Workshop

Are university graduates in Nigeria adequately educated?

Or are the jobs not enough for the teaming graduates?

These are pertinent questions that require holistic answers. Else the graduate says the jobs are not enough whereas the employers think education is just not adequate.

The question of the employability of the Nigerian youth has been in the public domain for decades; and has been debated by the public, press and stakeholders in different sectors of the economy.

The question of employability is of particular concern to graduates who are seeking employment and to employers who consider hiring them.

While graduates complain of the rising unemployment, the employers complain of dearth of employability skills.

For decades now, graduates have relied on the government to provide employment. And as such, it is not uncommon to see demonstrations demanding the government provide jobs.

The bulk still stops with the employers. Employers complain that graduates are poorly prepared for work. They believe that academic standards have fallen considerably over the past decade and that a university degree is no longer a guarantee of competence. As a result, university graduates are commonly viewed as “half baked.”

What about the increasing level of underemployment, graduates will ask. The underemployment rate for those aged 15 – 34 years rose to 28.2% from 25.7% in Q3, 2018.

Employers believe graduates shortcomings are particularly severe in oral and written communication, and in applied and technological skills.

Data available shows that the Nigerian economy added 187,226 new jobs in the third quarter of 2016 after adding 475,180 a year earlier. The informal sector created 144,651 jobs, down 66.3% from last year but still accounting for 77.3% share. While the public sector lost 7,012 jobs, the formal sector added 49,587 jobs; 19% more than a year earlier and representing 26.5% of total new jobs.

Build yourself in mind, in capability and competence. 

For this and much more Information relating to employability skills, employment opportunities, career advancement and entrepreneurship development; Join our Telegram and WhatsApp groups, and also follow us on Twitter and Facebook. 

It is fair to say Design Thinking is the New Normal; there are many lessons to back up this claim.

In 2012, Kodak filed for bankruptcy after 128 years of being a market leader, simply because it failed to predict the disruptive power of the digital camera. Ironically, in 1975, a Kodak engineer, Steven J. Sasson, invented the first digital camera. In an interview with the New York Times, Sasson describes how Kodak’s management reacted negatively to his camera because it was filmless photography, instructing him to tell no one about it.

His experimental variant was shelved amid fears of an adverse impact on Kodak’s core product sales.

It is evident that products, like their customers, are always on the evolution curve, and require smarter strategies. This is exactly where Design Thinking plays a pivotal role, combining product innovation with a steady eye on current and latent user demands.

Design thinking is a solution-oriented, human-centered approach to innovation. Consumer considerations lie at the heart of a design thinking approach.

Tim Brown, the CEO of IDEO identified insight, observation, and empathy as the three key elements at the core of a design-based roadmap. 

Taking a leaf from his seminal work, her e are 6 organizations that put these principles into action, therefore successfully reimagining their business outlook:

1. Rationalize the offering bouquet – Apple takes a ‘stripped-down’ approach

“Make it look good! That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”

Steve Jobs

This is how Steve Jobs redefined design for a customer-centric universe.

Apple deployed design thinking to completely reposition themselves in the consumer electronics market. With an acute understanding of prevailing market conditions, Apple discontinued 2 business lines, reduced their core product catalog from 13 to just 3 – leading to a 2000% increase in share prices over 10 years.

2. Discover ‘human’ undercurrents – Denver Museum restructures its pricing strategy

Denver Museum of Nature & Science unraveled the many complexities in visitor demands, enabling services that would enjoy wider acceptance. Conceptualizing a discount program for low-income visitors, the museum took their ideas to the larger community – fine-tuning the plan, gathering feedback and creating a focused prototype and testing model.
Interestingly, the initiative revealed a few key observations – family-driven activities over singular, budget options.

3. Manage customer expectations – AirBnB boosts retention rates

AirBnB increased guest-host harmony by addressing the unique challenge of pairing dissimilar clients. Combining analytics and data from over 100 quantitative surveys, the ‘Why Hosts Reject’ review laid out several logistical (and emotional) explanations.
AirBnB dramatically minimized host reluctance by sharing customized guest-information portfolios, built on a ‘tree-structure taxonomy of reasons’. Design thinking and design research informed their strategic decision making.

4. Expand the customer base – Microsoft embeds inclusivity in development

Microsoft uses Design Thinking principles to develop products with greater – and universal – usability. For instance: a font and text-wrapping system addressing those with reading impairment; and a Bing Map version utilizing common landmarks for easy navigation.
The company’s Design Thinking toolkit, Inclusive Design identifies gaps in user experience; broad-basing brand presence for a wider and all-encompassing customer footprint; and opening up their products and experiences to more people with a wider range of abilities, preferences and affordability.

5. Innovate with a purpose – Healthcare adds empathy to industrial design

In the future, Design Thinking will have a profound impact on customer engagement across sectors – industrial designer Doug Dietz’s CT/MRI scanner is an iconic example. A workshop on Design Thinking at Stanford University equipped him with the tools needed for ‘empathy-driven’ industrial design.
He observed that pediatric patients were battling acute stress, requiring sedation when scanned. Dietz transformed the CT/MRI suite into imaginary landscapes – camps, outer space or oceanic views— customer satisfaction, as a result, climbed to 90%.

Register for Terraskills Design Thinking for Innovation Workshop.

Click Here to Register Now!

For this and much more Information relating to employability skills, employment opportunities, career advancement and entrepreneurship development; Join our Telegram and WhatsApp groups, and also follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Terraskills Learning Systems Limited, in its bid to re-orient young Nigerian entrepreneur, students, applicants and employees flagged its maiden edition of the “The Productive You” with the sub-theme; How you can leverage on Information Technology to find or create opportunities amidst COVID-19.

