Skill deficiencies in organisations affect performance, productivity, economic growth and development. Despite quantitative studies and current policy discussions, which acknowledge that skill deficiencies have negative impacts on both employers and employees in developed countries, these studies placed little or no emphasis on the potential impact of skill shortages in developing economies. On the other hand, descriptive studies on skill shortages in Nigeria gave accounts of possible effects on economic growth, however, relatively little is known about the incidence of skill deficiencies experienced by organisations and their impacts on business and employee performance, growth and development. This mixed methods study explored the impact of skill deficiencies on organisations' performance, economic growth and infrastructure delivery, effects on employees, how these effects are managed and possible ways of sustaining skills. A sequential explanatory mixed methods design was used to explore both employers' and employees' experiences of skill deficiencies and possible management measures. This method facilitated the exploration of both convergent and divergent views between employers and employees, assisted in avoiding the subjectivity of using only employers' accounts and provided avenues for capturing salient features of why skill deficiencies occur. Both employers and employees participated in the survey (n=263) and interviews (n= 45). The results suggest that although oil and gas organisations experienced significant skill deficiencies on both business and employee performance and infrastructure delivery; higher impacts were felt in upstream organisations. The economic consequences of skill shortages on individuals, firms and aggregate economy extends to job satisfaction, hiring costs, adoption of new technologies and new work processes, workload, turnover and commitment. Both employers and employees identified that current skill deficiencies affect their performance, potentials for growth and provision of services to clients, adding that the many consequences necessitated the use of various skill and workforce development strategies in managing these effects. Even with the recognition that incidence of skill shortages require supply side response, while skill gaps needs training; the results nonetheless showed that training was used for both skill shortages and skills gaps alongside other workforce development. The findings clarified the causes and extent of skill deficiencies on organisations and proposes changes for remediation of these deficiencies. One of the changes required relates to the need for collaboration and partnership of the social partners of skills, and building links between the world of learning and the world of work. Overall, the structural factors highlight the need for reforming and rejuvenating the education system and investing in skills.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:760021 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Ndunaka, Catherine Chioma |
| Contributors | Sim, Allan ; Cooper, William ; Martin, Graeme |
| Publisher | University of Aberdeen |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=239264 |
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