Carly Lamont is the theme leader for employability and workbased learning in the CEL. Below she shares with us her thoughts about a session at the British Academy of Management (BAM) conference in Portsmouth. This Professional Development Workshop introduced the concept of EmployaGility.

EmployaGility – engaging multiple stakeholders in the teaching, learning and employment journey
Research conducted by the presenters suggested graduates possessing ‘soft’ skills are considered a fundamental requirement by employers with attitudes and behaviours becoming the new focus when seeking to recruit ‘agile’, work ready graduates. Certainly this issue has been raised in a variety of events I have attended at BU along with the need for graduates to be adaptable and risk aware. The focus of the discussion centred on the concept of EmployaGility which the presenters suggested challenges whether our approaches to employability and enterprise related learning, teaching and support services (careers and placement, incubator, accelerator and start-up hubs) are fulfilling the needs of HE stakeholders.

The presenters – Karen Knibbs, Karen Middleton and Judith Fletcher-Brown – introduced their Revised E4 model of EmployaGility stakeholder collaboration (shown here) and asked us to consider ways in which we could embed more ‘agile’ employability and enterprise development in courses/service provision with a focus on developing ‘agile’ competencies and entrepreneurial behavioural outcomes. Much interesting discussion followed (which I have to say, unashamedly, I rather dominated) whilst sharing the great things we do here at BU.

If you have developed some innovative approaches to your learning, teaching, or support services perhaps you would like to share them with the CEL community.

Revised E4 Model of EmployaGility (adapted from Knibbs, Middleton and Fletcher-Brown 2015)

Blog – EmployAGILITY2