The Basic and Social Skills of Too Many New Entrants to the Workplace are Not Satisfactory

Copyright (c) 2011 Alison Withers

More than 80% of firms felt that graduates lacked crucial employ-ability skills according to a survey carried out by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) last year.

These included problem-solving, team-working and time management and one in 10 employers also expressed concern about graduates' literacy and numeracy.

Recently the CBI boss John Cridland returned to this theme arguing that the UK is still lagging behind in both basic skills such as literacy and numeracy and in the so-called "soft" social skills needed in business.

This is not a new situation. In 2006 the Leitch Review, commissioned by the previous government, found that the UK ranked 12th out of 18 comparative OECD countries when it came to skills.

In the workplace, the most important social skills are in three areas, compliance, civility, and cooperativeness.

Employers want staff to be able to listen and follow directions, focus on their task and be able to co-operate with colleagues. They also need employees to be able to solve problems, know when and how to ask or help and accept the consequences of their actions.

For the executive PA, whose boss may rely on their ability to act on their behalf when they are not available, listening, conversational and social participation skills are crucial. Eye contact, knowing when to speak, and importantly, when to be silent and showing interest in what other people are saying are all essential components of these skills.

A PA needs to know how to ask questions and favours tactfully and appropriately and how to get another person's attention in a friendly and non-aggressive way.

Being able to read body language can be important to successful communication. Facial expressions and non-verbal cues that can be subtle but important to be aware of.

Among the list of social skills important for work are the ability to listen, to identify what needs to be done and how it should be accomplished. Communicating positively and productively and remembering to say please and thank you and perhaps giving constructive compliments, or positive feedback are all part of the mix

Finally, understanding the proper techniques of conflict resolution and being able to accept the consequences of behaviour includes knowing when and how to apologize, understanding how actions influence other people, and demonstrating empathy.

None of this is rocket science and it is therefore somewhat alarming that after many years of employers highlighting the absence of such skills in the school leavers or even graduates that they take on there seems to have been no noticeable improvement.

People need social skills to succeed in life and since a large part of life is employment they are something that no-one who wants to be successful in their career can afford to ignore.

There are plenty of workshops, short courses and online tips for personal development available for secretaries and PAs and anyone with the ambition to develop a career to executive PA level should consider getting some relevant training to achieve this.


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Too many UK school leavers and graduates enter the workplace without adequate basic literacy, numeracy and social skills according to employers. These are all essential skills for the ambitious executive PA, writes Ali Withers.