Most fresh graduates from universities across the nation lacked basic soft skills which hindered their ability to find placement in the job market, Director of Human Resource (HR) at the National Communications Authority (NCA), Charles Amoah-Wilson, has said.

He explained that most student interns, as well as National Service Personnel,  posted to the NCA, have been found to be deficient of basic communication skills such as memo writing, report writing, time management, team skills among other soft skills even though they had an understanding of their various fields of training.

“In NCA we work in teams, we put engineers, administrators and business professionals together to work, hence if a person lacks the ability to work within a team for personal reasons it would affect the delivery of the Authority,” he said.

Mr Amoah-Wilson made the assertion during the unveiling of a new learning programme dubbed; “My3D programme,” to bridge the competency gap in the nation’s workforce.

The ‘My3D programme’ which stands for “Discover, Develop and Deploy” seeks to form the basis for creating world-class opportunities for life success.  

The project being spearheaded by TDI Global, is on the general theme: “Workforce competency gaps and Need Ghana for Structured and Sustainable Solution”.

Mr Amoah-Wilson said even though fresh graduates were not hired into high leadership positions, it was important that they show a certain level of leadership among their peers by taking initiative where needed.

Speaking on the topic: “Equipping public personnel to create increase Public value,” Mr Amoah-Wilson said the world of work was changing rapidly with the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

He stressed that the gradual emergence of the Telecommunications and Information Communication Technologies sectors across the globe makes it imperative that the public sector changed their world view and adopt other forms of training its staff and workforce which was much cost-effective and time-saving.

Mrs Tilda Mmegwa, Chief Executive Officer, TDI Global Limited, said the programme seeks to develop people, which was a key resource for organisational and national development.

She said since 2008, TDI Global had continued to adopt competency-based approach to people’s development using Objective Scientific Assessments (OSA) to establish competency strengths and Gaps to customise development interventions.

She said ‘My3D’ would serve several private and public sector organisations and institutions, helping them to build happy and high performing employees.

She said the first stage of the Discover was going to help learners to realise their strength and weaknesses through a scientific personality test.

The Develop stage would help users develop their thinking and behavioral characteristics, intellectual and creative skills, needed to function well in one’s career and enterprise.

The Deploy stage of the learning process gives participants the task to undertake mini projects which were in relation to their working environments.

Mrs Mmegwa said, the programme would personalise learning and development to the door-steps of users in a manner that best aligns with their learning style.

“Whether you are an adult learner or not, an entrepreneur or student, you will find My3D approach suitable for you. Employees have missed training opportunities because employers often complain that it is difficult to pull employees off the job to send them to training, My3D comes to solve this problem for employers,” she said.

She added that while the classroom environment could be conducive for learning, individuals sometimes preferred to learn at their own pace, by using the learning tools, equipment, processes, and materials they used on their job.

Mr Jacob Ganye, Senior Manager, Training and Business Development, Empretec Ghana Foundation, said what set people apart was their ability to demonstrate basic soft skills within their working environment.

He said that the ability to engage international partners, communicate one’s thoughts effectively through writing and speech, could bring in new business partners into the country.

He emphasised that most businesses in the country were challenged with problem-solving, team building, and time management skills.