reports that a third of small firms believe their competitiveness has suffered
because of skills shortages (DfEE, 1998). An earlier research report (Public
Attitude Survey, 1996) likewise indicated shortages, with more than 55 per cent
of employers stating that their skills needs were increasing. In practice only a
small proportion of graduates are recruited by SMEs, and this is particularly
true of sole traders; it is estimated that only about 8 per cent of the workforce in
firms employing fewer than 25 people are graduates. Many reasons have been
cited why this should be so, chief among them being the belief that graduates
would expect too high a salary. That they could possibly help improve
efficiency and profitability seems to be an argument too easily overlooked.
When focusing on graduates we must therefore turn our attention to their
specific skills on offer and whether they meet the demands of firms,
particularly those of SMEs. Associated with this concept is the idea of
competency and the UK's drive to develop National Vocational Qualifications
(NVQs) which have some specific relevance to standards, though few small
firms appear to promote NVQs. Interestingly, there is a separate debate
surrounding competence and competency (Woodruff, 1991), where the latter is
seen as comprising person-orientated variables which people bring to the job;
alternatively competence is perceived as the ability to perform, namely, task
oriented behaviour.