Assessment of skills for the new economy

Assessment of Skills
for the New Economy

Everyone has the ability to learn and the
opportunity to succeed.
Company Mission
© 2016 Credo Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Workplace Preparation
Sources: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/02/26/provosts-business-leaders-disagree-graduates-career-readiness
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/survey/pressure-provosts-2014-survey-chief-academic-officers
VS.
96%
11%
Chief Academic Officers who
believe they are very or
somewhat effective at preparing
students for the world of work.
Business Leaders who strongly
agreed that graduates have the
necessary skills and competencies
to succeed in the workplace.

• WHY: How the world is changing?
• WHY: Emerging gaps in readiness
• WHAT: Credo’s Research
• HOW: Interviews of CEOs
Agenda

New technologies are driving
an exponential increase in
information, leading to near
continuous change, forcing
companies to pivot quickly.
Workers must learn at the
speed of information, in real
time.
Real-time learners see patterns,
anticipate upcoming change,
and proactively adapt their
skills.
Change in the Knowledge Economy
MARKET FORCES
COMPANY NEEDS
EMPLOYEE RESPONSIBILITIES

Credo’s Hypothesis
Cultivate
situational
awareness
Identify
connections
and
patterns
Maintain
a view of
forest
and trees
Look at
an issue
from all
perspectives
Develop
experiments
and
iterate
Curious
in the
face of
ambiguity
Information
Literacy
Critical
Thinking
Real Time Learning,
Adaptation, and Problem Solving
Cultural
Awareness
Logic &
Reasoning
Communication

*"Ready or Not, Here the College Graduates Come "Diagram from Association of American Colleges and Universities.
Featured in Chronicle of Higher Education, “College Students Think They’re Ready for the Work Force. Employers Aren’t So Sure.”
Employer Expectations vs. Graduates’ Skills

Why and How are Core Competencies Lagging?
Liberal Arts Job Training
8

1. Background Research - other work skills research
2. Recruited CEO’s from a variety of companies
3. Interview Focus
• Changing world of work
• Trends in organizational design
• Attributes of employees who are thriving
• Meta-behaviors of employees who are thriving
• Best practices for building cultures of learning
THE WHAT: Qualitative Research with CEOs

Background Research: Other Work Skills Research

1. Senior Leaders
• 260 years of combined business experience
– Ranging from 8 years to 45 years
1. Diverse experience
• Public companies
• Private companies
• Nonprofit organizations
• Large and small companies
• Start-ups and multinational corporations
• Software, accounting, manufacturing, economic development,
elearning, higher education, publishing, media, outsourcing
Profile of Interviewees
Focus on building
organizational
cultures of learning

• Open and axial coding were used to determine concepts and categories,
and combine them to see “meta-level” skills
• Separated characteristics and behaviors/skills
Methodology
Sample Data Table
Major Categories Associated Concepts
Situational awareness View of whole ecosystem, helicoptering, seeing/anticipating trends
Questioning
Doesn’t accept status quo, challenges assumptions, asking “why
things are done a certain way”
Curiosity
Wants to understand why, broadens perspective vs.
narrowing/specialization, passion in multiple areas/cross training

• Dramatic increase in the flow of information from all directions
• Expectation of faster organizational decision-making
• Global markets, competition and labor supply
• Lower barriers to entry for new companies
• Less vertically integrated companies - more outsourcing and partnerships
• Shorter product lifecycles
• Automation
• Growth in artificial intelligence
• Less and less “routine” work
• Highly ambiguous
Highlights: Changing world of work
“The other aspect of
technology is that
because it changes so
quickly people's jobs tend
to change quickly as
well.”
- Director of Learning
Innovation

• Flatter organizations, less command and control
• Gig economy, constantly auditioning for role
• Virtual work environments
• Emphasis on teamwork and cross-functional collaboration
• Continuous and collaborative learning
Highlights: Trends in Organizational Design
“I think it is becoming an
expectation that if you do
in fact want to grow or
want to prosper in your
career, you actually should
be looking to innovate at
every level that you’re at.”
- Public Company CEO

