Employers' perspectives on work readiness in construction: are project management graduates hitting the ground running?

Abstract

<jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Purpose</jats:title><jats:p>There is a need for graduates who can quickly adjust and thrive within the current increasingly dynamic project-based workplaces. The purpose of this paper is to present the employers' perspectives on the work readiness of project management graduates entering the Australian construction industry.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Design/methodology/approach</jats:title><jats:p>To gain the industry's perspective, qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with key informants from 18 different construction companies that employ project management graduates.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Findings</jats:title><jats:p>Thematic analysis revealed that from the employers' perspective, work readiness constitutes (1) empathic communication, (2) passion and (3) technical construction knowledge. Graduates' areas of strength (e.g. application of technology) and weakness (e.g. responding to confrontational situations) were identified.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Practical implications</jats:title><jats:p>The findings provide valuable insights into employers' perspectives of the work readiness of project management graduates which can serve as feedback to universities to assist in aligning their educational programmes with industry needs.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Social implications</jats:title><jats:p>While employers recognize that the responsibility for fostering work readiness should be shared between themselves and universities, this research highlights that currently adequate collaboration does not occur. This paper advocates for both universities and employers to be open to engaging in the conversation to enhance graduate work readiness.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Originality/value</jats:title><jats:p>No research to date has investigated the work readiness of project management graduates, nor whether their work readiness levels meet employers' requirements. This paper addresses this gap.</jats:p></jats:sec>

The work readiness–career resilience linkage: implications for project talent management

“…Work readiness is recognized as an essential component of performing well, both in the job market and in the workplace. Within scholarly research, work readiness is defined as the possession of a range of generic skills and attributes to prepare graduates to face their general and specific challenges at work in addition to their formal education (Borg and Scott-Young 2020b; Prikshat et al , 2018a). From an employer's perspective, work readiness is defined as encompassing a mixture of values, behaviors and skills which facilitate a successful transition into the workplace (Business Council of Australia, 2016).…”

“…Since the 1980s, the notion of work readiness for graduates is accepted for boosting the economic competitiveness of nations (Azevedo et al , 2012). Although the term is at least 40 years old, the concept of graduate work readiness is considered to be hard to both define and quantify (Boden and Nedeva, 2010; Borg and Scott-Young, 2020b). In line with the understanding that employability and work readiness encompass a set of skills, Cavanagh et al (2015) noted that among the skills valued by employers are effective communication, adaptability, commitment, a willingness to learn, time management, good interpersonal and people skills and an ability to accept different perspectives and consider others' points of view.…”

“…In the face of the forecasted project management skills shortage, the work readiness of graduates entering the profession is paramount to the growth and supply of the project management workforce. However, the work readiness of project management graduates is an area where little research has been undertaken (Borg and Scott-Young, 2020a, b; Borg et al , 2017). Furthermore, the extant literature indicates a prevalent skills gap across all professions, between the competence of the students who are graduating from university and the skills that employers are looking for in their entry-level jobs (Molla and Cuthbert, 2015).…”

“…While their study constituted a progressive step in exploring an underresearched concept, further research on the transitions of project management practitioners into the workplace and their early careers is recommended to address the current lack. Investigation of work readiness from multiple stakeholder perspectives: Scholars (e.g. Borg and Scott-Young, 2019, 2020b) have recently studied project management work readiness from the perspective of project management employers. Further research may wish to explore work readiness within this context from the perspectives of other key stakeholders (i.e.…”

“…On the one hand, the education system is striving to keep up to date with preparing the next generation of project management practitioners for the workforce. On the other hand, organizations also have to continue to foster project management talent (Borg and Scott-Young, 2019, 2020b). Organizations' responses to fostering talent depend on their strategic vision, e.g.…”