De Fruyt, Filip

John, Oliver

Wille, Bart

English

Ghent University Academic Bibliography

See	discussions,	stats,	and	author	profiles	for	this	publication	at:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282557168Employability	in	the	21st	Century:Complex	(Interactive)	ProblemSolving	and	Other	Essential	SkillsARTICLE		in		INDUSTRIAL	AND	ORGANIZATIONAL	PSYCHOLOGY	·	JUNE	2015Impact	Factor:	0.65	·	DOI:	10.1017/iop.2015.33READS583	AUTHORS,	INCLUDING:Filip	De	FruytGhent	University158	PUBLICATIONS			3,885	CITATIONS			SEE	PROFILEBart	WilleGhent	University19	PUBLICATIONS			163	CITATIONS			SEE	PROFILEAll	in-text	references	underlined	in	blue	are	linked	to	publications	on	ResearchGate,letting	you	access	and	read	them	immediately.Available	from:	Filip	De	FruytRetrieved	on:	25	January	2016Industrial and Organizational Psychologyhttp://journals.cambridge.org/IOPAdditional services for Industrial and OrganizationalPsychology:Email alerts: Click hereSubscriptions: Click hereCommercial reprints: Click hereTerms of use : Click hereEmployability in the 21st Century: Complex (Interactive)Problem Solving and Other Essential SkillsFilip De Fruyt, Bart Wille and Oliver P. JohnIndustrial and Organizational Psychology / Volume 8 / Issue 02 / June 2015, pp 276 - 281DOI: 10.1017/iop.2015.33, Published online: 28 July 2015Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S1754942615000334How to cite this article:Filip De Fruyt, Bart Wille and Oliver P. John (2015). Employability in the 21st Century: Complex(Interactive) Problem Solving and Other Essential Skills. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 8,pp 276-281 doi:10.1017/iop.2015.33Request Permissions : Click hereDownloaded from http://journals.cambridge.org/IOP, IP address: 151.80.35.146 on 25 Sep 2015276 fil ip de fruyt et al .Rose,M.,Drogan,O., Spencer, E., Rupprecht, E., Singla, N.,McCune, E., &Rotolo, C. (2014).I-O psychology and SIOP brand awareness among business professionals, HR profes-sionals, faculty members, and college students. Industrial and Organizational Psychol-ogy: Perspectives on Science and Practice, 52(1), 154–162.Ryan, A. M. (2003). Defining ourselves: I-O psychology’s identity quest. The Industrial–Organizational Psychologist, 41(1), 21–33.Ryan, A. M., & Ford, J. K. (2010). Organizational psychology and the tipping point of pro-fessional identity. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science andPractice, 3(3), 241–258.Shotter, J., & Tsoukas, H. (2013). In search of phronesis: Leadership and the art of judgment.Academy of Management Learning & Education, 13(2), 224–243.Slaughter, J. E., Christian, M. S., Podsakoff, N. P., Sinar, E. F., & Lievens, F. (2014). On thelimitations of using situational judgment tests to measure interpersonal skills: Themoderating influence of employee anger. Personnel Psychology, 67(4), 847–886.Snow, S. (2014). Smartcuts: How hackers, innovators, and icons accelerate success. New York,NY: HarperCollins.Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. (2013). Humanitarian work psychol-ogy: Concepts to contributions [White paper]. Retrieved from http://www.siop.org/WhitePapersSociety for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. (n.d.). Mission statement. Retrievedfrom http://www.siop.org/mission.aspxEmployability in the 21st Century: Complex(Interactive) Problem Solving and Other EssentialSkillsFilip De Fruyt and Bart WilleGhent UniversityOliver P. JohnUniversity of California, BerkeleyNeubert, Mainert, Kretzschmar, and Greiff (2015) plea to integrate the 21stcentury skills of complex problem solving (CPS) and collaborative problemsolving (ColPS) in the assessment and development suite of industrial andorganizational (I-O) psychologists, given the expected increase in nonrou-tine and interactive tasks in the new workplace. At the same time, they pro-mote new ways of assessing these skills using computer-based microworlds,enabling the systematic variation of problem features in assessment. Neubertand colleagues’ (2015) suggestions are a valuable step in connecting differen-Filip De Fruyt and BartWille, Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psy-chology, Ghent University; Oliver P. John, Department of Psychology and Institute of Socialand Personality Research, University of California, Berkeley.Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Filip De Fruyt, Depart-ment of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, H. Dunantlaan2, B-9000 Gent, Belgium. E-mail: filip.defruyt@ugent.beemployabil it y and 21st century skills 277tial psychologists’ models of human differences and functioningwith humanresources professionals’ interest in understanding and predicting behavior atwork. We concur that CPS and ColPS are important transversal skills, use-ful for I-O psychologists, but these are only two babies of a single family,and the domain of 21st century skills includes other families of a differentkind that are also with utility for I-O psychologists. The current contribu-tion is meant to broaden this interesting discussion in two important ways.We clarify that CPS and ColPS need to be considered in the context of awider set of 21st century skills with an origin in the education domain, andwe highlight a number of crucial steps that still need to be taken before “get-ting started” (Neubert et al., 2015, p. last page of the discussion) with thistaxonomic framework. But first, we feel the need to slightly reframe the rel-evance of considering 21st century skills in I-O psychology by shifting theattention from narrow task-related skills to the broader domain of careermanagement competencies.Nonroutine and Interactive Tasks Versus EmployabilityNeubert et al. (2015) started from the assumption that future jobs willincreasingly involve interactive and nonroutine tasks. Although educationalframeworks of 21st century skills usually claim to affect a broad rangeof criteria, including quality of life, healthy behavior, civic engagement,and environmental sustainability, demonstrating labor market fitness andemployability are among the key anticipated outcomes. The movement of21st century skills is further particularly concerned about the skills of thosegrowing up in difficult circumstances, who have lower education levels ordisabilities or who are at risk of structural unemployment. In addition toadvocating two skills related to task characteristics of more complex jobs,an alternative could be to introduce 21st century skills into I-O psychology,starting from an analysis of what employability means anno 2015, and toidentify those skills that people will need to access and navigate flexibly onthe labor market.Broadly speaking, employability can be defined as an individual’s labormarket fitness and ability to be in charge of his/her own career. Consideredat an operational level, employability can be minimally understood in termsof five characteristics. Hogan, Chamorro-Premuzic, and Kaiser (2013) de-fine employability as a person’s propensity to (a) show task engagement andgoal setting, (b) interact with other people (“getting along” or “being reward-ing to deal with”), and (c) adapt to/fit in an organizational structure or havethe capacity to deploy such structure (for those pursuing self-employment).We propose two additional criteria—that is, (d) demonstrating the abilityand flexibility to learn on the job and prepare for future challenges and (e)being able to manage and switch between short- and long-term perspec-tives. These two extensions ofHogan et al.’s (2013) framework are important,278 fil ip de fruyt et al .given the expectation that people will have to work longer in a more volatileand quickly changing labor market. Moreover, employees will be required tofocus on their current job but, at the same time, will also have to reflect onand invest in future employability. Put differently, employeesminimally needto (a) be willing to work and do the job (task engagement and goal setting),(b) be able to work with/among others, (c) fit in and endorse the values ofan organization, (d) show an eagerness to learn and demonstrate flexibilityand adaptability, and (e) be able to envisage and invest in current and futurecareer paths (within or outside the organization).These five characteristics defineminimal requirements set by the current21st century labormarket across jobs varying in social prestige and job com-plexity. These employability indices tap into all basic personality dimensionsdefined by the five-factor model of personality (John & Srivastava, 1999),with task engagement and goal setting related to Conscientiousness, inter-personal skills related to emotion regulation (Emotional Stability) and thecore dimensions of the interpersonal circumplex (Extraversion and Agree-ableness), and “fitting in,” “learning and adapting,” and “time perspective”related to Openness to Experience and Conscientiousness. For jobs withhigher complexity on the labor market, CPS and ColPS are definitely usefulextensions, because they tap into more hybrid constructs at the intersectionof social-emotional and cognitive skills.Models in the Real World Versus Models From Academic PsychologyAlthough less elaborately discussed by Neubert et al. (2015), it is impor-tant to clarify that the concept of 21st century skills actually refers to abroader set of characteristics, of which CPS andColPS are only two—be theyimportant—examples. For example, Assessment and Teaching of 21st Cen-tury Skills (Griffin, Care, & McGaw, 2012) summarized 21st century skillsunder the acronym KSAVE (knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, and ethics)and grouped them into four broad categories: “ways of thinking,” “tools ofworking,” “ways of working,” and “ways of living” in the world (Griffin etal., 2012). Trilling and Fadel (2009) listed over one hundred 21st centuryskills, grouped into the categories “learning and innovation skills,” “digitalliteracy,” and “life and career skills.” Reviewing the content of these cate-gories and lists shows an amalgam of constructs, with a first group referringto cognitive skills, a second cluster that is best described as social-emotionalskills, and finally, a group of more hybrid constructs building on cognitiveresources but also tapping into social-emotional skill content. CPS is a skillthat is conceptually chiefly situated in the cognitive domain, whereas ColPSis probably best conceived as a hybrid construct related to, though distinctfrom, cognitive and social-emotional skills.In line with Neubert and colleagues (2015), we agree that both skillshave key importance for I-O psychologists but advocate at the same timeemployabil it y and 21st century skills 279that the cluster of social-emotional skills should also be brought to the at-tention of I-O psychologists. Social-emotional skills represent a large clusterin the 21st century skill domain, and they are crucial in evaluating individ-uals’ suitability to work in a range of jobs with varying degrees of complex-ity. Social-emotional skills can be best defined as individual characteristicsthat (a) originate in the reciprocal interaction between biological predispo-sitions and environmental factors; (b) are manifested in consistent patternsof thoughts, feelings, and behaviors; (c) continue to develop through formaland informal learning experiences; and (d) influence important socioeco-nomic outcomes throughout the individual’s life.Although each of the specific constructs in the abovementioned clusters(Griffin et al., 2012; Trilling & Fadel, 2009) has its own merits and impor-tance, to move this field further, it is necessary to empirically structure thisvariability to better deal with overlap and represent the observed common-ality into a taxonomy. Such taxonomy should then form the starting point toconstruct a comprehensive though manageable assessment tool that can beused in 21st century skill research, monitoring, and follow up.Recently, Primi, Santos, John, and De Fruyt (2015) examined the un-derlying structure of eight instruments that are frequently used to assesssocial-emotional skills in childhood and adolescence in Brazil. They founda structure that showed strong parallels, but was not isomorphic, with thedimensions of the five-factor model of personality—that is, Extraversion,Agreeableness, Emotional Stability (Neuroticism), Openness to Experience,and Conscientiousness, supplemented with a sixth dimension referring toNegative Valence. These dimensions are well familiar to both cross-culturaland I-O psychologists (De Fruyt & Wille, 2013; Schmitt, 2014). AlthoughNeubert and colleagues (2015) argued that constructs representing overar-ching transversal characteristics, such as intelligence and personality, wouldbe of little value in concrete situations, the findings by Primi et al. (2015)showed the opposite for social-emotional skills, although these are differentconstructs than CPS and ColPS. Moreover, this empirical study showed thatthe five-factor model taxonomy was the most comprehensive of the eightmeasures that were examined, suggesting that this framework provided agood starting point to develop a new assessment tool for a large group of21st century skills.Developmental Paths, Malleability, and Predictive ValidityThe field of 21st century skills is relatively young, and so far, efforts mainlyconcentrated on listing and conceptually grouping skills and especially cre-ating awareness for their importance. Groups taking the lead in this policyand research endeavor also started working on developing new methodolo-gies to assess these skills (e.g., CPS and ColPS). Whether this broad range280 fil ip de fruyt et al .of skills can be reliably and validly assessed will be a key factor for theirimplementation and integration success into I-O psychology. In an attemptto work with more application-oriented constructs, human resources andI-O psychology professionals are already working with the concept of com-petencies (Hoekstra & Van Sluijs, 2003), considered more helpful in con-crete situations or to understand behavior at work. The assessment of thesecompetencies in professional practice, however, turned out to be often dif-ficult and sometimes even problematic. Pervasive problems associated withcompetency measurement include, among others, lack of evidence for con-struct and divergent validity. Moreover, competencies are often assessed inprofessional practice using assessment exercises with only one or two raters,with insufficient information on the reliability of the ratings. In order not tooversell, we strongly recommend that considerable attention be given to theassessment of the proposed 21st century skill constructs; otherwise, thereis no argument to replace competency