Towards a common language of employability - Healthcare

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 assumption that skills are synonymous with employability (Holmes, 2006). It is critical that education establishments and employers have the same understanding 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 unfortunate 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) – 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 individual 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 personally and professionally in their job/s as they develop their careers.

The journey of employability


Time for reflection
If you could design a model of employability – 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 Carré (1999) proposed a model focusing on course provision within education – with five main areas of focus for education establishments to adequately prepare students for the world of work:

Disciplinary content knowledge, for example anatomy and physiology.
Disciplinary skills, for example taking someone’s blood pressure.
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.
Workplace experience, for example placement experiences.
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 – Decision learning, Opportunity awareness, Transition learning and Self-awareness. The interesting aspect of the DOTS model is a self-awareness of your skills interests and values. For example – if you are a physiotherapist – 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 working 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 components 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 – 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 becoming more of a guide for curriculum development rather than a clear guide for personal employability development.