Definitions of skill utilisation

Skill utilisation is a multi-dimensional context which can be viewed as a way of capturing whether people are able to use their skills at work. Skill underutilisation is related to the concepts of underemployment, overeducation and overqualification which typically focus on matching in the labour market (i.e. whether the employee possesses a higher

qualification or level of education than is formally required for the job, see McKee-Ryan and Harvey (2011) for a review). This thesis uses the term underemployment to refer to overeducation and overqualification for consistency.21 _{However, qualification-matching} measures often do not examine the skills that workers use in their jobs and can omit the

21 _{Underemployment as used here does not refer to the Bell and Blanchflower (2011) definition of} workers supplying fewer hours of work than they would like.

27 skill changes taking place within occupations (Chevalier, 2003). Skill utilisation, however, specifically focuses on the extent to which employees are able to make use of their skills and is typically defined in relation to high-performance work, the match between skills possessed by the employee and required for the job, and the opportunity to use and develop skills, as discussed below.

2.4.1.1 HPW-based definitions

Although no one established definition of skill utilisation exists (Scottish Government, 2008), it has been defined and operationalised in different ways in different studies. The first type of definition is related to the concept of high performance working (HPW): businesses making use of skills in the most effective way possible to maximise business performance (e.g. Payne, 2013; SQW Consulting, 2010). The implications of this definition are that in workplaces where HPW practices are adopted, skill utilisation will be high.22

However, using HPW as the central concept for the definition and measurement of effective skill utilisation is problematic, first, because of definitional and measurement issues relating to aspects of HPW, and second, because of HPW’s emphasis on business performance rather than on employees (Payne, 2013). For these reasons, the HPW-based definition will not be adopted in this thesis. However, the framework for the contexts in which skill utilisation occurs, such as the critical success factors (including leadership, culture, communication, and good HR practices), and the factors triggering, delivering, and enabling effective skill utilisation (Skills Australia, 2012), is useful to consider when looking at the interaction between the organisational environment and graduates’ opportunities to use their knowledge and skills.

22 _{HPW systems are theoretically grounded in human resources management (HRM) literature} regarding strategic management of human capital resources to yield competitive advantage (see also Section 2.3.1). HPW systems play a “strategic role; first as a resource to support the

development of core competencies, and second as an essential ingredient for effective strategy implementation” (Becker and Huselid, 1998, p. 57). In policy terms, HPW has been defined as “a

general approach to managing organisations that aims to stimulate more effective employee

involvement and commitment to achieve high levels of performance” (Belt and Giles, 2009, p. 17, [emphasis in original]). This definition includes aspects of HRM, work organisation, employment relations, management and leadership, and organisational development. The HPW practices adopted in workplaces will be context-specific.

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2.4.1.2 Match-based definitions

The second type of skill utilisation definition is employee-focused, and is based on the (mis)match between the skills employees have and the skills they are required to possess for their jobs (e.g. Warhurst and Findlay, 2012). The implications are that where employees lack the skills to do their jobs they are overemployed and need to develop their skills through education or training (i.e. ‘use of better skills’). Conversely, where employees have more skills than are required for their jobs, they will be underemployed unless their skills can somehow be put to use (i.e. ‘better use of skills,’ Warhurst and Findlay, 2012). Where employees’ skills are matched with the job requirements, there is effective skill utilisation. In a similar vein, Payne (2013) outlined ways in which skill utilisation could be measured and evaluated, for example through looking at the proportions of workers who have the opportunity to deploy their skills and capabilities in jobs; whether the skill set they have is appropriate for the job; qualifications required for the job; opportunities for training; discretion over tasks, standards and pace of work, and other associated measures of job autonomy; and learning-intensive jobs and the nature of the organisation of work.

