Dit artikel biedt een samenvatting van twee onderzoeksrapporten: een algemeen literatuuronderzoek rond employability en interviews bij een aantal bedrijven in de Metalektro. Hoofdvragen waren: hoe staat het met de employability? En hoe kan deze bevorderd worden?
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The relevance of an internationalised home curriculum for all students is generally acknowledged. Other than study abroad, the home curriculum gives programs of study full control over the way students learn international, intercultural, and interdisciplinary perspectives. However, misconceptions, lack of strategies, lack of skills of academics, and lack of connection between stakeholders present major obstacles to internationalising teaching and learning “at home”. The practical trajectory outlined in this chapter presents programs of study with the opportunity to focus on employability skills instead of on a semantic discussion on internationalisation. By linking this orientation on employability skills with the articulation of intended learning outcomes (ILOs), a pathway for developing employability skills in all students will be created. Within this pathway, international, intercultural, interdisciplinary, and future-focused dimensions serve to enhance students’ acquiring employability skills. The trajectory presented here evolved out of action research on internationalisation with academics. During the action research, taking employability skills as a starting point emerged as an enabler for the internationalisation process. It helped to overcome lengthy and semantic discussions on the meaning of internationalisation. After that, international and intercultural dimensions are included in these employability skills. These skills are then translated into ILOs. This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge/CRC Press in Internationalization and employability in higher education on 19/25/06, available online: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781351254885.
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In this mixed methods study, a moderated mediation model predicting effects of leader-member exchange (LMX) and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) on innovative work behaviors, with employability as a mediator, has been tested. Multi-source data from 487 pairs of employees and supervisors working in 151 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) supported our hypothesized model. The results of structural equation modelling provide support for our model. In particular, the benefits of close relationships and high-quality exchanges between employee and supervisor (LMX), and fostering individual development as a result of employees’ OCB have an indirect effect on innovative work behaviors through positive effects on workers’ employability. Innovative work behaviors depend on employees’ knowledge, skills, and expertise. In other words, enhancing workers’ employability nurtures innovative work behaviors. In addition, we found a moderation effect of organizational politics on the relationship between employability and innovative work behaviors. Secondly, qualitative methods focusing on experiences of the antecedents and outcomes of employability were used to complement our quantitative results. All in all, this study has important consequences for managerial strategies and practices in SMEs and call for an awareness of the dysfunctional effect of perceived organizational politics.
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate possible differences in the degrees of employability, leader–member exchange (LMX) and innovative work behaviours in a comparison between Belgium and the Netherlands. Although neighbouring countries, disparate national cultures between the two are assumed to influence the amount of employability, LMX and innovative work behaviours among their respective working populations. Furthermore, this paper aims to validate a mediation model across the two countries to test whether employability (partially) mediates the relationship between LMX and innovative work behaviours. Design/methodology/approach Data from employees and their immediate supervisors working in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Belgium and the Netherlands supported the hypothesized model. Structural equation modelling was used to investigate the mediation model using a multisource approach. Findings The amount of employability and innovative work behaviours of employees appeared to differ significantly between Belgium and the Netherlands. Furthermore, the results suggested that for both countries a positive relationship with one’s immediate supervisor (LMX) is beneficial in the light of workers’ innovative work behaviours, through its impact on employability, which was found to be a full mediator in this relationship. Research limitations/implications Future studies using a longitudinal approach could give more insight into the model relationships. Moreover, the variation in systems, national contexts and managerial practices in the Euroregion calls for more cross-national comparative scholarly research. Practical implications SMEs often do not employ professionals to manage human resources, that is, supervisors themselves have to carry the responsibility to encourage employees to further develop themselves and to enhance their innovative work behaviours. This while the challenge of more cross-national cooperation encourages a boost for innovations in the Euroregion. Originality/value This study is the first cross-national validation of a mediation model wherein a competence-based measure of employability is incorporated as a possible mediator in the relationship between LMX and innovative work behaviours.
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Om nu en in de toekomst de Limburgse beroepsbevolking in kwantiteit en kwaliteit aan te laten sluiten op de vraag naar arbeid, heeft de Provincie het Aanvalsplan arbeidsmarkt ‘Zo WERKT Limburg’; een uitvoeringsstrategie met als doel het geven van een extra impuls aan de Limburgse arbeidsmarkt, opgezet. ‘Zo WERKT Limburg’ verbindt, initieert, experimenteert, versterkt en ondersteunt binnen de kaders van het Aanvalsplan arbeidsmarkt. In dit onderzoek staat Leo centraal. Leo, de nieuwe naam van het Limburgs Ontwikkel Centrum, is een van de projecten binnen ‘Zo WERKT Limburg’. Het doel van Leo is het ontwikkelen van een ondersteuningsstructuur die de Limburgse burger wegwijs maakt en begeleidt bij zijn of haar ontwikkeling op de arbeidsmarkt. Door het aanbieden van laagdrempelige, onafhankelijke activiteiten die toegankelijk zijn voor elke Limburger, wil Leo bijdragen aan het vergroten van de employability van de Limburgse beroepsbevolking. De vraag die centraal staat in dit onderzoek luidt: ‘Op welke wijze kan Leo de activiteiten borgen en verder uitbreiden ten einde bij te dragen aan de employability van de Limburgse beroepsbevolking?’
