Health services management graduate employability skills : perceptions of employers and graduates

Abstract

There is no specific profile in the literature of skill requirements for health services management (HSM). However, to develop competent health service managers firstly their skill requirements must be identified. This thesis used an inclusive definition of employability skills (ES) from the Australian Commonwealth Department of Education Science and Training (DEST, 2002, p. 143)1, where ES encompass skills "not only to gain employment, but also to progress within an enterprise." This covers technical or discipline specific skills, knowledge, capabilities and personal attributes. More recently, the Australian Employability Skills Framework (2012)2 acknowledges ES as skills and knowledge that enable employees to perform effectively in the workforce and apply technical or discipline specific skills. This document further recognises the contextual nature of ES, suggesting that ES profiles will vary for particular jobs. Hence the importance of developing a profile of ES for HSM. Findings can be used in curriculum development, by careers advisors and by employers for ongoing professional development. The aim of this thesis was to make HSM requirements more visible. To this end the study aimed to identify ES required to work in the field from the perspective of three data sources. The essential skills contained in advertisements for graduate HSM positions were used in this triangulation design. An integrative review of empirical studies using content analysis of job vacancy advertisements, was undertaken and published. Findings were used to inform development of analysis of vacancy advertisements for 100 graduate HSM positions in two major NSW newspapers and on two employment websites. Then findings from this publication were used in the development of surveys of the perceptions of senior health managers and recent graduates working in the field. A total of 38 senior managers and 42 recent graduates participated in email surveys, identified through a NSW metropolitan university placement data base. The surveys were designed to permit comparisons. ES important to managers were revealed and they also rated skill levels observed in graduates they supervised, using a five point Likert scale on ES 44 items. The same scale was used by recent graduates, rating importance of ES and their own skill levels. The findings from these three data sources are presented as a series of published papers in the thesis, including a publication in press that compares the perceptions of the two groups. After communication skills, the advertisement revealed a unique finding that experience and understanding of the health field, then teamwork and tertiary qualifications were the most important ES required to work in HSM. Tertiary qualifications and job or discipline specific skills were not enough to gain an interview or secure a job. This has implications for work integrated learning in HSM courses. The surveys revealed strong agreement between senior managers and graduates on important ES. Again, the most important ES were generic, but integrity and ethical conduct trumped communication skills (written, verbal and interpersonal), as the most important ES, followed by teamwork, and being flexible and open-minded. For rating of skill levels, agreement was not found, with recent graduates' self-ratings higher than ratings given by senior managers. Specific skill gaps were revealed in this comparison, many of which recent graduates did not appear to recognise. Findings suggest that HEIs are not developing the ES in HSM graduates that employers require. Priorities for development were identified. From the synthesis of findings, a new model of staged ES for HSM emerged as a new way of identifying skill requirements. The stages were gaining an interview meaning that graduates were short listed for a position, to securing a job, performing a HSM job, and progressing in the job. An inclusive definition of ES and using a triangulation design, including the seldom used approach of advertisement analysis was found to be valuable. In addition, the contextual nature of HSM was confirmed, reflecting different and overlapping ES requirements as the employment process progressed. Context may well explain discrepancies in findings about ES for many professions in the past.

Date of Award	2017
Original language	English