Concern about how to improve the employability of a municipality is common among municipalities and public bodies. It is a common need in municipalities with a high unemployment rate or with little productive diversification. Increasing employability is key to fixing population to the territory and generating more wealth.
What is employability?
Employability can be defined as the ability of people to adapt to the needs of the labor market. In the concept of employability, different educational, professional and personal circumstances come into play, as well as the abilities and competencies of each person.
Employability is very important because we live in an environment in which the labor market is changing and requires workers to adapt more and more quickly to new requirements and needs. Improving employability has become something to pursue not only by working people, but also by public bodies that seek to help the unemployed improve their chances of finding a job.
Employability is related to the potential that each of us has and to be attractive to companies. It is a global concept that is not the sole responsibility of the education system or companies, but that each person must assume their leading role if they want to become an attractive profile for companies and thus improve their chances of accessing jobs.
Keys to improving employability in a municipality
Now that we have described what employability is, let’s see what are the keys that can influence the improvement of the employability of a municipality. At Acceleralia, we work side by side with municipalities and public bodies that seek to improve the employability of their population and we can say that some of the most important keys are the following.
Digital competences
Training in digital skills has become one of the best ways to improve employability. Companies demand profiles with knowledge in digital tools and therefore it is essential to contribute at the municipal level to offer training opportunities for people who need to improve their knowledge in this area.
Courses, workshops, etc., ideas in this regard can be very varied and can deal with topics such as programming, the use of social networks, software management or any other topic related to new technologies.
Support for entrepreneurship
A very important way to improve the employability of the population is to support the birth of entrepreneurial ideas.
Entrepreneurship helps to boost the local economy, encourages the self-employment of people who were unemployed and if the project goes ahead it can also contribute to improving employability by hiring local workers.
It can be supported from the entrepreneurship of a small commercial establishment to the creation of technology-based start-ups. All this results in benefits at the municipal level.
Encourage self-knowledge
Before acquiring employability skills, it is also important to know yourself better. There are many municipalities and municipal organizations that offer people looking for work self-knowledge workshops in which they can discover with help what the potential of each person is, their motivations, in which areas they are most limited, what they do well in their job search and what they can improve.
It is one of the keys to improving employability while people in active job search manage to get to know each other better and assess their needs.
Improvement of social skills
Human beings are social animals and, as such, it is essential to have a good development of social skills.
At the municipal level, the development of workshops and activities that help people improve their skills in verbal, non-verbal and digital communication can be of great help to improve employability. Skills such as persuasion, leadership or personal brand care are fundamental in today’s work environment.
These skills together are necessary to make a positive impression and have a better chance of finding a job.
Promote the training offer
A key aspect to improve employability in any town or city is to improve the training offer. Incorporating new vocational training programs in institutes, attracting training schools or establishing language classes are some of the measures that can be promoted at the municipal level with the help of other institutions and companies.
It has been shown that the higher the training level of a population, the lower the unemployment rate of the population, so it is a considerable aspect to work on to improve employability at the municipal level.
When it comes to knowing how to improve employability, there are many fronts that can be addressed at the municipal level. Do you need a strategy to improve employability in your municipality? From Acceleralia, we can contribute to improving the employability of municipalities and cities by creating an ecosystem of support for entrepreneurs that can be decisive in achieving this goal.