Understanding Skill Gaps in Firms

Annex C. Employer Module Questionnaire

SECTION 1A: Core questions on skill gaps

Q1. Thinking about the skills of people employed in your enterprise and the skills needed to do their current job, how many do you think do not have the skills needed to do their job to the required level?

1) All

2) Most

3) Some

4) Few

5) None

6) Don’t know

Q2. Thinking about people employed who do not have the skills needed to do their job to the required level, which of the following do you think would need improving? (Tick the most important 3).

	Skill area	[if Q1 = (a) to (d)]
A	General IT skills
B	IT professional skills
C	Management skills
D	Team working skills
E	Customer handling skills
F	Office administration skills
G	Foreign language skills
H	Technical, practical or job specific skills
I	Oral or written communication skills
J	Mathematics or calculating skills
K	Reading skills
L	Problem solving skills
M	Other

Q3. Further thinking about the persons you employ who do not have the skills needed to perform their job to the required level, which of the following actions are you taking to alleviate this situation? (Tick the most important 3).

 

		[if Q1 = (a) to (d)]
A	Provide training
B	Offer internal job mobility
C	Recruit new staff with suitable qualifications, skills and competencies
D	Recruit new staff combined with specific training
E	Implement mentoring / buddying scheme
F	Increase performance monitoring
G	Provide feedback to staff
H	Change work practices
I	Reallocate work
J	Automate production
K	Implement domestic or foreign outsourcing
L	Abandon the activity

Note: Outsourcing in option (k) should be understood as transactions to either affiliated or unaffiliated (arm’s length) parties. Foreign outsourcing can therefore also include offshoring.

Q4. In the last three years, was your enterprise significantly affected by any of the following changes? (Yes/No/I do not know answers, tick all that apply).

 

		Yes	No	I don’t know
A	Changes to machinery
B	Changes to information and communication technologies and processes
C	Changes to working methods and organisational practices
D	Changes in domestic outsourcing practices
E	Changes in foreign outsourcing practices
F	Changes in products or services
G	Changes to the amount of contact you have with clients or customers

Note: Outsourcing in options (d) and (e) should be understood as transactions to either affiliated or unaffiliated (arm’s length) parties. Foreign outsourcing can therefore also include offshoring.

Q5. Was any training provided to support the employed persons through these changes? [if Q4= Yes at least once].

a) No, no training was needed

b) No, but training was needed

c) Yes, to everyone who needed it

d) Yes, but only to some staff, because of resource constraints

e) Yes, but only to some staff, due to other reasons

SECTION 1B: Core questions on the company’s background (essential questions)

Q6. What is the postal code of this enterprise? If your enterprise consists of several local units, please consider the most important one.

Q7. What was the principal economic activity of your enterprise in 20XX?

Note: Show list of NACE rev. 2 sectors (2‑digit).

Q8. What was the total number of persons employed by the enterprise at 31.12.20XX?

Q9. In 20XX, has the number of people working at your enterprise …

a) Increased

b) Decreased

c) Stayed more or less the same

Note: (c) should be chosen if the change ranges from ‑5% to +5% approximately.

Q10. In what year was your enterprise created?

SECTION 2A: Optional questions to the Module’s core

QA1. Is the fact that some of your staff do not have the skills needed to do their job to the required level causing your enterprise any of the following? (Yes/No answers, tick all that apply) [if Q1 = (a) to (d)].

 

		Yes	No
A	Not able to take on as much business as you would like
B	Loss of business or orders to competitors
C	Delays in developing new products or services
D	Difficulty in meeting quality standards
E	Increased operating costs
F	Difficulty in introducing new working practices
G	Increased workload for other staff
H	Difficulties in meeting customer service objectives
I	The withdrawal of certain products or services altogether
J	Difficulties in introducing technological change

QA2. Compared to others in your sector of economic activity how often does your enterprise lead the way in terms of developing new products, services or techniques?

a) Very frequently

b) Frequently

c) Occasionally

d) Rarely

e) Very rarely

QA3. Where would you place your enterprise on the following scales? 1 indicates that this enterprise competes in a market for a standard or basic quality product or service, and 5 that you compete in a market for premium quality products or services.

 

Standard or basic quality

1

2

3

4

5

Premium quality

QA4. Is this establishment…

a) The only establishment in the organisation

b) One of a number of establishments within a larger organisation

Note: Question to be asked only if the survey is administered at the establishment level.

QA5. Are the headquarters of your organisation based in this country or outside?

a) Within the country

b) Outside the country

c) Don’t know

Note: Question to be asked only if QA4=(b).