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Internationalisation has become an “institutional imperative” for many institutions of higher education. Two propositions are that internationalisation would help students develop competencies needed in todays globalised world, and increase the employability of students. This piece summarises findings from the HBO-Monitor (a survey amongst alumni of Dutch universities of applied sciences) to substantiate the aforementioned propositions. The analysis suggests that internationalisation measures such as a foreign experience are conducive to the acquisition of international competencies. By contrast, little support derives from the HBO dataset concerning the link between internationalisation (or the thereby acquired competencies) and an increase in employability. However, a good number of alumni confirm that international competencies are needed in their current jobs. Based on this project, the Research Group International Cooperation will set up a longitudinal study on internationalisation at THUAS and its impacts.
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BACKGROUND: The capability set for work questionnaire (CSWQ) is being used to measure the new model of sustainable employability building on the capability approach. However, previous studies on the psychometric properties of the instrument are limited and cross-sectional. This two-way study aimed to (1) evaluate the convergent validity of the CSWQ with the theoretically related constructs person-job fit, strengths use, and opportunity to craft and (2) test the predictive and incremental validity of the questionnaire for the well-established work outcomes, including work ability, work engagement, job satisfaction, and task performance.METHODS: A representative sample of 303 Dutch workers, chosen with probably random sampling, were surveyed using a one-month follow-up, cross-lagged design via the Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences panel. The convergent validity was assessed by exploring the strength of associations between the capability set for work questionnaire and the theoretically related constructs using Pearson's correlations. The predictive and incremental validity was evaluated by performing a series of linear hierarchical regression analyses.RESULTS: We found evidence of the convergent validity of the capability set score by moderate correlations with person-job fit, strengths use, and opportunity to craft (r = 0.51-0.52). A series of multiple regression analyses showed that Time 1 capability set score and its constituents (i.e., importance, ability, and enablement) generally had predictive and incremental validity for work ability, work engagement, job satisfaction, and task performance measured at Time 2. However, the incremental power of the CSWQ over and above conceptually related constructs was modest.CONCLUSIONS: The findings support the convergent, predictive, and incremental validity of the capability set for work questionnaire with not previously investigated work constructs. This provided further evidence to support its utility for assessing a worker's sustainable employability for future research and practical interventions.
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Een digitaal netwerk is van strategisch belang voor mens, organisatie en regio. Hoe kunnen we social media en andere vormen van digitale netwerken nu functioneel doordacht, efficiënt en effectief inzetten? Hebben we voldoende media wijsheid in pacht? Zijn we voldoende ‘digital media literate’? Aandacht voor en het ontwikkelen van digital media literacy wordt in het Horizon Report 2011 van EDUCAUSE “de belangrijkste kritieke uitdaging” voor de komende jaren genoemd. Het rapport spreekt van “een key skill voor elke discipline en professie“. Demografische ontwikkelingen als vergrijzing en ontgroening hebben gevolgen voor de arbeidsmarkt. De oplossing kan worden gezocht in employability van de beroepsbevolking: van baan- naar werkgarantie. Aangezien digital media literacy een key skill voor elke discipline en professie is en dat digitaal netwerken van strategisch belang is, is het bevorderen van digital media literacy een belangrijke randvoorwaarde voor het realiseren van employability. Deskundigheid moet door HR-diensten in kaart worden gebracht. HR-diensten kunnen met Strategisch HRM (SHRM) employability bevorderen. In het essay neem ik de lezer, met digital media literacy in zijn of haar koffertje, mee via de demografische problematiek in de regio (Limburg, Euregio) naar Zuyd (daar waar ik zelf werk).
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INTRODUCTION: The recent concept of sustainable employability (SE), which refers to being able and enabled to achieve valuable work goals, has lately attracted substantial attention in many developed countries. Although limited cross-sectional studies found that SE in the form of capability set was positively associated with work outcomes, why and through which mechanism SE is related to crucial work outcomes remains still unexplored. Therefore, the present three-wave study aimed to (1) investigate the SE-work outcomes linkage over time, and (2) uncover the psychological pathway between SE and two work outcomes (i.e., task performance and job satisfaction) by proposing work engagement as a mediator.METHODS: To test the mediation process, we approached CentERdata to collect data among a representative sample of 287 Dutch workers. We used a three-wave design with approximately a 2-month time lag.RESULTS: The results of bootstrap-based path modeling indicated that SE was a significant predictor of task performance but not job satisfaction over time. Work engagement mediated the relationships between SE and (a) task performance and (b) job satisfaction.DISCUSSION: These findings suggest that organizations may foster workers' task performance and job satisfaction by configuring a work context that fosters SE-allowing workers to be able and be enabled to achieve important work goals.
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This chapter aims to place the employability related outcomes of this study in the context of other current employability studies. For this purpose, seven recently published employability studies were selected from a range of contexts and with different methodological approaches. Within the literature there is a distinction made between employment skills and employability skills. The former are limited to a specific profession or discipline (sector skills) while the latter are ‘transversal’ and apply to all professions. These skills go by other names such as ‘soft’, ‘generic’ or ‘transferable’ (Jones, forthcoming). The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) defines employability skills as follows: “The transferable core skills that represent functional and enabling knowledge, skills, and attitudes required in today’s workplace. They are necessary for career success at all levels of employment and for all levels of education”. (http://www.hefce.ac.uk/glossary/).
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