Chapter 3: Humber College's Business School's Essential Skills Initiative

A leader in polytechnic education, Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning offers innovative, career-focused learning opportunities. Its 350 full- and part-time programs include: bachelor’s degree, diploma, certificate, apprenticeship and postgraduate programs. Humber serves 18,000 full-time and 55,000 part-time learners, as well as more than 15,000 employees in custom corporate training. Its strong partnerships with employers, as well as transfer agreements with 45 universities and colleges, help students to build a foundation for lifelong success. Over 90 per cent of Humber students find employment within six months of graduating.*

Humber’s Introduction to Business course engages new business students in traditional business concepts such as economics, competition, as well as the functions of managers in devising and implementing strategy to achieve the organization’s goals. Further exploration of the forces impacting industry profitability and the significance of international business help to establish a sound foundation of concepts, that when combined with the remaining two or three years of curriculum produces graduates who possess a broad and practical understanding of business.

Beyond a strong knowledge base, many employers also demand new graduates who are also strong in soft skills; in other words, Essential Skills. With the aim of improving employment prospects, future success, and in fact the immediate academic success of business students, the Business School established a team of experienced faculty to redesign the Introduction to Business course in a manner that would allow significant time and focus on skill acquisition. The course needed to maintain a “business theme” throughout, and the context of skill acquisition was framed as “skills you will need in business” to retain a greater level of relevance to the students.

In the newly revised version of Introduction to Business, the Essential Skills are delivered as independent units and include helpful background reading which allows students to prepare in advance of class and improves their comfort level with the subject matter. In most cases these sessions are delivered as a participative workshop, and are staggered between more tangible business concepts to help retain the business focus and to introduce some variety. Although Essential Skills are introduced and highlighted with stand-alone units, the concepts and themes are continuously reinforced and applied throughout the course. For example, students explore their learning styles in week 1, however these ideas resurface when discussing Working in Teams and Groups in week 3, again in week 4 when they look at Effective Reading and Learning, once again in Managing Self during weeks 5 & 6, and naturally in week 10 where Analytical, Creative Thinking and Problem Solving skills are the focus.

Students are also challenged to develop a complete set of skills by working in permanent teams to create a supportive and collaborative learning environment, where all topics are discussed and presented openly to ensure effective learning has occurred. Conventional business concepts intertwine with skills acquisition as student teams are put to the test of researching and writing a comprehensive paper analyzing an industry, and finally developing and delivering a professional business presentation to their peers and professor.

The combination of required business knowledge and the development of Essential Skills pose delivery challenges due to the diversity of teaching methods demanded as the students change focus from classical content to soft skills. However, it also makes for a fast paced and often exciting class. Students walk away with the requisite knowledge, but also display evidence of positive behavioural changes that we hope will improve their future success both as students but also as lifelong learners in the corporate world. A very rewarding experience as a teacher and a student.

Responses from students vary greatly. Professor Jeff Short administered a Stop-Start-Continue survey and asked specifically about the student’s experience and attitudes towards the focus on essential skills. 102 of 118 students responded (86%), and all but one (“I feel it will not help me at all”), had positive comments. Presumably, many of the students who did not respond may have had a more negative view, however the fact that 101 students felt that developing essential skills has been helpful, is extremely encouraging.

Some students have a difficult time understanding why topics such as “continuous learning” or “managing self” are relevant to business. In many cases these same students come to college directly from high school and expect a setting where they simply memorize a list of facts and regurgitate those same details in a test setting. They often struggle with ambiguity and are confused and disappointed to find that the college focus is application and greater independent work in learning the material. The reaction can sometimes be fairly emotional and negative; however it’s often these students who have the most to gain from a focus on Essential Skills.

The majority of students seem to enjoy the exercises as they are designed to be fun, interactive and enlightening. The focus on skills centres around their favourite topic… themselves, and includes significant discussion with colleagues and the instructor. Many students gain important insight into themselves, and often make decisions to change behaviours in a positive manner.

Quotes from students:

“Now I get it! Why didn’t we learn this in high school?”

“I realize that I’m only doing this [studying business] because my mom wanted me to.”

(after values and planning exercise the student realized that they really want to study science… not business. They will probably leave The Business School, but this should be viewed as a success as they now know what they want)

 

“I’ve learned to value other people’s ideas and am better at working in a team. I’ve also gained self confidence in achieving my goals”

“These skills are essential in life and business, so having a class that focuses on them is a great help”

“I really liked the in-class activities and hands-on approach. I am able to better manage my time”

“I have a clearer understanding of my goals and values, which I hadn’t thought about before, and I have become a better student”

“I just started a new job and so learning about time management is really helping me. Time management has been a challenge for me, but this course is helping me to work at it”

“The class about note taking and presentation skills has already helped me. I applied these in other classes and have been doing a lot better”

“This course has helped me to be more productive, organized, relaxed and confident that I can achieve better outcomes, not only in school but in the future as well”

“It reminded me of skills I forgot I had, and some skills I didn’t even know I have”

“I have learned different ways to gather information, and learn on my own. Understanding more about my learning style and the best ways to study is helping me” 

“These skills will be useful in a future job because in every job you work with a team, and so you need to learn teamwork and listening skills… it’s one of the main things employers look for."

 

“This course has made me a better student, and all the topics are relevant to what I want to do in the future”

“I usually don’t like working I teams but this has helped me to improve my communication and listening skills”

“This class has taught me to manage my time better and I now I have more time for homework and am actually getting it all done”

“This class has helped me to become a better student because it has taught me how to study more effectively, learn from my text, and what the business world is like”

“I have learned to pay more attention in class and to take better notes”

"I work in customer service and feel that what I’m learning in this course is important because I can relate it to real life and everyday experience at work”

“The type of skills I’m developing will help to set me apart from everyone else on the job”

“Skills such as teamwork and effective listening have been very helpful to me”

“I’ve developed skills in organizing and focusing on what’s important to avoid procrastinating”

“The managing time skills are guiding me towards my short and long term goals”

“This course has greatly improved my overall ability to perform at a higher level in the classroom and in life”

“It made me realize a lot of positive, but also negative things about myself that I plan to change”

 

 

Essential Skills can only be acquired by trial and error and reflection. By establishing a focus on each individual skill,  students are provided a starting point and context, but they also need to have ample opportunity to test the concepts through working with colleagues and receiving specific feedback from instructors. Students who begin to develop these skills in Introduction to Business will see the connection to improved grades, and be motivated to continue to build upon what was learned as they take other courses. This will lead to greater retention of business knowledge, but also improved skills in working with others, communication, planning, and problem solving. By knowing themselves, their interests, and how they can learn more effectively they will be happier, reliable, creative and more productive citizens and employees. Ultimately this is what employers are looking for and is a worthy and satisfying learning outcome for both students and instructors.