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The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyse what retail and hospitality industry employers want from training and trainers.

The research project was undertaken for Service Skills Australia, the Australian Industry Skills Council that oversees formal training for a range of service industries in Australia. The paper utilises data from focus groups and telephone interviews with representatives of the retail and hospitality industries, and telephone interviews with staff of the relevant UK Sector Skills Councils, to provide international benchmarking for the issues raised.

Results showed that, while industry representatives stated that they prioritised industry skills and knowledge above education skills and knowledge, a complex mixture of the two was required, which was generally felt to be lacking. Curriculum for training was also perceived to be deficient, despite Training packages having been developed in consultation with industry. A comparison with the UK interviews with senior staff at the UK Skills Councils for the two industries showed similar issues and suggested some possible ways forward for Australia.

The paper provides three major areas where improvement in VET training and trainers would be welcome and gives useful initiatives for improvement in those areas.

This paper aims to describe how the human resources development (HRD) policy has shifted from the national level to the sectoral levels; the paper also explains the changes that have been made in skills formation in the economy by presenting the emergence of Industry Skills Councils (ISC).

This paper presents perspectives of which include reviewing the change of governance and skills formation at the sectoral level.

Skills development strategy is needed both at the sectoral and national levels to cultivate the core competencies of Korean talents. The feedbacks based on the HRD practices implemented at the micro level are delivered to the state governments and business associations via the ISCs. The policymaking has thus become more decentralized from the state government, and it now reflects inputs from the practical field in the process of making new policies.

Korean skills regime is still difficult to classify because it does not follow the skills formation regime discussed in current scholarship. While the state government has played an active role in decision-making, financing and delivery of vocational training programs since the early phase of economic development, engagement by social partners has been limited in the Korean vocational education and training (VET) system. The participation of social partners in the Korean VET system has been limited, but various stakeholders such as the labor unions; trade unions; chambers of commerce; and small, medium and large enterprises have been engaged gradually in skills identification, formation, development and implementation within individual sectors.

Industry skills council (ISC) in Korea is at an earlier stage in terms of its formation and incubation. As a governance model similar to sector councils in Canada and UK, it still requires training and development of talents who work for ISCs. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effectiveness of training programs that are currently provided to personnel of the ISC to foster their learning systematically and to develop measures for effectiveness of the training programs.

This study evaluated the training program for the staff of the ISC secretariat as a tool to activate the councils’ main functions. In terms of methodology, we developed an effective training model to measure the training transfer and used it as an analytical framework for evaluation. Success case method was applied to identify the best case of training transfer that reinforces the role and function of ISC.

Learning transfer can help not only the transfer of the learning contents but also the role of the organization that the members belong to and strengthen the function of the ISC. By transferring the content matter of the learning, it can help strengthen the capacity of members to carry out the roles and functions of the ISC, and further strengthen the functions of the council and the role of key players in labor markets.

An effective training model for the personnel of national sectoral bodies or non-profit organization can be further investigated.

The learning transfer evaluation model for ISC staff has unique characteristics that are different from previous studies. ISC has the characteristics of public goods that are established with government support and are active in developing human resources in each industry sector.

Incubating ISC in South Korea is at an earlier stage in terms of research and policy practice. The research findings in this study lay the foundations for further empirical explorations.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on graduate work-readiness challenges in three Asia Pacific economies (Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia), and the roles of three main stakeholders (government, employers and industry) in the process. The intention of the paper is to design a stakeholder-oriented HRM model to address the identified graduate work-readiness challenges.

A qualitative triangulation method comprising interviews and focus groups was used with participant samples for each country – Australia (19), Indonesia (19) and Malaysia (15). Stakeholder-oriented HRM theory underpins the conceptual framework for the paper.

All three countries are currently experiencing difficulties attracting graduates with the required portfolio of qualifications, skills and personal capabilities. The reported effects include: constraints on national economic growth, future production structures, and long-term socio-economic development. Based on a review of the work-readiness and stakeholder-oriented HRM theory literature, it is posited that graduate work-readiness challenges can be effectively addressed by HR professionals in partnership with other key stakeholders.

The study sought the input of only three stakeholder groups for ascertaining graduate work readiness challenges, there is a strong case to include other groups including students/parents and secondary schools.

Bridging the graduate skills gap between government, employers and educational institutions is an important area in which HR professionals can contribute by reducing the mismatch between demand and supply through influencing and balancing the interests and goals of key stakeholders.

This study makes a contribution to the extant literature as it explores the role of HR professionals in relation to a multiple stakeholder strategy to address these challenges in the less-explored Asia Pacific region.

