What professional skills demand Spanish companies in their selection processes?

– develop professional skills and conditions of empleabilidad of people is the best guarantee to reduce the unemployment rate ”

– employees and potential employers are adapting rather slowly to the new paradigm. Issues such as the mobility and the network of contacts are still undervalued ”

Madrid, February 2013- professional skills are an essential value in the curriculum of persons in search of employment or promotion internal in the selection and promotion of personnel. It is not enough that the candidate has knowledge that will enable it to develop specific functions; skills, values and attitudes are sued him also.

According to Carlos Cuervo-Arango, Dean of the Faculty of social sciences of Nebrija, on the economic stage as the current one, in which unemployment is the most pressing social problem of Spain, is a fact (shown in more advanced European economies) to develop professional skills and conditions of empleabilidad of people is the best guarantee to reduce the unemployment rate ”.

in this context, Nebrija Business School and Institute Nebrija’s skills professionals have conducted a study among Directors General and responsible for human resources to find out what skills are the most demanded by Spanish companies for workers in the knowledge ” and what are the key factors in managing human resources.

The study has been presented this morning, at the Nebrija Foundation, in an act in which they have participated: Carlos Cuervo-Arango, Dean Faculty of social sciences, Jesús Gómez, Director Institute Nebrija skills professionals. Fernanda Armada: responsible for Consulting of Great Place to Work, Eva Figueroa, responsible for the competitive program of Astellas Pharma S.A., Tomás Calleja, Director of programs of high direction of Nebrija Business School and Antonio Muñoz, Professor of the Nebrija skills Institute.

All the powers proposed in the study obtained an average score above of 3.5 points, which is the central value of the 6-point scale used in this study. Therefore, all are considered important but with different intensity. Negotiation appears as the least prominent of the whole competition and it is not risky to interpret this fact as a reflection of the top-down approach, in which decision making and the bargaining power are very centralized at the top of the organizational pyramid that has been predominating in the Organization of large and medium-sized Spanish Enterprise and also by the lack of development This competition if we compare ourselves with the Anglo-Saxon culture ”, as explained by Jesús Gómez, Director Institute Nebrija skills professionals.

In the study are traditionally or commonly accepted skills (orientation to results, planning and projects, leadership, teamwork and time management …) and powers more typical of the emerging paradigm (ethical behavior, entrepreneurship, emotional intelligence, change management …).

which of the two approaches it is valuing most from the Spanish company? is our society by adopting the new paradigm, or remains too stuck in the traditional?

The study indicates that the results-oriented (including external and internal customer orientation) is more valued by the Spanish companies competition. Although the list is dominated by a traditional competition, followed not too much distance to competencies associated with the emerging paradigm: ethical behavior, initiative, Intrapreneurship ”, creativity and innovation, change management and team work.

The results of the survey have shown that the Spanish company is aware of the paradigm shift that is taking in more developed countries in terms of the evaluation of staff, although the practice still prevails the consideration of traditional concepts of evaluation ”, explains Jesús Gómez. Employees and potential employers are adapting rather slowly to the new paradigm and there is no doubt that the economic crisis is acting as an accelerator of its adoption in many aspects ”, adds.

In this regard, ensures the Nebrija skills Institute that the training of current and future managers and entrepreneurs, must guide the adoption of good practices associated with this new paradigm to modernise the Spanish company and lead it toward new levels of competitiveness. Issues such as the mobility and the network of contacts are still undervalued when the reality is imposed that they should be taken into greater consideration ”.

As reflected the study, selection processes in external (see box), the most important topics are competencies and values and the results/performance. Languages, occupy the third place of the list in selection processes; in today’s globalized environment, English is practically taken for granted, and grows in the expectation of proficiency in a second language.

In fourth place are know-how, other traditional value which followed closely the most common: the work experience. Geographical and functional mobility is important but less than the previous concepts and appear at the bottom of ranking candidates wage expectations.

in internal selection processes the order is reversed, and they occupy the first position the results/performance and the second position competencies and values.

Eva Figueroa, responsible for the competitive program of Astellas Pharma S.A., reviewed the results of the study to coincide with the valuation of these pharmaceutical laboratories. Key competences in Astellas Pharma are results-oriented, ethical behavior, initiative, change management and team work, followed by other ”.

Astellas Pharma is a company Best Workplaces. Fernanda Armada, head of Consulting from Great Place to Work ®, has explained that the culture of the great places to work is based on organizations by values where it is encouraged that the employees give it better Yes in its day to day; are companies that communicate, have ethical behaviour, encourage it to learn from the mistakes, work as a team, treat employees as individuals, not as numbers and facilitate the conciliation ”.

Tomás Calleja, Director of programs of high direction of Nebrija Business School, has highlighted that Nebrija was the first University which included the formation of skills in grade ”. Now, has created, with the collaboration of the Institute of skills professionals Nebrija, a set of training programs eminently practical carried out in cross, in all grades and in most graduate programs, and also longitudinally, as graduate studies students work these competencies during three different academic courses. All programmes of professional skills have a logical sequence that starts with the analysis, development and leadership – emotional intelligence – self, continues the practice of relationship and communication skills, and culminates with the development and team leadership, the importance of diversity management and the improvement of employability ”.

He noted that the main objective of these programmes is to facilitate personal, academic and professional development of its students. Since the process of admission of the student, is a careful evaluation of their level of competence, which serves as a guide and a starting point to evaluate improvements in their individual and collective development.