Presentation in previous role as CIHE Deputy CEO to academic staff at Durham University about graduate employability skills, employer needs and preparing students for a global economy.

1. Graduate Employability:
what do employers think and want?
Keith Herrmann
Deputy Chief Executive
The Council for Industry and Higher Education

2. Council for Industry and Higher Education
A strategic leadership network for higher education and business
Accenture • Anglo American plc • AstraZeneca plc • BAE Systems plc • BG Group • BP
International plc • British Council • BT plc • Centrica plc • City & Guilds • CITB-Construction
Skills • Committee of University Chairmen • EADS Innovation Works • Financial Times Group
• Guild HE • Higher Education Funding Council for England • HSBC Bank plc • i-graduate
• Imperial College • Kaplan International Ltd • Keele University • Kingston University •
KPMG LLP • Legal & General • Logica plc • London School of Economics • London South
Bank University • Loughborough University • McKinsey & Company • Microsoft Limited
• McGraw Hill Companies • National Grid plc • New College Durham • Open University •
Oracle Corporation UK Ltd • Pfizer UK• PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP • Quality & Curriculum
Authority • Royal Bank of Scotland plc • Scottish Power plc • Shell International Ltd • Spencer
Stuart • Standard Chartered Bank • The Sutton Trust • Tesco plc • United Utilities • University
of Abertay Dundee • University of Bristol • University of Cambridge • University of Glasgow •
University of Hertfordshire • University of Manchester • University of Newcastle • University
of Surrey • University of Wales Institute Cardiff • University of Warwick • University of
Wolverhampton • Universities UK • WPP Group plc • York St John’s University
ORGANISATIONS SUPPORTING CIHE 2010

3. Businesses facing the same global challenges -•
uncertain demand; a volatile economy, worldwide
competition for talent and income, managing
uncertainty and risk...
Governments looking to develop innovation-:•
graduates, postgraduates and knowledge
exchange key to national growth…
The challenging economic climate will require an•
entrepreneurial response…
Situating Graduate Employability

4. Challenges in a time of recession
A flat interconnected world with peaks of•
excellence - universities are central to innovative
eco-systems...
A ‘race to the top’ requires the development and•
application of high value-adding knowledge…
Structural shifts in economies… convergence•
of manufacturing and services… fundamental
and applied research... demand-supply side
partnerships…

5. Developing Entrepreneurial Graduates
Putting entrepreneurship at the centre of higher education
September 2008
Helen Connor and Wendy Hirsh
Influence through Collaboration:
Employer Demand for Higher Learning and Engagement with
Higher Education
Summary Report
Universities, Business and
Knowledge Exchange
Maria Abreu, Vadim Grinevich, Alan Hughes, Michael Kitson and Philip Ternouth
Global employers value international
experience
“The value of [a student’s] international
experience goes beyond purely the acquisition of
language – it lies in the ability to see business and
personal issues from other than your own cultural
perspective.”
Charles Macleod, Head of UK Resourcing
PricewaterhouseCoopers

6. 1995 AGR Report on “Skills for Graduates in the•
21st Century” suggested:
Progress made but not enough….
From To
Ladders and Escalators Bridges
Career Clarity Fog
Employer Customer
Job Adding value
Functional Identity Project Team Role
Career Portfolio
Progression Personal Growth
Rising Income and Security Maintaining Employability
Education and Training Lifelong Learning

7. Self-reliance skills:• self-management, self-awareness,
pro-activity, willingness to learn, self-promotion,
networking, planning action.
People skills:• team working, inter-personal skills, oral
communication, leadership, customer orientation, foreign
language skills.
Generalist skills:• problem-solving, flexibility, business
acumen, IT skills, numeracy, commitment.
Specialist skills:• occupational skills, technical skills,
understanding commercial goals, company-related
expertise, strategic planning skills.
Source: Hawkins (1999) The Art of Building Windmills
What are employability skills?

8. Checking what data they have on graduate•
prospects; making this available to people.
Checking career prospects beyond first job -•
keeping in touch with alumni for more than just
money.
Employability is a key factor in shaping university•
choice - school leavers make choices based on
prospects.
What does this mean for
universities?

9. 86% of employers consider good communication•
skills to be important… yet many employers are
dissatisfied.
‘Soft skills’ such as team working are also vital…•
but numeracy and literacy essential (70%).
65% of international employers say having•
overseas professional work experience makes
graduates more employable.
CIHE Report on Graduate
Employability

10. The Council for Industry and Higher Education
Will Archer and Jess Davison
Graduate Employability:
What do employers think and want?
Total number of employees
G r a n d
Total“1-99”
“ 1 0 0 -
999” “1000+”
Communication skills 88% 86% 82% 86%
Team-working skills 85% 84% 84% 85%
Integrity 81% 86% 82% 83%
Intellectual ability 81% 84% 78% 81%
Confidence 80% 81% 78% 80%
Character/personality 81% 79% 60% 75%
Planning & organisational skills 74% 72% 75% 74%
Literacy (good writing skills) 68% 72% 75% 71%
Numeracy (good with numbers) 68% 67% 69% 68%
Analysis & decision-making skills 64% 67% 73% 67%
Top 10 most important skills for
employers

