EMPLOYABILITY SKILL COMMUNICATION STUDENTS SMK
Case Study in SMKN 1 Cibadak, SMKN 1 Pacet, SMKN 2 Subang
Sri Subekti, Ana A, Mokhamad Syaom Barliana
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Study Program of Technology and Vocational Education
Post-Graduate School of Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
ABSTRACT
The ability to communicate is one important aspect to improve employability skills of vocational students in teaching factory. The purpose of this research is to develop employability skill of vocational students related to communication ability. This is a mixed method research. The population is Agribusiness Vocational School (SMK) of Processing of Agricultural Products (APHP) in West Java. The sample was chosen purposively. Respondents are students who are implementing teaching factory learning (TEFA) as many as 20 students. Data collection technique is done by concurrent strategy of Triangulation Mix Methods. Overall, the measurement results of students communication skills in SMK Negeri 1 Cibadak and SMK Negeri 1 Pacet are increased to a very good category and SMK Negeri 2 Subang is in good category.
Keywords : Employability, Commmunication, Teaching Factory.
A. Introduction
Nowadays, knowledge and technology is growing very rapidly and thus must be balanced by qualified human resources as the controller. It is similar with the development of the food industry, especially bakery. This industry is growing very rapidly from time to time in terms of materials, equipment, and technology manufacture. Every company wants to increase its productivity so it can achieve the target. The utilization of advanced technology and high productivity requires qualified human resources (Nuryake,2012).
Vocational School (later be called SMK) Agribusiness Technology Agricultural product is one of SMK that develops bakery as a competency-based and production-based learning known as Teaching Factory. Through TEFA, students learn according to the area and job stage which is similar with the industry. In TEFA learning, students learn to become workers with production targets that have been defined in every learning activities undertaken by each student. Working environment gives everyone opportunity to improve the quality and productivity of his work. (Mohamad I , 2011)
Wilkins (2001) stated “vocational education is one of key factors in ensuring economic development, competitiveness and social stability in all countries, both developing and industrialized.”
The challenge of SMK is not only to prepare the graduates to have a determined competency, but also to be able to compete and survive in today’s changing climate. Hanafi I (2012) suggests that there are 2 factors that determine the performance of a candidate who will and have worked to improve the performance in the company. These factors are 1) the decisive factor to face the changing working world and 2) employability skills for the future. According to Lankard (1990) basic academic skills and working skills can not guarantee someone to capable to work well and to continuously adapt to the changes in the working world from time to time. Therefore, a worker should have employability skills to be able to survive from changes and dynamics of the working world.
Research by Arfandi, A. (2013) states that employability skills which are required by the industry are communication skills 71.43%, teamwork 62.50%, and problem solving skills 59.52%. Buntat (2015) also found that entrepreneurs agree that there are three main capabilities required by the company, namely problem-solving ability (50%), team-building ability (35%) and communication skills (32%).
B. Literature Review
Communication skills involves not only speaking and participating in conversations, discussions and meetings but also capable to read and interpret written information, communicate thoughts, ideas, information and messages in written and listen to and respond to messages whether through verbal or npn verbal such as gestures or body language (Rasul, et.al., 2013). Communication skills are also indicated by being able to communicate in a foreign language, listen to others, communicate well-thought ideas, express agreement or disagreement well, and understand spoken and written language (Lapina dan Š?eulovs, 2014).
The measured employability skills aspects are described into indicators. The determination of indicators from each aspect was adapted from employability skills assessment in studies by Rasul, et al (2013) and Hanafi, I (2014). Here are the indicators measured in the aspect of communicating can be seen in table 1:
Table 1. Measurement Indicators of Employability Skill
Aspect Indicators
Communication 1. Reading
2. Writing
3. Calculating
4. Listening
5. Speaking
The description by Hanafi, I., (2014) on employability skills indicators is described in the form of an analytic rubric which is tailored to the needs of the study. Description of employability skills indicator for communication ability aspect is shown in Table 2.
Tabel 2. Description of Employability Skills Indicator for Communication Skills
Source : Hanafi, I., (2014)
Communication Aspect
NO Indicator Description
1. Reading Positioning, understanding, and interpreting written information to perform daily tasks
2. Writing Conveying opinions, ideas, information and news in written form
3. Calculating Showing a good calculation base using practical approach to resolve technical issues at work
4. Listening Accepting, following, interpretting and replying information verbally or with appropriate body language
5. Speaking Delivering verbal messages appropriate to the work situation; participating actively in discussions or convey ideas and opinions in working groups
6. Serving customers Giving service and communicating to consumers with empathy to give satisfaction that meets the consumer expectations
Teaching strategies become important in developing employability skills as illustrated in table 3 below :
Tabel 3. Appropriate Teaching Strategy to Develop Employability Skills
Source: DEST 2006
Employability Skills Teaching Strategy
Communication 1. Writing and presenting the report verbally
2. Rules of game
3. Demonstration
4. Working in Group
C. Research Method
The research design is mixed methods that combines qualitative and quantitative methods. The design of this study using concurrent triangulation mix methods in which researchers collect quantitative and qualitative data concurrently (in one time). Qualitative data is obtained through interviews with the management of teaching factory while the quantitative data is obtained through a questionnaire filled by productive teacher of teaching factory. Qualitative methods is used to understand the implementation of WBL on bakery learning in SMK Agribisnis Pengolahan Hasil Pertanian (APHP) Meanwhile, the quantitative method is used to assess the development of employability skills aspects of communication in the students. Qualitative data were analyzed using descriptive analysis technique. As for the quantitative, the analysis was using quantitative approach of employability skill aspect during 3 stages at beginning, on going, and at the end of teaching factory activity.