SECTION 2B: Desirable questions on firm practices: training

QB1. Does your enterprise regularly assess the future needs of skills and competences in the enterprise?

a) No

b) Yes, but not regularly (mainly linked to changes in personnel)

c) Yes, it is part of the overall planning process in the enterprise

Note: “regularly” refers to whether, over the past few years or going forward, your organisation carried out or plans to carry out the exercise more than once and on a systematic basis.

QB2. In your enterprise, what are the ways through which employed staff became skilled at their jobs in 20XX? (Yes/No answers, please tick all that apply).

a) Participation in internal CVT courses

b) Participation in external CVT courses

c) Participation in guided-on-the‑job training

d) Participation in job rotation, exchanges, secondments or study visits

e) Participation in conferences/workshops

f) Participation in learning or quality circles

g) Participation in self-directed learning/e‑learning

QB3. In 20XX, how many persons employed by the enterprise participated in one or more CVT course (either internal or external)? Open answer.

Note 1: This refers to CVT courses only. Each person should be counted only ONCE, irrespective of the number of CVT courses the person has participated in.

Note 2: External CVT courses are principally designed and managed by organisations which are not part of the enterprise itself. It is important that the responsibility for the content of the course lies outside the enterprise.

QB4. What were the reasons not to provide training for persons employed in 20XX? (Yes/No answers, please tick all that apply).

 

		Yes	No
A	The existing qualifications, skills and competences of the persons employed were appropriate to the current needs of the enterprise
B	The preferred strategy of the enterprise was to recruit individuals with the required qualifications, skills and competences
C	Difficulties in assessing training needs in the enterprise
D	Lack of suitable offers of CVT courses in the market
E	High costs of CVT courses
F	Higher focus on IVT provision than on CVT
G	Major efforts in CVT made in recent years
H	High workload and no time available for staff to participate in CVT
I	Other reasons

SECTION 2C: Desirable questions on firm practices: HR and work organisation

QC1. Does the person in charge of human resources report directly to the head of this enterprise?

a) Yes

b) No

c) Not relevant (no person in charge of human resources at this enterprise)

QC2. In this enterprise, thinking about work organisation:

a) What percentage of employees work in teams, where the members jointly decide how work is done?

b) What percentage of employees is involved in groups who meet regularly to think about improvements that could be made within this workplace?

c) What percentage of employees regularly up-date databases that document good work practices or lessons learned?

SECTION 2D: Desirable questions on firm practices: talent recruitment

QD1. Has your enterprise recently encountered any difficulties in…

 

		Yes, because applicants did not have the required skills	Yes, because there have been few or no applicants	Yes, for other reasons	No	Does not apply
A	…recruiting employees for jobs which normally require a formal vocational qualification
B	… recruiting employees for jobs which normally require a university degree
C	… recruiting employees for jobs that do not require any formal qualification nor degree

QD2. Has your enterprise recently encountered any difficulties in retaining employees?

a) Yes

b) No

QD3. Thinking about recent recruitments, did you experience difficulties finding candidates who possessed the skills needed to do their job to the required level?

a) No, it was not difficult to find candidates with the required skills

b) Yes

c) It does not apply / There were no recent recruitments

QD4. Thinking of the difficulties you experienced finding candidates who possessed the skills needed to do their job to the required level, what skills were the most difficult to find in candidates for recruitment? (Tick the most important 3).

	Skill area	[if QQD3 = (b)]
A	General IT skills
B	IT professional skills
C	Management skills
D	Team working skills
E	Customer handling skills
F	Office administration skills
G	Foreign language skills
H	Technical, practical or job specific skills
I	Oral or written communication skills
J	Mathematics or calculating skills
K	Reading skills
L	Problem solving skills
M	Other

QD5. Which of the following are the main reasons why it is difficult to recruit and/or retain staff? (Tick all that apply).

a) Wages are lower than in other organisations

b) Geographic location

c) Unattractive conditions of employment

d) Lack of career progression

e) Long/unsocial hours

f) High competition from other employers

g) Not enough people interested in doing this type of work

h) Staff don’t want long term commitment

i) Other

SECTION 2E: Desirable questions on the firm’s structure and business model

QE1. Are your products or services primarily sold…

a) Locally – within an individual town or local area

b) Regionally – within a specific area of the country

c) Nationally

d) Internationally

QE2. Approximately what is the structure of your workforce? Please indicate the percentage of the people in each category:

1) Blue collar

2) White collar

a) Managers

b) Professionals

c) Commercials

d) Clericals

3) Proportion of temporary employment

4) Proportion of self-employed collaborators

5) Proportion of workers who are 50 or older?