The analysis of skills required for workers in the 21st Century has been categorized into the following three categories: (a) Foundation Skills, (b) Competencies, and (c) Global Competencies
Important Components of Foundation Skills
Based on my observations from the conducted research, I have discovered that human resource managers see an importance in foundation skills for a worker in the 21st century. Based on my findings, managers agree that foundation skills are essential for modern workers. To give you a better understanding of the findings, refer to Figure 1 below.
Figure 1
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Foundation Skills
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Factors SA A N D SD
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Basic 45% 20% 15% 20% -
Thinking 45% 25% 10% 10% 10%
Personal Qualities 20% 20% 10% 30% 20%
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*SA=Strongly Agree A=Agree N=Neutral D=Disagree SD=Strongly Disagree
My observations of the findings show that HR managers seem to favor basic and thinking skills. While personal qualities are not as important to them. This is key information as the results show how these HR managers feel as if personal qualities are not an important skill set to have. This information is very interesting because there is an emphasis on basic and thinking skills, but not as much emphasis on personal qualities, which goes along with the “21st Century Skills for 21st Century Jobs” report that was quoted in the introduction. This report clearly states how there is an emphasis on basic skills and critical thinking skills but personal qualities was not included in this category.
Important Components of Competencies
Like the results on foundation skills, competencies also have some favorable components.