages available to carry out everyday work. For example being able to type up a word document quickly and efficiently is also important as employers may need employees to send letters, or e-mails to customers, suppliers or other businesses and to ensure grammar and punctuation is correct as this gives the business a good name. As the use of IT increases employee’s will have to be trained to use the software packages correctly and to a high standard.

3 Team Working

Team working is important within businesses as in many team situation there is a leader, and other members of the team has different roles, therefore each team member should know what role they are within the team. Employers normally do team working exercises to establish team building therefore resulting in a friendly workforce as they are able to work together with no disputes this could be due to a difference of opinion or different personalities, for example in an advertising company members of a team could have a different opinion to what a new design of a poster was to look like, this is why team working activities are put in place, to get team members to gain trust and coordination with other team members.

4 Written Skills

When employers read an employees application forms, CVs and covering letters they are not just looking for what employees have to say about themselves or their skills and experience but also at how they say it. For example writing skills are very important because if an employee sends an email which is badly written or misspellings and incomplete sentences, along with paragraphs which are so long and confusing that it takes would take the reader a while to understand, this is form of bad writing skills which the employer will not want within his or her business.

5 Interpersonal Skills

Interpersonal skills are used when employees communicate with others and have the confidence to do so, Interpersonal skills also include employees being able to listen and understand what other work members, the boss, or customers are saying to them. Employee’s that have strong interpersonal skills are often more successful, this is professionally and in their personal lives. To gain interpersonal skills employees should Learn from there interactions. For example If an employee had a really good conversation with someone they would try and think why it went well and remember the key points for next time. If it didn’t go so well they should try again and learn something from it.

 

Attitudes

1 Independence

Independence is very important for employees within a workforce, as employers expect them to carry out the job required without needing help by other members of the workforce. Employers will expect employees to be capable of working alone and in a team, being able to work independently will show the employer the employees capability and confidence to undertake tasks single handily.  Independence will also show the employer how trustworthy and reliable that employee is. Independence is a big part in businesses as having capable employees show the business is organised and of a high standard.For example if the employer gives an employee a task they should be able to undertake it without any hesitation or problems and also without asking the employer what to do.

2 Self Motivation

Doing repetitive tasks within businesses can become dull and boring, this is why employees should be able to self motivate themselves to undertake the job role being given to the best of their abilities. For example self motivation pushes employees to reach higher, and set themselves targets and aims to reach within a given time period, this will improve their overall job performance.

 

3 ConfidenceWithin business employee’s are expected to have some form of confidence, when a business has employee’s which have high confidence level this then gives the business a strong image. A confident employee will be able to speak clearly to customers and put different points across when required. An employer isn’t going to want to employ someone who is afraid to comment or give opinions. Confidence enables someone to do their job to the best of their ability and carry out the job tasks required. For example if an employer gives an employee the task of presenting a presentation the employee should beable to present it clearly and positively to the audience, without the form of nerves or hesitation.

4 Leadership

A leader within a business organization should have a vision for the job that he/she is managing. It is important to have the right kind of vision for this as they are in charge of holding together the various aspects of the job. A misplaced vision will not only lead the employees astray but also ruin the business. The employer should inspire and motivate the employees to work towards a common goal. Leadership qualities are not something you are born with and therefore needs to be acquired if you are an aspiring business person. For example if an employer was to set up a group working activity an employee from that team will have to take charge and become the leader, this could cause problems with other employees within the group due to jealousy, although a leader is required to stop arguements and disagreements, and is put in place to take charge.

5 Problem Solving/decision making

Problem solving and decision-making are important skills for business and life. Problem-solving often involves decision-making, and decision-making is especially important for management and leadership. Problem-solving and decision-making are closely linked, and each requires creativity in identifying and developing options. For group problem-solving and decision-making workshops help. For example if there was a mix up with invoices from another business, the employee will have to beable to fix this problem without having to go to the employer or asking another employee. The employee should beable to fix the problem to the best of his/ her ability.

