National Needs Analysis Report – Greece (IEKEP)February 2016

IO1 – How to Get There?

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

This Report was developed by

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Table of Contents

The Get There project 3

Summative Results regarding the Questionnaires in your organization 4

“How to Get There?” Summative Results regarding the questionnaire for counselors/ trainers/ career guides/ VET experts 5

“How to Get There?” Summative Results regarding the questionnaire for the beneficiaries 12

Appendix I – “How to Get There?” Questionnaire for counselors/trainers/career guides/VET experts 17

Appendix II - “How to Get There?” Questionnaire for beneficiaries 19

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The Get There project

The Get There project seeks to promote the access to trainings that promote employability skills to a wide range of people, like employed people that want to strengthen their skills to perform better at their works, unemployed people that want to increase their chances of getting a job - including young at risk , who are expected to become engaged in this courses via a peer mentoring methodology that will make them feel empowered and, hopefully, less intimidated and more enthusiastic with the training that will give them better chances of entering the labor market.

Through the VET initiatives boosted by this project, VET relevance in the labor market will be enhanced. In fact, through VET, people will be better prepared to enter and stay in the labor market and their performance will be improved.

In this context, the first step in understanding and analyzing the different needs in the participating countries, the Consortium created a set of questionnaires to explore the needs that exist in each country in the promotion of employability skills targeting both groups of interest: the trainers and the beneficiaries. More specifically, to assess which of the employability skills are more relevant for the partnership countries and/or VET organisations' "clients", 2 very similar surveys were developed and all partner organisations delivered them to 2 target groups:

trainers, counsellors, carrier guides, VET experts. unemployed people or people that is going through training.

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Summative Results regarding the Questionnaires in your organization

-How many questionnaires addressing the trainers were collected? .19 questionnaires collected from trainers/ counsellors/ career guides and VET experts

-How many questionnaires addressing the beneficiaries were collected? 18 questionnaires from beneficiaries

-What were the main differences between the two groups? One of the main differences between the two groups has been the level of awareness concerning the concept of employability skills. The group of trainers/counsellors/career guides and VET experts, even though employability skills are not specified not measured in Greece, they were aware of the meaning and the skills that constitute them. On the contrary, beneficiaries were not aware of the meaning and the content of employability skills. This became more obvious in the open ended questions regarding the most important employability skills etc. That mainly consisted of different aspects of communication instead of the ones that existed in the likert scale of the questionnaire.

-Which were the six most important skills according to the trainers? 1. Communication2. Team-work3. Organization4. Self-awareness5. Decision making6. IT skills.

-Which were the six most important skills according to the beneficiaries?1. Communication 2. Politeness3. Convincing Clients4. Good manners in the work environment5. Teamwork6. Time management/ punctuality

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IO1 – How to Get There?

“How to Get There?” Summative Results regarding the questionnaire for counselors/ trainers/ career guides/ VET experts

In the questionnaires that were given to counselors/ trainers/ career guides/ VET experts the summative results of the questions exploring the perception and understanding of employability skills were:

1. Are employability skills specified in your country?

7

12

YesNo

2. Are employability skills measured in your country?

19

YesNo

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3. Do you work on employability skills with your beneficiaries?

18

1

YesNo

4. Are beneficiaries aware of their employability skills?

19

YesNo

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5. Are beneficiaries keen on improving their employability skills?

17

2

YesNo

6. Are there differences in the awareness of employability skills between different age groups and/ or groups of beneficiaries?

16

3

YesNo

The main differences in the awareness of employability skills between different age groups and/ or groups of beneficiaries are:

According to the majority of the trainers/ counselors/ career guides and VET experts that answered the questionnaire, there are differences in the groups of beneficiaries. According to some the trainers/ counselors/ career guides and VET experts, the

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differences are a matter of character whereas for most of them the differences are due to different age groups. Most of the trainers/ counselors/ career guides and VET experts even though they claim that there are differences that are related with age, there are diverse explanations for this: for example, some of the trainers/ counselors/ career guides and VET experts claim that young beneficiaries are more eager to explore their employability skills whereas other the trainers/ counselors/ career guides and VET experts claim that it is the older age groups that are more aware of the importance of employability skills and therefore the ones asking for improvement because they are more mature and have more experience in the labor market.

7. Do you see a need on improving employability skills on the beneficiaries that you have been working with according to your experience?

19

YesNo

8. The three most important employability skills according to the opinions of the counselors/ trainers/ career guides/ VET experts are:

1. Communication 2. Team work3. Self management

9. The three most relevant employability skills that are required by employers according to the experience of the counselors/ trainers/ career guides/ VET experts are:

1. Team work2. Time management3. Problem solving/ Communication

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10. The three most important employability skills asked by beneficiaries according to the experience of the counselors/ trainers/ career guides/ VET experts are:

1. Communication2. Team work 3. IT skills

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11. This part explores the employability skills rate the following employability skills according to their importance in the professional opinion of the counselors/trainers/career guides/VET experts in Greece. It focuses on understanding how important this group finds the following employability skills with 1 the least important and 5 the most important.

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40%

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100%

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5 - Most Important4321 - Least Important

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12. Are the employability skills required by employers the same as the ones that beneficiaries think are most relevant?

1

18

YesNo

General comments or important findings if any:From the questionnaires answered by Counselors/ trainers/career guides and VET experts, it becomes obvious that at the moment in Greece, there is a great need to contextualize and define employability skills and a great need for unemployed beneficiaries to explore and acquire employability skills.

