Generic Skills Determining Quality of Human Resources – Lessons From Managers

Abstract

Human resources are recognized as one of the key factors of success. The generic skills significantly determine the quality of those resources. The paper aims at identifying a set of generic skills which are the most expected by managers. The discussion is based on the results of a survey which was carried out among the representatives of the pulp and paper industry. The responses came from 34 managers (including 17 top managers) from 17 different countries. The 10 most significant (most wanted by the managers) generic skills were identified as: (1) teamwork, (2) flexibility, (3) initiative, (4) leadership, (5) drive, (6) analyzing and investigating, (7) global skills, (8) planning and organizing, (9) verbal communication and (10) computer skills.