• Curious
• Risk-takers
• Responsible
• Adaptable
• Passionate
• Humble
• Self-aware
• Resilience and grit
• Collaborative
Highlights: Attributes of Thriving Employees

RESULTS: Six Meta-Behaviors that employers look for
Cultivate
situational
awareness
Identify
connections
and patterns
Maintain a
view of forest
and trees
Look at an
issue from all
perspectives
Develop
experiments
and iterate
Curious in
the face of
ambiguity

THE RESULTS: Six Meta-Behaviors that employers look for
CURIOUS IN THE FACE OF AMBIGUITY
Remaining engaged and developing questions when confused versus getting
frustrated and withdrawing.
“Because there is so much ambiguity – and we all know what we
know – I think you have to start by saying wow, there’s a lot I
don’t know. I think some people are afraid to say that. I know
that sounds like a very simple thing.”
Company Practice: Hire based on aptitude, use role plays/scenarios to demonstrate
1

“There’s a lot going on around you; and how do you discern the
right information, the right points of contact and engagement
within your own organization as well as externally and then
move that needle to achieve specific business ends?”
CULTIVATE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
Knowing what is going on around you. What are we trying to achieve? What
factors are impacting our ability to be successful?
Company Practice: Manager as coach/mentor; iterative approach to work
based on testing and frequent feedback; medium-term view of success
2

“Early bell warnings, people who can kind of spot trends and
say this is coming or we have to do something about X or Y. So
people who actually take the initiative to ring bells as opposed
to wait for bells to be rung for them.”
IDENTIFY CONNECTIONS AND PATTERNS
What is the data telling us? What patterns are we seeing? How is this connected
or similar to prior situations?
Company Practice: Cultivate broad-thinking among team members, situational
diversity
3

“And that I call a helicopter mentality. Helicopter mentality says that you have
to be able to concentrate on a topic, on a problem or whatever both at a ground
level and at 10,000 feet all in the same space. Too many people are either stuck
in the mud and can’t look above it, or some people are stuck at 10,000 feet and
can’t get down on the ground.”
MAINTAIN A VIEW OF FOREST AND TREES
Checking that day-to-day activities are aligned to bigger goals. Do we need to
adapt in some way? Is what we are doing still relevant or the best approach?
Company Practice: Cultivate broad-thinking among team members; Create “internal
university led by employees to promote knowledge sharing & strategic view
4

5
“But in admitting you don’t know a lot, you have to go out and
speak to other people. You have to read. You have to kind of get
counsel from different leaders in the organization.”
LOOK AT AN ISSUE FROM ALL PERSPECTIVES
Gathering information from a variety of vantage points versus only looking at an
issue from one perspective.
Company Practice: Cultivate broad-thinking among team members, situational
diversity

“They do their homework on the front end and mitigate as much
risk as they can but also recognize that you have to act. And in
the acting is when the learnings come. And as the learnings
show up, that’s when the adapting and the adaptive skills come
in.”
DEVELOP EXPERIMENTS AND ITERATE
What is a hypothesis for how to solve this problem? Test hypothesis and gather
some data or new information. Use data to refine hypothesis and develop the
next experiment.
6
Company Practice: Manager as coach/mentor; iterative approach to work
based on testing and frequent feedback; medium-term view of success

Credo’s Hypothesis
Cultivate
situational
awareness
Identify
connections
and
patterns
Maintain
a view of
forest
and trees
Look at
an issue
from all
perspectives
Develop
experiments
and
iterate
Curious
in the
face of
ambiguity
Information
Literacy
Critical
Thinking
Real Time Learning,
Adaptation, and Problem Solving
Cultural
Awareness
Logic &
Reasoning
Communication

1. Additional qualitative interviews
2. Combining results of interviews with literature review of secondary
research
3. Further research to measure the link between work skills and core
competencies
4. Larger scale survey to correlate work skills and core competencies
Next Steps for Credo

Thank You!
To access the recordings of all three webinars from the series,
please visit bit.ly/WSSUseries
Mike Serafino
VP eLearning Solutions, Credo Education
Mike.Serafino@credoeducation.com
Mike Sweet
CEO, Credo Education
Mike.Sweet@credoeducation.com

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