Match-based definitions of skill utilisation have the advantage over HPW-based definitions because they focus directly on employees’ skills (usually measured through self-reported proficiencies in certain skills or through qualification / years of education / duration of training). The main limitations of the match-based definitions are that, if effective skill utilisation is a desirable outcome in itself, then in jobs where employees’ skills are matched there is no incentive to develop skills further built into the basic definition. Moreover, match-based definitions omit the dynamic and interactive dimensions of skill utilisation: what is it that makes some people able to use their skills in some environments but not in others?

2.4.1.3 Opportunity for skill use and development definitions

A related concept, opportunity for skill use, has been explored in organisational psychology literature (Warr, 1994; 1990; 1987). The main difference between this concept and skill utilisation as defined above is that opportunity for skill use includes the potential to develop new skills as well as the opportunity to make use of existing ones (Warr, 1987, p. 4). For this reason, opportunity for skill use is a more useful concept to adopt when investigating graduate employment in small businesses because it includes the possibility for analysing career prospects and adds another dimension to graduates’ experiences of using skills. In this way, Payne’s (2013) dimension of the learning-intensive job as an aspect

29 of skill utilisation is similar to Warr’s construct, however, opportunity for skill use places more emphasis on the employee’s potential to develop skills rather than on the nature of job design. The way in which these concepts have been operationalised with respect to graduate employment is discussed in more detail in Section 2.4.3, Section 2.5, and in the Methodology chapter, Section 3.3.6.

2.4.1.4 Critiques of skill utilisation

Several critiques have been applied to the skill utilisation construct: how jobs might be changed to make more use of skills, how to distinguish between employees’ general skills and the skills used at work, and accounting for the use and development of knowledge and skills. These critiques are briefly discussed below.

It has been well-documented that UK employer demand for, and to some extent, supply of, skills, has been low compared to other industrialised countries, and there has been

evidence of labour market segmentation (see Section 2.3.1). Increasing educational attainment, such as raising the compulsory schooling age to 18, and increasing

participation in higher education may have addressed some of the issues relating to skill supply, although there is still a substantial proportion of the working-age population with no formal qualifications (15% in 2011, UK Census, (ONS, 2014b)). In this context, there is little promise that there will be any change in jobs where employees are underemployed to make better use of employees’ skills.

A more fundamental critique of both HPW and matching definitions of skill utilisation is that they do not make the distinction between employees’ skills in general and the skills they use at work (Warhurst and Findlay, 2012). One argument against treating education solely in an instrumentalist way as the means of developing skills for the labour market is that people value their education in itself.23 _{It can be very difficult, if not impossible, to} separate skill development from skill use at work: it may be that skills required for the job is just a subset of a broader set of skills which individuals possess and develop, but which cannot be obtained in isolation.

23 _{Some of the graduates I spoke to in interviews mentioned that they had certain skills that that} they did not want to use at work, but rather deployed in other contexts (see Section 8.5.1).

30 There is also limited information about the processes through which effective knowledge and skill utilisation occurs, and the effect on employees’ careers. Scottish and Australian skill utilisation government frameworks listed practices through which skill utilisation can be delivered. These practices included employee engagement and job design, workplace learning and other aspects of organisational culture. However, the frameworks did not fully explain how these practices affect skill utilisation, and the Australian Government

framework cautioned that the links between skill utilisation and outcomes such as improved job satisfaction may not always be positive (Skills Australia, 2011).

Although skill utilisation has been defined in numerous ways, this thesis focuses on graduates’ experiences of skill use in a work-specific context looking at self-reported skill and knowledge use, frequency of skill use, and job matching scores.24 _{The opportunity for} developing skills is also captured through interview questions relating to career

development, which were not included in the Futuretrack survey. It is important to note that graduates’ skill utilisation is not particularly insightful in itself: for example a recent graduate employed in a company with effective skill utilisation (in terms of matching) but with no opportunity for career development is not necessarily in a positive situation. Therefore, it is useful to consider the potential to develop knowledge and skills that will positively contribute to graduates’ career prospects (Arnold, 1994, p. 367). The link with career prospects is also useful in providing additional information to the nebulous concept of ‘skills’ discussed below.