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Employers look for a good work ethic

School leavers with ‘soft skills’, including communication skills and a good work ethic, rank more highly with employers than those with traditional numeracy, literacy and formal qualifications, according to a new survey. The latest Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and KPMG quarterly Labour Market Outlook revealed that the most important attributes for employers in new recruits are personality and the desire to do a great job. In the survey of 1,400 UK companies 50% of employers said that improved interpersonal skills in the education system would be most beneficial to the employability of school leavers. These skills were closely followed by young people taking responsibility (40%), improvements in communication skills (38%) and better discipline (32%).Rebecca Clarke, Organisation and Resourcing Advisor at CIPD said: “It has become almost an annual ritual to focus on the literacy and numeracy of school leavers – but our research shows employers want more focus on communication, interpersonal skills and developing a work ethic. “These findings suggest that the education system might help close the ‘employability gap’ by seeking to introduce more oral-based tests and more work experience schemes.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .