What employability skills are required of new health managers?

Background: Employability Skills (ES) for graduates are monitored by Graduate Careers Australia but not specifically in health management. Generic skills are increasingly important especially to help cope with increasing complexity and rapid change. There is little research in the health arena to identify specific skill requirements and gaps in observed skills to requirements. The study was conducted to inform curriculum development, help facilitate employment outcomes for new graduates and improve job matching for employers. Method: Senior New South Wales health managers were surveyed to rate ES for importance and skill levels observed in recent graduates they employ. The ES gap between these two ratings was identified for 44 ES. Results: Generic ES namely integrity and ethical conduct, interpersonal skills, teamwork, being flexible and open minded, written and oral communication skills, self-awareness, collaborative, planning and lifelong learning are more important to health managers than job specific skills. Leadership skills were no found important. The largest gaps between observed skills and importance ratings were found for written skills, collaboration, negotiation, teamwork, cultural awareness, computing and software skills, strategic thinking, ability to scan the environment and self-awareness. Conclusions: Generic rather than job specific skills are what health managers rate as important ES on the job. These findings can be used to inform curriculum development because other than writing skills, they are not the traditional skills taught by higher education institutions (HEIs). Employers also need to consider the essential skills used in job advertisements to better fill vacancies.