The Maiden Edition was sponsored by the Distinguished Senator, Dr Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi (Baraden Borgu), the Deputy Chief Whip of the 9th Senate, had in attendance 20 young Nigerians from all works of life.

The Management of Terraskills ensured that convergence for the training complied with the directives of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC). The (20) participants were grouped into 5, with 4 participants in each group and spread across three (3) days.

Titbits from the Masterclass

Our seasoned facilitators explored the following concepts among others;

• Productivity
• Building productive habits
• Finding and Creating opportunities amidst the pandemic
• Top seven skills for the Future of Work

Productivity

Anyone who wants to succeed should build a productive habit. Likewise, where ever you find yourself, in whatever aspect of your life, increasing productivity is crucial. Productivity is one of, if not the main driver of success in every aspect of life. Building and enhancing productive habits is one way of remaining relevant in your chosen career.

Productivity as a philosophy of life

Understanding what productivity is and learning how to grow and continuously enhance productive habits can help you improve your life. Productivity is a philosophy of life, a state of mind. Being efficient means doing, at every moment, what we consciously choose to do and not what we feel we are doing forced by circumstances. It also means adopting an attitude for continuous improvement.

Productivity and the value of time

“Time na money.”

– Mike Okri

In his evergreen song “Time na Money” (Time is money), Mike Okri understood the value of time in enhancing productivity. Other factors such as technology, workload, available resources, invested capital have a role to play in ensuring productivity; but in all of these, the galvanizing factor is time. Time is so valuable that one cannot define productivity without it. So it is only logical that investing in proper time management will ultimately benefit our productivity, both personally and professionally.

Quality vs. Quantity

You must not misconstrue the concept of “Doing more in less time”. The importance given to the number of completed tasks or completed projects is part of a misconception about efficiency.

In ensuring we become productive, we must put in mind the value of efficiency as it relates to increasing our outputs with little input.

The role of leadership in increasing productivity

One of the greatest attributes of a leader is taking responsibility for their actions and inactions. The ability to become responsible for what you do and holding yourself accountable for your productivity and the efficiency of your work gives room for improvement.   

Productivity and new technologies

Over the years, new technologies have been playing an increasingly important and influential role in the final result of productivity: tablets, smartphones, computers. There has also been an influx of numerous applications that enhance your productivity where ever you are.

Building Habits that last

The Merriam Webster’s Dictionary defines habit as “a settled tendency or usual manner of behaviour” or “an acquired mode of behaviour that has become nearly or completely involuntary” or “a behaviour pattern acquired by frequent repetition or physiological exposure that shows itself in regularity or increased facility of performance.

These definitions highlights two important views to building habits;

• It is a settled and usual behaviour.
• It is acquired by frequent repetition and becomes an involuntary action

Here techniques to build a good habit;

Start with one habit at a time

It is best to start with one habit at a time. Avoid the temptation of thinking that building a habit is simple. For example, you may have set a target for yourself to finish a book in one month and this will entail reading one page every day; avoid seeing the page as just a simple task because that will become tempting to add other habits and this is a recipe for failure.

Change your timeline

Most people default to a daily pass/fail timeline. For example;

1. Meditate for 30 minutes per day.
2. Read 30 pages per day.
3. Exercise once per day

Although this timeline is possible, it is not always the most reliable or practicable. It put enormous amount of pressure on you very quickly because missing a single day may start an irreversible spiral.

Instead, your timeline should look like this;

1. Meditate 3 hours per week
2. Read 4 chapter per week.
3. Exercise 5 time per week.

You can also enhance your time line by;

• Holding yourself accountable
• Planning for failure

The PRODUCTIVE YOU Masterclass is targeted at exposing Nigerians to productive habits, how to build them and implement them in creating value for themselves, their communities and the society at large. The aim is to train young professionals in ways to utilise what they have in finding, building and enhancing opportunities. It also aims to inspire participants to create sustainable success paths. Unlike other masterclasses, The Productive You gives room for mentorship, networking and a continuous participant assessment; targeted at enhancing and changing their lives for the better. 

How far would you go to rebrand yourself?

Leverage the opportunity offered by Terraskills to cause a change in your life and career.

The road to success needs sacrificing your time; create time for this program and see your life transformed.

Follow our Social Media Handles;

• Facebook: @terraskills
• Twitter: @terraskillsNG

to know when the next Cohort will be taking place in other to be a part of it.

The good news about The Productive You Masterclass is that, it has been paid for by a sponsor, so participants attend at absolutely FREE OF CHARGE till October, 2020.

For this and much more Information relating to employability skills, employment opportunities, career advancement and entrepreneurship development; Join our Telegram and WhatsApp groups, and also follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

For entrepreneurs, the challenge is usually to create or recreate an all-inclusive design that will ensure maximum acceptance of their products and services.

This Design Thinking Workshop will equip participants with the skills to navigate the different phases of Design Thinking and their applications in creating and implementing innovative solutions.

This workshop is a practical approach to a “system for inducing creativity and innovation” and a “framework for solving complex business problems.”

This workshop is for prospective and budding entrepreneurs, business owners and young professionals who want to create desirable, usable, and viable products/services or business idea(s) to transform their businesses, lives and communities.

This workshop has been packaged and offered by Terraskills Learning Systems Limited (TLS) and delivered in collaboration with Matrix Finishing School (MFS) with support and partnership from PolicyTV.

Upon successful completion of the program, participants will earn a Certificate of Completion from Matrix Finishing School (MFS).

Click here now to register.