11. The Council for Industry and Higher Education
Will Archer and Jess Davison
Graduate Employability:
What do employers think and want?
Importance
Rank
Satisfaction
Rank
Gap
Commercial awareness 13 33 -20
Analysis and decision-making skills 10 26 -16
Communication skills 1 16 -15
Literacy (good writing skills) 8 23 -15
Passion 12 25 -13
Relevant work experience 17 30 -13
Planning and organisational skills 7 17 -10
Confidence 5 13 -8
Personal development skills 21 28 -7
Largest importance-satisfaction
gap by employers

12. Competencies evolving: adapting and innovating,•
customer facing skills, ethics and integrity, multi-
cultural working, self-development.
Competencies as stepping stones to comply•
with professional standards - technical and
behavioural competencies required.
Key competencies - flexibility, resilience,•
analytical and cognitive skills, passion and drive,
continuous personal development, support for
others.
Competencies for competing globally

13. Global Horizons and the Role of Employers
1
Global Horizons and the Role
of Employers
Richard Brown
with William Archer and Dr Jennifer Barnes
Competencies for competing globally
Employability Competencies Competence Cluster
Cognitive Skills Analysis, Attention to detail, Judgement
Generic Competencies Influencing, Interpersonal sensitivity, Planning
and organisation, Questioning, Teamwork and
working with others, Listening, Responding,
Written communication
Personal Capabilities Achievement orientation, Adaptability/
flexibility, Creativity, Decisiveness, Initiative,
Innovation, Tolerance for stress, Leadership,
Lifelong learning and development, Personal
development
Technical Ability Technical application, Technical knowledge
Business and Organisation
Awareness
Commercial awareness, Resource
management, Financial awareness,
Organisation understanding, Organisational
sensitivity
Practical and Professional Elements Image, Process operation, Ethics, Integrity,
Professional expertise

14. Developing Entrepreneurial Graduates
Putting entrepreneurship at the centre of higher education
September 2008
A framework for action:
Top-level leadership by VCs.•
Ownership in faculties and departments.•
Finding innovative ways to appropriate•
entrepreneurship in subject discipline.
Involving entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial•
organisations.
Developing entrepreneurial
graduates for 21st century work

15. An Implementation Framework for HE…
Enabling
Environment
Entrepreneurial
PracticesEngaging
Stakeholders
Social
Enterprises
Capacity
Building
Experiential
Approaches
Visible
Leadership
Clarity of
Purpose and
Outcomes
Institutional
Culture
Institutional
Embeddedness
Entrepreneurs
and
Businesses
Academic
Faculty
Multi-
disciplinary
Cross-campus
Reach
Developing
Entrepreneurial
Graduates
Entrepreneurship
Educators
Vice
Chancellors
Student Clubs
and Societies
Experimentation
and Discovery
Engagement
with Practice
Innovative
Pedagogies

16. Provide enhanced central support for improving•
the ‘student experience’.
Embed skills development within the programme•
of study - accommodate employer needs.
Provide work experience within or external to•
programmes of study.
Enable reflection and recording of skills•
development and experience.
What can universities do to
enhance graduate employability?

17. Vice-Chancellors... provide visible leadership.•
Academics... enable change in the curriculum and•
experiences offered.
Business and social entrepreneurs... be•
fully involved to enrich the student learning
experience.
Students... value learning experiences where ever•
they arise.
Governments... support 21• st
century higher
education by providing over-arching strategic
goals, funding and framework for change.
Stakeholder actions… agents for
change

18. Change as continuous re-engineering for the 21• st
century.
Building synergies - harnessing internal and•
external stakeholders to drive change.
Reward and recognition as levers for changing•
behaviour.
Broadening HE-business interaction informed by•
what works and why.
Ownership by all is key!•
People driving change…

19. Links and further information
www.agcas.org.uk•
www.agr.org.uk•
www.heacademy.ac.uk•
www.prospects.ac.uk•
www.cihe.co.uk•
www.durham.ac.uk/cel•
www.durham.ac.uk/careers-advice•
www.cbi.org.uk/highereducation•

20. The Council for Industry and Higher Education
Using Public Procurement
to Stimulate Innovation
Philip Ternouth
Global Horizons and the Role of Employers
1
Global Horizons and the Role
of Employers
Richard Brown
with William Archer and Dr Jennifer Barnes
Universities, Business and
Knowledge Exchange
Maria Abreu, Vadim Grinevich, Alan Hughes, Michael Kitson and Philip Ternouth
The Council for Industry and Higher Education
Will Archer and Jess Davison
Graduate Employability:
What do employers think and want?
The Council for Industry and Higher Education
Global Horizons for
UK Universities
John Fielden
Untitled-2 1 6/11/07 09:59:09
Leadership for Business and Higher Education
The CIHE is a strategic leadership network of businesses and higher
education executives promoting a system of higher learning that leads to
greater market competitiveness and social well-being.
The Council for Industry and Higher Education
Keith Herrmann
Deputy Chief Executive
Studio 11, Tiger House, Burton Street
London WC1H 9BY
keith.herrmann@cihe.co.uk
www.cihe.co.uk
A Successful Partnership
The Council for Industry and
Higher Education 1986 - 2008