Travel and tourism has played an instrumental role in the growth of a progressive Indian economy. Contributing 6.3 per cent to the total Indian gross domestic product in 2015 and expected to rise by 7.3 per cent in 2016, the sector has exhibited positive signs of growth and is delivering to its forecasted potential (WTTC, 2017). To manage this growth, it is estimated that there is an incremental need of 4.9 million people to take up varied job roles. To cater to the growing need and take advantage of being the youngest economy, Skill India mission was launched with a view to training 400 million people by 2022. This paper aims to explore the recruitment of Skill Initiative-certified candidates for Luxury Hotels in India, identify the challenges in recruiting Skill Initiative candidates and explore whether the knowledge of the English language is important to the recruitment of skilled personnel by employers.

Primary information was gathered via conversations with industry practitioners to gauge the effectiveness of the hospitality-based curriculum design and to explore the concept of employability and the challenges they face. To measure the effectiveness of a course designed to develop English language proficiencies, interviews were conducted with language trainers.

Skill India initiative is not delivering the promise that was expected. The key findings were that the initiative is being perceived as a program for those not willing to help themselves or the marginalized who would have opted out or failed to complete formal education. There should be structural changes in primary education to develop English language skills in particular. The program needs to reconsider the time it allocates to developing soft skills. The biggest barrier to the absorption of candidates after being skilled and certified via the Government’s skilling agenda is poor English language communication, especially verbal expression.

Although the issue discussed is a genuine bottleneck, there has been no prior formal research on this topic in relation to the Skill India initiative. There is an abundance of literature on the topic of communication skills as it relates to employment and growth, but there is very limited work in the Indian context, especially in relation to the Skill India Initiative. The research forms a platform for various stakeholders, government planners/agencies (for understanding gaps and making necessary changes), training providers (to identify requisite profile of trainers), researchers and industry specialists (to recognize their role and contribution) to build upon and develop.

The aim of the paper is to examine whether there really is a shortage of VET teachers, and if so, whether there are links to the salary offered and to the qualifications required.

The paper uses three main approaches to examine the narrative of a shortage of VET teachers in Australia.

There was no documented evidence of a VET teacher shortage, beyond a general perception of shortage in line with other occupations due to the post-COVID economic recovery. Salaries for VET teachers were found to compare well with other education occupations and other jobs in the economy. There was no evidence of the required qualifications deterring entry. The main concern appears to be whether VET can adequately train workers for other sectors in shortage.

The research did not include empirical survey work and suggests that this needs to be carried out urgently.

The research provides evidence that will challenge current assumptions and help in the recruitment of VET teachers.

It argues for a recognition of the importance of the VET sector beyond its function of serving industry.

It highlights ways to make VET teaching a more attractive proposition and to better promote its advantages.

The purpose of this paper is to explore some of the issues affecting successful employment outcomes for young women in male-dominated careers, focusing on those generally accessed via a traditional Australian apprenticeship model. Current patterns of participation in trades-based fields of education and training reinforce the highly gender segregated nature of the Australian Labour Force. Women are particularly under-represented in the large industries of construction, mining and utilities, where female employees account for only around 12, 15 and 23 per cent of employees, respectively, an issue of concern both in terms of increased economic participation of women and girls, and gender equality more broadly. The foundations for transition from education and training to employment are established during school. It is during these formative years that young men and women have notions of what is possible for them, and what is not possible, reinforced. Unfortunately, gendered stereotypes and perceptions around certain career options for young women are still reinforced within schools and create barriers to widening young women’s participation in a range of careers, particularly in fields traditionally dominated by males. The paper discusses strategies supporting initial apprenticeship opportunities for young women, and supportive structures to help women and girls build careers in these industries.

This paper draws from a mixed method study, involving a national electronic survey of educators, industry and community groups, and a range of semi-structured interviews. Whilst the major study focused primarily on career exploration in relation to young women taking on careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and non-traditional industries, this paper focuses on one aspect of this study, young women taking up an apprenticeship in a male-dominated career. The research around career exploration was undertaken in 2014, and this paper has placed it in the current context of falling apprenticeships and increasing pressures to increase the number of women and girls employed in a wider range of careers.

The findings of this particular study consider the barriers to young women taking on apprenticeships and identify strategies that hopefully will produce more successful pathways. This paper can be seen as adding to the public discourse to address the Australian Government’s stated reform objective in vocational education and training (VET), that trade apprenticeships are appropriately valued and used as career pathways.

This paper can be seen as adding to the public discourse to address the Australian Government’s stated VET reform objective, that trade apprenticeships are appropriately valued and used as career pathways.

The purpose of this paper is to explore what the attitudes of small firm owner-managers are to developing the skills of their key resources and then examine how these and other factors affect owner-managers’ preferences for training these employees.

This study of training in small road transport firms in West Australia is cast in light of the literature on human resource management in small firms underpinned by insights drawn using the resource based view of the firm. Small firms (less than 20 people) dominate this industry, while the increasing freight task, and extreme distances between West Australian ports, towns and mines highlight this sectors’ importance. Survey results from 39 small road transport firms and interviews with nine owner-managers are analysed.