constructs with 21st century skills.Given time constraints to assess qualities in job applicants, I-O psychologistswill not embrace over 100 different constructs, so taxonomic work will haveto guide the assessment development program. To achieve this goal, modelsfrom differential psychology will be certainly helpful to structure and assessthe cognitive and the social-emotional skill areas, butwe agree that designingassessment tools for skills from the hybrid cluster will be most challenging.I-O researchers and practitioners will be also curious about the develop-mental paths of 21st century skills and the factors that influence their track.At present, not that much is known on how 21st century skills develop andhowmalleable and coachable these are, in light of developmental constraints,environmental contingencies, and individuals’ geneticmakeup.With respectto Neubert et al.’s (2015) plea for integrating CPS and ColPS in I-O psychol-ogy, key questions are, for example, how do CPS and ColPS skills develop, inwhat contexts are these skills effective, and to what extent are they malleableand coachable?The ultimate criterion to judge on the importance of a construct iswhether it predicts something meaningful. Researchers and practitioners inthe fields of 21st century skills and human resources share an interest in pre-diction. Educationalists want to monitor learning achievements and predictdevelopment of social-emotional skills at school and academic performance,culminating into students’ employability when they enter the employmentmarket. From that stage onward, I-O psychologists assess their potentialand fit for filling up job vacancies and predicting future work performance.Whether I-O psychologists will embrace these 21st century assessment con-cepts and assessment tools will thus be highly dependent on these skills’ va-lidity to predict I-O outcomes and to do this better and more incrementallythan currently existing selection assessment methodology.incorporating soft skills 281ReferencesDe Fruyt, F., & Wille, B. (2013). Cross-cultural issues in personality assessment. InN. D. Christiansen & R. P. Tett (Eds.), Handbook of personality at work (pp. 333–354).New York, NY: Routledge.Griffin, P., Care, E., & McGaw, B. (Eds.). (2012). Assessment and teaching of 21st centuryskills. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Springer.Hoekstra, H. A., & Van Sluijs, E. (Eds.). (2003). Managing competencies: Implementing hu-man resource management. Nijmegen, the Netherlands: Royal Van Gorcum.Hogan, R., Chamorro-Premuzic, T., & Kaiser, R. B. (2013). Employability and career suc-cess: Bridging the gap between theory and reality. Industrial and Organizational Psy-chology:Perspectives on Science and Practice, 6(1), 3–16. doi:10.1111/iops.12001John, O. P., & Srivastava, S. (1999). The Big Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, andtheoretical perspectives. In L. A. Pervin & O. P. John (Eds.), Handbook of personality:Theory and research (2nd ed., pp. 102–139). New York, NY: Guilford Press.Neubert, J. C., Mainert, J., Kretzschmar, A., & Greiff, S. (2015). The assessment of 21stcentury skills in industrial and organizational psychology: Complex and collaborativeproblem solving. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science andPractice.Primi, R., Santos, D., John, O. P., & De Fruyt, F. (2015). The development of a nationwideinventory assessing social and emotional skills in Brazilian youth. Manuscript in prepa-ration.Schmitt, Neal. (2014). Personality and cognitive ability as predictors of effective perfor-mance at work. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Be-havior, 1, 45–65. doi:10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-031413-091255Trilling, B., & Fadel, C. (Eds.). (2009). 21st century skills: Learning for life in our times: SanFranciso: Wiley.Incorporating “Soft Skills” Into the CollaborativeProblem-Solving EquationRonald E. Riggio and Karan SaggiClaremont McKenna CollegeIn only a very few places, Neubert, Mainert, Kretzschmar, & Greiff (2015)mention the role of communication and coordination among team mem-bers in collaborative problem solving. Although complex and collaborativeproblem solving is indeed an imperative for team and organizational successin the 21st century, it is easier said than done. Collaborative problem solvingis critically dependent on the communication and interaction skills of theRonald E. Riggio andKaran Saggi, Kravis Leadership Institute, ClaremontMcKennaCol-lege.Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Ronald E. Riggio, KravisLeadership Institute, Claremont McKenna College, 850 Columbia Avenue, Claremont, CA91711. E-mail: ronald.riggio@claremontmckenna.edu

Employability in the 21st Century: complex (interactive) problem solving and other essential skills

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Ghent University Academic Bibliography