An entrepreneur is admonishing the youth, especially the unemployed, to uphold good working ethics and decent behaviour in their pursuit of employment.

Executive Director of Agri Impact Consult, Daniel Acquaye, disclosed employers are now keen on the attitudinal conduct of their employees towards work.

He indicated the emerging recruitment process has transitioned from predicating on the certificates and skillsets of the job seeker to their attitudes.

“Initially, we were hiring based on knowledge and certificates; then we moved to skills. Now, it is more on attitude,” he said.

He believes it is worth investing in an employee with a good attitude but little or no skills than the skilled personnel with uncouth behaviour.

Speaking to students and the faculty of KNUST at its Science and Technology Exhibition Forum, the AgriBusiness Consultant revealed his outfit considers a good attitude and mindset as a prerequisite for employment.

Mr Acquaye believes the employee’s attitude contributes to the efficient outputs of a business.

“For me, if you don’t have the skills and attitude, we can train you to gain the skills. But if you have skills and not the attitude, no matter the investment we put in you, we will not get any output from you,” he said.

Emerging research reveals that traditional recruitment methods have metamorphosed from being based solely on technical qualifications.

The landmark ‘Hiring for Attitude’ study discovered that most bad hires are not candidates who lack the needed technical skills but those who lack the right attitudes and mindset.

The study further reveals that employers are increasingly open to recruiting candidates with optimistic attitudes and not-so-perfect skills.  

Optimism, persistence, fearlessness, emotional intelligence or composure, and comfort with change are traits that could be cultivated to fashion the mindset of job seekers.