Unit One - P1 Understand the Personal Attributes Valued by Employers

Employers look for and like when their new or current employees have certain skills. In some jobs, some skills are necessary when others are desired. There are three different sections of skills which are looked at whilst the employers are deciding if the person is qualified to do the job or if they aren’t capable. Each employer will have expectations of what skills the new employees should acquire and will employ according to the expectations. These skills are called personal attributes and are either a specific attribute, a general attribute or an attitude.
Specific Attributes
In some jobs, specific attributes are required to work in that field. They can be specific to the job so an employee can carry out the job or to the knowledge on the procedures which may be expected by the employer. Some jobs need their employees to have a degree in a certain field, like secondary school teachers need a degree in the subject they want to teach and they have to also have a teaching degree. Without the teaching degree, the person isn’t allowed to be a teacher. The teacher would need to know health and safety procedures to make sure that the students aren’t in any danger as well as security. Good work procedures are when health and safety as well as security is taken into account. If an employee is unwell, they should stay off of work until they recover as if an employee goes to work with a virus and the whole team is then ill, the office would be unproductive. The Health and Safety at Work act (1974) means all the employees are to responsibly take care of themselves and others who can be affected by their actions.
Each job needs employees with specific attributes to the job and the procedures and the work place and the attributes can be shown by certificates of the skills or qualifications from an educational background. Also health and safety and security is important as it means the company will succeed as well as possible and the amount of people being injured or are ill is limited.
General Attributes
General attributes are skills that everyone is expected to have regardless of the job they have. These skills are able to help carry it out tasks for any job given to the person. General attributes include planning and organisational skills, time management, team working, numeracy skills, written and verbal communication skills and more. The more advanced in these areas, the better you’ll look to an employer. Planning means you have to think ahead about goals you want to achieve and the timescale you have to complete the task. A plan will allow someone to use their time efficiently and productively. Secondary school teachers for instant need to plan for several lessons on what to do in each lesson, then at the start of the year, for each class, a seating plan is made so the teacher can organise the students to work efficiently together or if it is a new year, it’s easy to learn the class’s names. The teachers would need to plan the time they have outside of school efficiently as well so they can mark the student’s books or homework’s quickly yet efficient at the same time, so planning is a key role for teachers to require.
Each employer looks for general attributes in the employees to see how well they can work without looking to the employer for help every time they want to complete a task.  If someone was weak in planning and organisational skills, time management, team working, numeracy skills, written and verbal communication skills, they wouldn’t look very employable and less likely to be employed.
Attitudes
The attitudes people have employers prefer their employees to have. These attitudes include determined, independent, integrity, tolerance, dependable, problem solving, leadership, confidence, and self-motivation. They are valued by an employer as they show that the employee doesn’t need constant help on the tasks that they are given and sometimes, the employer might not be skilled in the way the employee is and so might not be able to help the employee. Like a headmaster will not be qualified in every subject the school offers, so may be limited to what the he can help with and the head master would want the teachers to be as independent as possible, solving any problems he or she may have before seeking help. That way, the headmaster will be interrupted less and accomplish more work that they need to do. If the staff really need help, in some schools there is a head of department to go to instead of the headmaster which should be able to help more. These head of department would need to have a leader attitude to get the department achieving as well as possible and to make sure that they are in check.
Employers like their employees to have certain attitudes which aren’t necessary, but makes someone look better than someone without these attitudes. It shows the employer that the employee is committed to what they do and are right to do it.