Basic Principles of Effective Communication

Effective communication is the pathway to build a strong relationship between employers and employees but unfortunately it's so often overlooked. There are three important basic principles of effective communication are:

1. Attention
2. Interest
3. Action

Attention

The most frustrating thing about communication is when communicating with someone such as employee but they do not listen to you. For example when your in the middle of a conversation and half way through you are rudely interrupted. A lot of the misunderstanding is caused by not listening to people.

Interest
Showt interest in everyone you talk to, or if they talk to you.It is important that you are interested in that people have to say, everyone has a story to tell, and once you’ve heard what they have to say respond perhaps by asking a question or two about, what they have said.

 

Action

There has to be a beginning, middle and end to every communication. It is important to let the other person know you understand and agree, if there is agreement needed. Within communication you should never make a promise you wont be able to keep, for example if an employee was to ask an employer for something, such as vending machines and the employer promises to do so, but due to healthy eating the employer is unable to bring vending machines in, therefore breaking an employee’s promise.

General skills:

Use of language to suit the audience:

It is important that when someone is choosing a language they chose one that will help to express themselves clearly and effectively. It is also important that the style of language chosen will suit the audience for example if someone was to give a presentation it will be formal.

Formal or informal:

Informal language is a tone that adds in conversation into the situation, this would be everyday spoken language which gives the person speaking a casual, relaxed effect.

Formal language is often used in presentation situations where the speaker doesn’t use any short words are slang which is used in society today, bust speaks proper and uses works which only come from the dictionary, the type of presentation would be for example a business presentation where it is important to come across as a high standard business.

Informal: Some adults haven’t got a clue about what is important to the younger generation.
Formal: Adults may not be aware of what is important to the younger generation.

Wording:

Language can often reflect harmful things which that people are against in particular groups. For example, racist language is directed at specific racial or ethnic groups and attacks people using words that would not be tolerated in in any speech situation.

Sexist language is directed against women and men. It may present negatively biased ideas about occupation, social roles, behaviour, and values of each sex.

Engaging an audience:

The best type of presentation is one when it is directed at a specific audience.
They will use language and tone that their audience will appreciate and understand. For example, when speaking to a group of people in the computer industry, technical language field can be used without confusing the audience.

Interpersonal Skills:

Interpersonal skills are sometimes also referred to as people skills or communication skills^. Interpersonal skills involve using skills such as listening and tone of voice. It is how well you communicate with someone and how well you behave or put yourself across. Having positive interpersonal skills increases the productivity in the organization since the number of conflicts is reduced. In informal situations, it allows communication to be easy and comfortable.

Body languauge :

There are many forms of body language and the way in which it can be put across for example when giving directions to a certain area the person who is telling the other person where to go will need to explain where the location is that the person wants to go to, but some people find it easier to use their hands to explain which road to take when giving the directions.

Another example of this is a primary school teacher, for example when the teacher goes to tell the children a story, to make this easier the teacher will use body language, these is to keep the children’s attention and to make it easier for the children to understand.

Although within the business environment body language will have to be used in a positive way when doing a presentation, for example pointing out the right image or piece of text which the person giving the presentation is giving. Body language makes those watching the presentation see that the presentor is confident and understands the presentation in which he or she is giving.

Asking questions- open and closed:

An open question is likely to receive a long answer than a closed question.

·         They ask the respondent to think and reflect.

·         They will give you opinions and feelings.

For example: ‘What did you do on your holiday?’

Closed questions can be answered with single words or a short phrase.

·         They give you facts. 

·         They are easy to answer.

·         They are quick to answer.

For example: ‘How are you?’

Barriers:

Although there are many barriers which could distract a person within a business from giving a presentation, talk or even writing an email. Background noise is a big issue within business, especially when someone is giving a presentation as the noise may distract them and make them loose their place, the background noise may also make the presenter lack in concentration throughout the whole presentation therefore resulting in key points being left out within the presentation.

