UPTIME
How relevant skills are learned and deployed will have a major impact on physical-asset management throughout the entire life cycle. decision-making—at least not as much as designers had hoped it would. Accurately following detailed work instructions, using math to make decisions and engaging in real-time, information-based problem solving will continue to accelerate in today’s society and workplaces, regardless of technology. Skills for gainful employment Evidence suggests that, on average, our workforce, supervision and management may lack the information-processing skills—the competencies—to perform their jobs as needed. But, just what level of ability IS required to be gainfully employed and a productive member of society? There are three basic, complementary skill groupings: Occupational, generic employability and information processing. Occupational skills: When we think of job skills, we often think of the basics of a trade, a career, a vocation. These are called “occupational skills.” They can be learned in school, through in-depth study and practice, and/or through on-the-job experience and training. Today’s industrial maintenance job skills still require the traditional mechanical, electrical and electronic skills. And those basic “craft” or “trade” skills have become increasingly more precise over the past two decades. But occupational skills alone are not enough in today’s world. Generic employability skills: Skills that round out a person’s ability to get along and manage the uncertainties of today’s rapidly changing world of work are called “generic skills.” These include interpersonal communications, self-management and the ability to learn, among others. Information-processing skills: Rapid technological growth in business and industry, as well as in our daily lives, has mandated a mastery of a number of “information processing skills.” Key information-processing skills relevant to many adults in today’s society and employment marketplace include: n Literacy (the ability of understand and respond
appropriately to written texts) n Numeracy (the ability to use numerical and
mathematical concepts) NOVEMBER 2013
n Problem-solving in information-rich environments
(the capacity to access, interpret and analyze information found, transformed and communicated in digital environments) When we, as maintenance and reliability improvement professionals, reflect on the technology growth in our workplaces—and in our daily lives—it’s not surprising that “information-processing skills” are an ever-growing, ever-changing job-performance requirement. Programmable controllers, networked machines, high-level automation systems, interactive data sources, electronic/digital communications and information sharing have revolutionized many of our work places. I believe we can all appreciate that there are skills gaps in today’s workplace. Solving problems in today’s technology-rich industrial plants, facilities, machines, equipment and processes definitely requires extensive information-processing skills—well beyond the basic “craft” or “trade” skills. This recently published OECD survey might have hit the nail squarely on the head given the skills shortages we are experiencing. Back to the OECD survey findings The OECD’s report entitled “Skills Outlook 2013: First Result from the Survey of Adult Skills” was based on responses from nearly 170,000 adults, aged 16 to 65, in 24 countries (see Sidebar on U.S. respondents, page 14). To learn more about the demographics of the 5010 U.S. respondents, go to www.mt-online.com/OECDsurvey. How respondents from various countries ranked… Literacy: On a scale of 1 (lowest) through 5 (highest) the average score among U.S. adults (270 points, which corresponds to proficiency Level 2) is similar to that in Germany and England/Northern Ireland (UK). This score is higher than the average in France, Italy, Poland and Spain, but lower than that in Australia, Canada and Japan. Overall, U.S. adults ranked 10th in literacy skills. Numeracy (math): On a scale of 1 (lowest) through 5 (highest) the average score in the U.S. (253 points, corresponding to Level 2) is higher than that in only two comparison countries (Italy and Spain) and similar to France. Overall, U.S. adults ranked 12th in numeracy skills. mt-online.com | 13