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“How to Get There?” Summative Results regarding the questionnaire for the beneficiaries

In the questionnaires that were given to the beneficiaries in exploring the perception and understanding of employability skills, the summative results were:

1. Have you ever heard of the definition of employability skills?

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7

YesNo

2. According to the beneficiaries understanding of the term employability skills, the most common and/ or important answers were:The majority of the beneficiaries who completed the questionnaire answered that employability skills are the competences that help one to get a job and to keep it. The beneficiaries referred to skills that can help in a job interview such as communication skills, to elements that one may have in order to attract employers and techniques to stimulate the interest of representatives of the labor market. Most of the beneficiaries though, viewed these characteristics more as personality trait/ talents than as acquired skills.

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3. Are employability skills measured in your country?

2

16

YesNo

The way that employability skills are measured in Greece according to the beneficiaries are: Both beneficiaries that answered that employability skills are measured in Greece were unable to specify how. However, both had an assumption in mind that counselors and employers have a way to measure employability skills.

4. Do you work on employability skills with your counselor(s)/ trainer(s)/ career guide(s)/ VET provider(s)?

14

4

YesNo

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5. Do you consider important to improve your employability skills?

17

1

YesNo

6. The three most important employability skills according to the beneficiaries opinion are:1. Time management 2. Communication in the work place3. Politeness

7. The three most relevant employability skills that are required by employers according to the beneficiaries’ experiences are:. 1. Communication in the work place

2. Organization3. Politeness

8. The three most important employability skills that beneficiaries would like to improve are:

1. Communication in the work place2. Problem solving3. Politeness

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9. This part explores the employability skills rate according to their importance from the beneficiaries’ point of view aiming at the understanding of how important the beneficiaries in Greece find the following employability skills with 1 the least important and 5 the most important.

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anag

emen

t

Team worki

ng

Problem

Solvin

g

Customer

Awareness

Communication in

the w

orkplac

e

Working w

ith numbers

IT in th

e workp

lace

Applying f

or a jo

b

Explorin

g job opportu

nities

Rights a

nd responsib

ilities

at work

Health an

d safet

y in th

e workp

lace

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

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41

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5 - Most Important4321 - Least Important

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10. Are the employability skills required by employers the same as the ones that beneficiaries think are most relevant?

7

11

YesNo

General comments or important findings if any:One of the most important findings is that beneficiaries don’t include aspects of communication such as being polite in the skill “communication in the workplace”. Also, there is a confusion regarding skills and manners.

Provide a short summary on the similarities and/ or differences in the reported perceptions between the two groups regarding the employability skills in your country. One of the most striking finding has been the fact that both groups (trainers/counsellors/career guides/ VET experts and beneficiaries) when asked about the most important employability skills did not mention the ones that the Partnership has defined. The majority in both groups gave answers of more general content, something that proves that employability skills are not defined nor measured in Greece and thus highlights the importance of the Get There project. Also, it becomes obvious by the difference in the answers of the two groups that beneficiaries are not aware of employability skills. This is confirmed by the answers that trainers/counselors/ career guides and VET experts gave as well as by the answers of the majority of the beneficiaries. Additionally, the major difference between the two has been the fact that beneficiaries kept on referring to issues included in the category “communication” as separate skills (e.g. politeness has been one of the most common answers to most of the questions irrespectively of the fact that communication was also an answer given by the same people). Also, the comparison of the answers of the two groups shows a lack of self awareness on the part of the beneficiaries given the majority of answers in the likert scale.

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Appendix I

“ How to Get There?” Questionnaire for counselors/trainers/career guides/VET experts

1. Are employability skills specified in your country?Yes No

2. Are employability skills measured in your country?Yes NoIf Yes, specify how

3. Do you work on employability skills with your beneficiaries?Yes No

4. Are beneficiaries aware of their employability skills?Yes No

5. Are beneficiaries keen on improving their employability skills?Yes No

6. Are there differences in the awareness of employability skills between different age groups and/ or groups of beneficiaries? If so, please specify

7. Do you see a need on improving employability skills on the beneficiaries that you have been working with according to your experience?

Yes No

8. What are the most important employability skills according to your opinion? List the three most important ones

9. What are the most relevant employability skills that are required by employers according to your experience? List the three most important ones

10. What are the employability skills asked by beneficiaries according to your experience? List the three most important ones

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11. Please rate the following employability skills according to their importance in your professional opinion. How important do you find the following with 1 the least important and 5 the most important?

Employability Skills

1 2 3 4 5

Self-managementTeam workingProblem SolvingCustomer AwarenessCommunication in the workplaceWorking with numbersIT in the workplaceApplying for a jobExploring job opportunitiesRights and responsibilities at workHealth and safety in the workplace

12. Are the employability skills required by employers the same as the ones that beneficiaries think are most relevant?

Yes No

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Appendix II

“How to Get There?” Questionnaire for beneficiaries

1. Have you ever heard of the definition of employability skills?Yes No

2. What do you understand by the term employability skills? Please specify

3. Are employability skills measured in your country?Yes NoIf Yes, specify how

4. Do you work on employability skills with your counselor(s)/ trainer(s)/ career guide(s)/ VET provider(s)?Yes No

5. Do you consider important to improve your employability skills?Yes No

6. What are the most important employability skills according to your opinion? List the three most important ones

7. What are the most relevant employability skills that are required by employers according to your experience? List the three most important ones

8. What are the employability skills that you would like to improve? List the three most important ones

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9. Please rate the following employability skills according to their importance in your opinion. How important do you find the following with 1 the least important and 5 the most important?

Employability Skills

1 2 3 4 5

Self-managementTeam workingProblem SolvingCustomer AwarenessCommunication in the workplaceWorking with numbersIT in the workplaceApplying for a jobExploring job opportunitiesRights and responsibilities at workHealth and safety in the workplace

10. Are the employability skills required by employers the same as the ones that you think are most relevant? Yes No

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