Communication In writing:
In written communication the sender and receiver are more distinct. This can be done by letters, e-mails, books, magazines, the Internet, presentations or reports.
For example graphs, charts, maps, logos and other visualizations can communicate messages.

Communication theory states that communication involves a sender and a receiver of an email or letter. Emotionscan also be sent to the reciever as long as its the correct time in which they should be used,for example if a sad situation was to happen for instance if someone was to pass away then a sad face should be sent, although if it was a happy situation like a promotion then a happy face would be sent to the reciever.

Letter and Email:

A letter is a written message from one party to another. Althoug letters were the only reliable means of communication between two persons in different locations but in todays society letters have became a less useful way of getting in contact with someone. The only main reason for someone to send a letter would be a personalised letter from a business to one of its valued customer. Email is know one of the well know source to communicate from one party to another, although if a business was to send its customers an email some customers would send it to junk or delete it rather than opening the email and reading it.

Spelling and proof reading:
When the piece of writing is complete it is important for the sender to read through it, this is to stop any typo’s, spelling mystakes or setences which dont make any sense.  Most form of written work is normally formal, therefore it needs to be wordered correctly, if for example it was a letter to a customer from a company it would have be wrote without any mistakes, therefore the reciever would feel special for recieving a letter, meaning the business took time to send the customer a letter, and grammer and punctuation is always important as the reciever may be able to notice mistakes in which the sender has done.

Structure:

Structure is used to present the information so that it is more accessible to the reader. It all comes down to the problem of the short attention span from the reader. You have to provide the information in small manageable chunks so the reader will read the whole way through it. Although while breaking the information down the sender needs to ensure the information is still getting to the point and is valid information in which the reader will be interested in.

Barriers in Effective Communication

An effective communication barrier is one of the problems faced by many organizations.

Barriers can threat an important discussion, debate or conversation, or even work being completed.

Background noise:

Background noise that interferes with a clear understanding of the message. It can also distract a person while giving a speech, or presentation.

There are many forms of different background noise which can be a distraction, a few of these include:

• Phones ringing.
• People yelling to each other from one end of the office to the other instead of moving closer so they can talk.
• People talking on the phone in a voice loud enough to almost make the phone unnecessary. The same people also have a tendency to walk around the office while shouting into their phone.
• People running back and forth, stomping on the floor with their hard-heeled shoes. Depending on how your office building is constructed you may also feel the floor vibrate from their steps.

Distractions:

There can be so many distractions when someone is giving a speech or presentation in an organization and some of these distractions are unpreventable.

But some distractions are avoidable, for example, turning mobile phones off as many phones may go of or vibrate which will then disturb everyone that is listening to the speech, arrive on time or come in quietly as this can also disturb people listening as people arrive in late as they will turn around to see who it is.

Distractions occur quite often in everyday life, and people need to learn how to ignore those distractions and continue what they are doing, for example undertaking a presentation.

Lack of Concentration:

If an employee is lacking in concentration this can badly affect their work load, or carrying out tasks.

There are many reasons for lacking in concentration, this could be problems at home, or maybe feeling ill, these can stop or slow down your work as you have them on your mind rather than your work.

Concentration can also be lost when there is other things happening around the employee’s work station, this could be loud noises or talking, this could enable the employee to loose their concentration and forget what they are doing, or they could go out and find out what is going on, this could loose the employees train of thought to what they were previously doing.

Although there are many mechanisms which are able to reduce these barriers to communication, a few of these mechanisms are:

1) Eye contact
2) Recognising personal space
3) the use of non-verbal communication: facial expressions and gestures. Non-verbal: speech, tone of voice and pitch.
4) The communication of touch.
5) Listening skills, such as head nodding
6) dressing correctly for the occasion.
7) Good interpersonal skills. 

Mechanisms that can reduce the impact of Barriers to Communication

Mechanisms can be put in place within the workforce, this will enable the barriers to decrease and enable tasks to be carried out without any form of disturbance. For example a presentation taking place without the distraction of noise from other people or things.

