Attributes Valued By Employers

P1: REPORT – ATTRIBUTES VALUED BY EMPLOYERS

As part of my course, I have been asked to explain the personal attributes valued by employers.  To find out this, I produced a questionnaire.  I chose to make a questionnaire because large amounts of information can be collected from a large number of people in a short period of time and in a relatively cost effective way. My questionnaire consisted of 9 questions.  3 for each of the following; attributes, health and safety and laws.

There are so many different jobs in the world, with a range of attributes needed for each job.  After looking at several job surveys on the internet I found out that most jobs require the following attributes:

·        Effective communication

·        Problem-solving/Creativity

·        Teamwork skills

·        Planning and organizing

·        Leadership and management

·        Reliability

Attributes Valued By Employers

      In my results I found that Effective Communication was the most common attribute valued by the employers I asked.  The milkman needs to thoroughly listen to the instructions of his boss before going out on his round, also he has to effectively deal with customers who are unhappy/have a problem.  If someone’s milk isn’t delivered on time or it is in bad condition the milkman needs to explain to the customer/s why this has happened.  Lynn Peters, the Bakery Shop Manageress spends the majority of her work time working with customers and other workers, as she’s the assistant manager she needs to give the other employees clear instructions in what needs to be done and how to do it.  She needs to deal with any issues the customers have and if the customer has any questions she needs to give them answers that they can understand.  Also, if there is any new employees that need guidance, Mrs Peters will have to show them what to do and how to do it; her instructions have to be easy to follow.  The Mechanic also spends a lot of the time talking to customers.  He has to communicate vehicle problems to owners in a language they can understand. He must be able to let the owner know about the options available to fix the vehicle. The mechanic constantly needs to have excellent manors and his language needs to be very clear to the customer as mechanical terms can often sound like they are spoken in a totally different language.  Like both other jobs, if a customer has a problem with anything, it is essential for the Mechanic to try and sort it out in a calm, effective manner.  I found that only one of the three employees said that having food hygiene was extremely important in getting the job.  The Bakery Shop Manageress handles food that is then served to customers.  Storing food correctly can help maintain its quality so that it will be safe to eat. With dry goods such as sugar or flour, Lynn Peters needs to keep them in airtight containers that are clean and dry.  She needs to have a bath/shower every day before work to ensure she is as clean as possible when entering the workplace.  When in work, she needs to regularly wash her hands with hand sanitizer as this is the most reliable hand wash when in work.  If Lynn Peters is not constantly clean and taking good care of food then it would be extremely easy for bacteria to be transferred onto food, and then passed onto a customer.  Below, is a graph I found on NACE Job Outlook 2013 Survey, highlighting the most important attributes valued by employers.

            I was originally very shocked that Leadership was the highest valued attribute as most employers are the ones who need leadership, not the employees.  For example, many jobs in the modern day era are independent, e.g. Mechanic, Postman, Courier, Train/Bus/Taxi Driver etc.  These employees need to be hired by an employer and I’m almost sure leadership is not the most important attribute needed in these jobs.  Although communication skills was the third most needed attribute and this didn’t shock me at all, as recently the quality of communication skills (written) has dramatically dropped since the early 2000’s/late 1900’s.  The majority of jobs are centred on working with computers and emailing different companies and people.  Out of the three different jobs I focused on in my questionnaire, they all need to write to someone at some point.  A milkman needs to leave notes at peoples doors, the mechanic needs to fill out reports and send out invoices to various people while the assistant manager of the Bakery constantly needs to email different companies when ordering new stock and applying for additional funds.  

Health and Safety

I found that keeping equipment in the best condition possible came up the most in my questionnaire.  The Bakery Shop manageress said that she needs to check that all the cooking equipment is fully working at the start of each day and the refrigerator is constantly at the correct temperature.  She also needs to know safe temperatures for the hot food to be kept at.  If the oven isn’t properly working for example, food may be under cooked when served which could harm a customer.  The milkman said how keeping his milk float in the best working order possible is essential as well.  He needs to make sure that the vehicle is checked monthly and everything, from the tires to the brakes is working excellently.  If it is a frosty day, and the tire grip has been worn out and the brakes are not sharply working, it would be extremely easy to crash the car.  Bernie Jones the car mechanic highlighted that regularly checking the equipment used in his workplace is vital.  If he is working under a car that is on a hydraulic ramp and it collapsed there would be a high chance that it could end fatally.  Also, he needs to ensure that all oil cans are constantly tightly shut, if one was spilt and not immediately cleaned up it would immediately become a fire hazard.  I found that a first aid kit is found in the three jobs I produced a questionnaire for, while a fire extinguisher is needed for the car mechanic and in the bakery.

Laws

                        Laws are extremely important to follow in the workplace, they need to be adhered to in order to keep the workers safe, projecting a positive image to the customers and pricing laws are extremely important to follow when ordering stock from suppliers.  Only two out of the three employees I interviewed were fully informed about the laws within their job.  The Milkman was not.  Although he was aware of the driving law he had to follow, he has to have a full-valid driving license as his job is based around driving and delivering milk bottles.  The mechanic is an MOT Tester and needs to be passed by the ministry of transport in order to carry out his duties; ensuring vehicles are safe to be on the road and issuing MOT certificates.  It is vital the MOT Tester does his job correctly because he decides whether a car is legal or not legal. The Bakery Shop manageress needs to ensure that all environmental health laws are adhered to, as well as health and safety laws and also weights and measures laws.  She needs to follow the pricing law which links in with the data protection act.  An example of the pricing law, if a baker is requiring flour from one of two suppliers and they get a price from one of the suppliers, they are not allowed to tell the second supplier the price of the first one in order to get a lower price when buying the flour.

Conclusion

            I found that different jobs and roles require different attributes and laws.  I found that effective communication came up on all three of my questionnaires, while maintaining a clean, fresh, hygienic presence was only required for one of the jobs.  Leadership is the most important attribute valued by an employer as I found  on the NACE Job Outlook 2013 Survey.