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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

According to Charles Schulz "Like a ten-speed bike,

most of us have gears we do not use." An individual

possess some skills in form of human capital to grow in

life and when working in an organization these skills are

called employability skills but according to this saying

most of us are unaware how to use these skills we

possess.

Discussions of the need for development in business

graduates typically include concern about the gap between

the skill requirement for entry-level employment and the

skills level of entry-level job applicants.

Many researches were being done in western countries

to explore the skills preferred by employers but in

Pakistan there was a need to look upon this issue. There

has been a considerable volume of work undertaken by

individuals, schools systems and universities in this

area. The purpose of this report was to identify an

employer perspective relevant to Pakistan industry and

business gradates for the future. The intention has been

to add to the richness of understanding of this topic and

to inform educationalists about what employers are

seeking. There is no prescription for a way forward but

the employability skills provides an excellent example of

where the interface between the business and the

education sectors produces a tension to create reform and

make the education sector more responsive to the needs of

industry. So, a research was established in recognition

of the changing nature of work and skills required by

enterprises to ensure long-term economic growth.

Business and industry representatives express

considerable dissatisfaction with the general level of

preparedness of prospective entry-level employees.

According to research, “More than half of young people

leave business schools without knowledge or foundation

required to find and hold a good job”(Cotton K, 2004)

Employers’ dissatisfaction with young job applicants

is not primarily due to inadequate technical knowledge or

skill. “A review of literature indicated that employers

have no quarrel with skill performance of today’s

graduates, but they do have serious reservations when it

comes to their non technical abilities”. (Wentling

1987b,p.354)
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Employers reported they were less than satisfied

with the oral and written communication skills and noted

a number of areas needing improvements. More employers

recommended discovering which skills employers’ value, so

they may develop a range of ‘training opportunities’ for

students. Each year, many employers use a variety of

processes to test for desired skills in job applicants.

The reasons behind preferring these abilities by

employers can be that someone with a deep understanding

of content of business subjects, higher level of

management skills to exploit the resources of the

business for more profit and a strong personality which

can be used to promote the business for more profit, will

be preferred by any employer operating in a capitalistic

market.

As above, it is clear that college graduates skills

are not always adequate to perform the tasks required on

the job. There is a need to find out the skills required

by employers for business graduates so it can be helpful

for graduates and students as well to learn them in their

study period and also proved fruitful for educationists

to modify their curriculum and course contents according

to current business requirements.

1.1 Statement of the Problem

“The study was aimed at to explore skills preferred

by the employers for business graduates”

1.2 Objectives of the Study

Following were the objectives of the study:

i. To explore the skills required by employers for

business graduates

ii. To describe the role of educationists in development

of these skills in the perspective of employers

iii. To evaluate the most demanding skills for business

graduates

iv. To give suggestions for improving the skills in the

light of employers point of view

1.3 Significance of the Problem

i. It will help business graduates to emphasize these

skills during their study period

ii. It will provide an input to educationists and

trainers to modify their curriculum and contents

iii. It will help HR personal in recruiting

iv. It will improve the abilities of on-job employees

1.4 Research questions

i. What are the skills required by employers from business

graduates?

ii. Why these skills are required?

iii. How to improve these skills in business graduates?

iv. What should be the role of educationists in the

development of these skills?

1.5 Procedure of the Study

The population of study was all the companies

operating in Lahore. The sample was selected on

convenient basis. It included human resource managers

from ten different organizations and ten-month job

advertisements from different daily newspapers. Semi

structured interviews were conducted as a tool of

research. Narrative analysis and document analysis were

the methods of data analysis for both interviews and news

advertisements respectively and the study was delimited

to the daily newspapers published in Lahore and the

companies operating in Lahore.