PROMOTING SKILL TRANSFER FOR SKILLED DEVELOPMENT IN GLOBAL CONTEXT

 

PROMOTING SKILL TRANSFER FOR SKILLED DEVELOPMENT IN GLOBAL CONTEXT

 



 

Competing in today’s global economy is complex. Countries not only need advanced technical and vocational skills, but also a flexible workforce that can adjust to rapid shifts in demand. That is why investing in skills is so vital to a country’s economic growth and competitiveness. In particular, education systems must be oriented towards producing youth who have both strong foundational skills as well as specific skills for jobs.

The demand for job-specific skills has been growing around the world. Globally, firms say that the quality and supply of skilled labor is a major roadblock to their growth. Employers around the world are also demanding that new hires have both technical and “soft” skills.

 


Understanding the Challenge—Skill Gaps and Barriers to Skill Transfer

     

      

      

Increasing the substitution of foreign workers with domestic workers will require more opportunities for the transfer of skills. The skills gap that has emerged with the changing labor market conditions may be starting to hold back the economy. People employed in industrial and service sectors as engineers, technicians, electricians, sales personnel, marketing professionals, and production managers need different skills and more education and training. Training is the systematic development of knowledge, skills and attitudes required by an individual to perform adequately a given task or job (Armstrong, 1988).

 

Why has skills development become important? 



Figure 1 : Importance of skills development (Author developed)

 

According to the World Bank report (2016), Sri Lanka ranks 73rd in the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) – one of whose indices is skills development. Employers here say that the quality and supply of skilled technicians is the third-most significant constraint on company growth.  Effectively skilling the workforce will enhance productivity and growth, while raising Sri Lanka’s GCI ranking. There is international evidence that cognitive, social, and technical skills affect wage premiums, earnings, and employment and occupation status. With the right skills, workers will have a better chance of being employed, or being well-equipped to set up their own business and in turn create jobs for others.

 



Figure 2: Types of skills (Sims, 1998)

 

There are three types of skills – technical skills, interpersonal skills and conceptual skills. Technical skills can understanding proficiency in a specific kind of activity, particularly one involving methods, process, procedures or technique. Interpersonal skills can ability to work effectively as a group member and to build cooperative effort within the team/group. Conceptual skills can involve the ability to see the enterprise as a whole; it involves recognizing how the various functions of the organization depend on one another and how changes in any one part affect all the others and it extends to visualizing the relationship. So training needs to focus on the development of skills and human relations (Sims, 1998). Skill is the capability to perform job operations with ease and precision (Goldstein, 1986)

 

Especially when tastes and technologies change rapidly, human capital investments are important in maintaining firms’ competitiveness, innovation, and growth. Without a workforce that continually acquires new skills, appropriating all the returns from technological progress is difficult. As pre-employment and technical training are increasingly criticized for producing skills that do not immediately align with the labor market, investment in job training by the private sector gains additional relevance for skills development policy. (Almeida, Behrman and Robalino, 2012).

Attention has been devoted to analyzing what exactly the main features of a pro-poor training strategy and related national system should be. Current debates are excessively preoccupied with the 'higher' skills needed to achieve international competitiveness in a rapidly globalizing world economy. It is suggested that serious consideration should be given to the formulation of new international labour standards that specifically address training for the poor and other disadvantaged groups. (Bennell-1999)

 

Why are transferable skills important?

Transferable skills contribute to the success for workers, customers or organization. Skills transferring allow to take control over career path and ease the stress experienced in transitional times, such as promotion or career change. Transferable skills are developed by taking business training programs related to a specific skill, tapping into a professional coach or participating in any development opportunities the organization offers. For example, communication skills developed through dealing with customers in a hospitality environment can be applied to a different sector. Employers will still need to provide job-specific training and support – however, individuals can draw on their prior experiences when they encounter unfamiliar situations and apply transferable skills to deal with challenges they face. This is good for the individual’s own professional development and is also beneficial for employers, as it can improve productivity and reduce training costs.

 

 

References

 

Armstrong, M. (1988) Handbook of human resource management. New York NY: Nicholas Publishing.Co.

 

Sims, R. A. (1998) Reinventing training and development. Westport, CT: Quram Books.

 

Goldstein, I. (1986) Training in organizations: Needs assessment, development & evaluation. CA: Brooks Cole.

 

Almeida.R, Behrman.J, and Robalino.D (2012) The Right Skills for the Job. Washington: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

 

Beerepoot, M, Lambregts, B and Kleibert, J. (2017) Globalisation and Services-driven Economic Growth. Oxon: Routledge.

 

 Bennell, P. (1999) Learning to change: Skills development among the economically vulnerable and socially excluded in developing countries, Employment and training papers 43, Employment and Training Department International Labour Office: Geneva

 

The World Bank. (2016) Skills development in a Global context: Towards a future ready workforce [Online] Available at :

https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/speech/2016/08/15/skills-development-in-a-global-context-towards-a-future-ready-workforce

[Accessed on 15th April 2022]

 

 Moldoveanu, M and Narayandas, D. (2021) Work in Global Context, SAGE publishers : California

[Online] Available at :

 https://us.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-assets/95394_book_item_95394.pdf

[Accessed on 19th April 2022]

 

 

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