Legislative, regulatory and licensing requirements were shown to be a key determinant of skills development. Employers ensured that basic standards for employee certification and qualification were met, as the penalty for not doing so would be too high. Regulations drove the need for certain types of training – licenses, fatigue management, occupational health and safety, handling dangerous goods, the Maritime Security Identification Card card, forklift license, mine site inductions – while owner-managers knew where to get the training their staff needed. Although regulation appeared most visible in prescribing what happened in relation to training for drivers, the relevance of owner-managers’ attitudes could not be ignored, nor could conditions in the firms external environment as this shaped how these requirements were met.

The RBV is useful in showing how skill development enabled similarity in skills across firms, while the attitudes owner-managers and economic and social conditions meant what happened in firms around skill development varied. The importance of small firm owner-managers’ attitudes are clearly highlighted and shown to influence organizational decisions and choices around training, but these were not independent of the regulatory framework and the economic and social conditions within which the firm operated. The small firms in this study did engage workers in formal training when necessary but it was put in the context of the idiosyncratic approach of the owner-manager and the day-to-day needs of the firm. “Training” was essentially about ensuring certain types of skills were held by employees and then passing on knowledge to ensure the behavior of employees was consistent with the owner-manager’s vision for the firm in its current environment.

Ways industry and government can encourage training activity that goes beyond the day-to-day firm needs are suggested.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the development of students’ commercial awareness within the curriculum of professional accredited courses. The targeted area of study is the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) accredited property courses. This paper also discusses how the curriculum of RICS-accredited courses can be designed to successfully incorporate commercial awareness within them and suitable delivery methods for developing this within the curriculum. Commercial awareness is one of the most important employability skills, however, employers have expressed dissatisfaction with graduates’ performance in this area.

This paper presents the research findings of two sets of questionnaire surveys, as well as interviews and e-mail discussions with the course directors and current students of the RICS-accredited property courses in the UK. Descriptive analysis was used to analyse the questionnaire data. Fisher’s exact test was used to identify the statistical significance between academics’ and students’ views on the development of students’ commercial awareness as part of the RICS-accredited property courses’ curriculum. Content analysis was used to analyse the texts in the questionnaire survey, interviews and e-mail discussions.

Academics and students involved with the UK RICS-accredited property courses agreed that commercial awareness is an important employability skill in the property sector and they mostly agreed on the definitions of commercial awareness, except in their “understanding of the wider business environment”. They also agreed that commercial awareness has three components: strategic, financial and process. Academics and students agreed that the commercial awareness components and process sub-components are largely incorporated into the curriculum of RICS-accredited property courses but they have divergent opinions on the level of incorporation of strategic and financial sub-components. A suitable way to deliver commercial awareness in RICS-accredited property courses is to incorporate it into the overall curriculum, ensuring that the components of commercial awareness are closely linked to the RICS APC and match relevant competency levels. They also commented that including practical experience in the curriculum is the most useful way to develop a student’s commercial awareness.

This paper is the first to discuss the development of commercial awareness in professional accredited courses such as RICS-accredited property courses and also identifies suitable methods to enhance students’ commercial awareness as part of the curriculum. The research findings can also be applied to other professional accredited courses that have a strong vocational focus, such as nursing, engineering and accountancy. These courses are usually accredited by relevant professional organisations and students studying these courses usually plan to embark on a career in a relevant profession. The design of the course curriculum has a strong focus on equipping students with the essential competencies to develop their careers within the relevant field.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) accredited real estate courses in the UK have equipped real estate graduates with sufficient relevant employability skills to embark on a career in the profession. This paper considers the perspectives of four stakeholders – employers, human resource managers, graduates and course directors of RICS-accredited real estate courses – in the UK.

The results of a mixed-methods study, involving two online surveys with real estate employers and recent graduates of RICS-accredited real estate courses, and two sets of interviews with human resource managers of real estate surveying firms and course directors of RICS-accredited real estate courses, are presented.

The employers and graduates of the RICS-accredited real estate courses do not think the courses sufficiently equip graduates’ with employability skills. On the other hand, the human resource managers are very impressed with graduates’ technical skills but have concerns about their soft skills and attributes. Human resource managers and course directors of RICS real estate courses commented that commercial awareness is an important employability skill but graduates are not well developed in this area. Course directors also noted that practical experience is vital to employability, commenting that students can only obtain real-life practical experience if employers offer them opportunities.

This paper makes an original contribution to the existing literature on employability skills for real estate graduates. It describes pioneering research considering the perspectives of four types of stakeholders and evaluates whether real estate courses sufficiently develop graduates’ employability skills.