Background noise:

People running back and forth causes a lot of distraction within the presentation, or people outside the room talking loudly can also affect the noise level.

When doing a presentation this could knock he presenter of what he or she is talking about or it could result in the listeners not being able to hear the presentation.

 A way in which this could be stopped would be by locating the presentation in a quiet location, where noise would be limited.

Distractions:

Turning of mobile phones will stop the distraction of mobile phones ringing in the middle of a presentation, this will stop other members within the room looking around to see whose mobile phone it was which was ringing.

It is also important that a formal talk or presentation is taken within a quiet location, this would then limit the amount of distractions around the room.

Some employees may also be seated on a chair which squeaks or is of annoyance, to limit the distractions it is important for the presenter to check the equipment within the room which could be of a disturbance to those who are listening.

Lack of Concentration:

Some people who are listening to a presentation may loose their concentration, this could be due to having their mind on something else for example family life. The presenter must have short, clear points in which will be able to capture the listener at all times.

Some members listening to a formal talk or presentation may loose interest, therefore resulting in them drawing on a page or tapping their pen repeatedly of the table or folder.

It is then important for a presenter to capture their attention again, or keep it the whole way through, this could be by making them join in, and this could be by asking them questions or getting them involved within a group activity.

Glossary of Technical Terms and FAQs

Glossary:

Attributes: To consider as a quality or characteristic of the person

Barriers: Barriers can threat an important discussion, debate or conversation, or even work being completed. This could be due to noise or other distractions.

Blog: Blog is the abbreviation for Web log. A blog represents the opinions or thoughts of the website's author, who updates it regularly for viewing by the general public.

Closed question: Are expressed in such a way that the options for a reply are limited, perhaps only to ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

Communication: Communication is the pathway to build a strong relationship between employers and employees

Effective Communication: Effective communication is the pathway to build a strong relationship between employers and employees but unfortunately it's so often overlooked.

Email: (Electronic Mail) - Messages sent from one person to another via the Internet. Email can also be sent to a large number of addresses at once through a Mailing List.

Interpersonal skills: Interpersonal skills are sometimes also referred to as people skills or communication skills. Interpersonal skills involve using skills such as active listening and tone of voice, this include delegation and leadership. It is how well you communicate with someone and how well you behave or carry yourself.

Mechanisms: this will enable the barriers to decrease and enable tasks to be carried out without any form of disturbance.

Open question: Is an invitation to the other person to pick up the conversation and take control. For example, if you ask ‘How are you today?’ there are a multitude of possible responses

Quality: Quality is the ongoing process of building and sustaining relationships by assessing, anticipating, and fulfilling stated and implied needs.

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Frequently asked Questions:

1. What attributes do employers look for in employees?

Independence

Self Motivation

Confidence

Leadership

Problem Solving/decision making

2. What skills do employers look for in employees?

Interpersonal Skills

Written Skills

Team Working

IT Skills

Communication Skills

3. Why is effective communication important?

Effective communication is the pathway to build a strong relationship between employers and employees but unfortunately it's so often overlooked. There are three important basic principles of effective communication are:

1. Attention
2. Interest
3. Action

4. Why is finding mechanisms important to stop barriers?

Mechanisms are an important factor to be put in place as it will then allow employees, presentations and the overall working environment run more slowly, and barriers slow doing the work being carried out for a number of reasons.

5. Why is body language so important when giving a presentation?

If the presenter wants to make a good impression to who he/she is presenting to then body language is very important. It is important to stand correctly, move, dress and interact correctly so the people listening to the presentation will take it seriously.

6. Why is language such as informal and formal so important when giving a presentation?

Being  formal would attract the older generation,  as they will listen to a presentation without getting distracted as easy, if the presentation is of importance then giving the right impression is needed, therefore being formal is necessary.
Although being informal would be for the younger generation, for example giving them a presentation which they can be included in, or talking slang to them.