The population in this study is SMK Agribusiness Processing of Agricultural Products (APHP) in West Java. The sample was chosen using purposive technique. The purposive technique is used to determine the sample specially based on the research objectives which is SMK (APHP) that has implemented WBL with bakery product especially the making of various kinds of bread that is SMK Negeri 1 Cibadak Sukabumi, SMKN I Pacet Cianjur and SMKN 2 Subang. Respondents in this study are students who are implementing teaching teaching factory and 20 students
This study seeks to assess the impact of WBL learning implementation on employability skills development, ie communication skills, problem-solving skills and team-building skills. The research instrument used is the analytic rubric form. It is commonly used for performance appraisal that can be divided into the domain or each kirteria to asses the individual. Each criterion is given the weight of the assessment according to the importance of achieving learning outcomes from the given task.
D. Result and Discussion
The measurement of communication skills consists of six indicators, reading, writing, counting, listening, speaking, and serving customers. The first five indicators are included in basic skills competence aspects of foundation skills competence group. While the last indicator include in aspect of interpersonal competence in workplace competency group. Here are the results of communication skills measurement in SMK Negeri 1 Cibadak, SMK Negeri 1 Pacet, and SMK Negeri 2 Subang:
a. SMK Negeri 1 Cibadak
Measurements of reading indicator include reading of information about all stages of work place information, SOP, job description, manual specification / quality of raw materials, recipes, work reports, applicable rules, and workplace related information. Measurements of writing indicators include the students’ ability to write the log book and the employment reports. Measurement of calculating indicators is based on the students’ ability to calculate bread formulas to be produced, production costs, and estimated profits to be gained from the undertaken production. Measurement of listening indicators consist of the students’ ability to listen to K3 rules delivered by the supervisor, and listening to information relating to the workplace. Measurement of speaking indicators consists of the students’ ability in asking for information relating to the workplace, and promoting the bread produced. Measurement indicators to serve customers consist of the students ability to serve the customer well and to provide service in case of defective bread.
Figure 1 Communication aspect of SMK Negeri 1 Cibadak
The linear graph in figure 1 increases to ‘excellent’ category. The graphs look increases on indicators of writing, listening, speaking, calculating and serving customers. There was a decline in the measurement of reading indicator phase 2 but it increased again in stage 3 measurement.
The result of measurement in stage 1 for reading indicators of students in SMK Negeri 1 Cibadak shows that 100% of students have excellent skills. There is a decline in stage 2 and increase again in stage 3. The results of the 1st stage for writing skill showed 25% of the students have excellent skills and the rest 75% are good. There is an increase in stage 2 and no increase or decrease in stage 3. As for the calculation skill, stage 1 shows that 15% of students have excellent skills, and 85% are good. There are improvements in stage 2 and stage 3. Listening skill in stage 1 shows that 20% of the students have excellent skills, and 80% of the students are good. There are improvements in stage 2 and stage 3. The result of speaking skill in stage 1 shows that 65% of students have excellent skills, and 35% are good. There are improvements in stage 2 and stage 3. The result for customer service skill in stage 1 shows that 65% of students have excellent skill while the rest 35% are good. There is an increase in stage 2 and a decline in stage 3.
b. SMK Negeri 1 Pacet
Measurement of reading indicators consists of students’ ability to read work place related information, SOPs, job description, manual specifications / quality of raw materials, prescriptions, OSH rules, applicable rules, and workplace related information. Measurement indicators of writing consists of the ability of students to write the log book and the employment report. Measurement of the calculating indicator consists of the student’s ability to calculate the amount of formula to be produced, the production cost, and the estimated profit to be gained from the production performed. Measurement of the listening indicator is assessed by the student’s ability to listen to the OSH rules delivered by the supervisor and to listen to workplace related information. Measurement of the speaking indicators consists of the student’s ability to ask for information relating to the workplace and to promote the bread produced. Measurement indicators to serve customers consist of the ability of students to give service well, and provide service in case of damage to the bread.
Figure 2 Communication Aspect SMK Negeri 1 Pacet
The linear graph in figure 2 of communication aspect measurement in SMK Negeri 1 Pacet is increasing in excellent category. The graphic increases on indicators of reading, counting, listening, and serving customers. However, there is a decrease in measurement results in stage 3 on the indicators of writing and speaking.
The result of measurement in stage 1 for reading indicators in students of SMK Negeri 1 Pacet shows that 90% of students are excellent, and 10% are good. There was a decline in stage 2 and increased again in stage 3. The results of the 1st stage writing skill measurement showed 30% of the students are excellent while 70% are fairly capable. There was a decrease in stage 2 and increased again in stage 3. The result of measurement for calculating in stage 1 shows that 30% of the students are excellent, 10% are good, 55% are fair, and 5% are poor. There is an increase in stage 2 and a decrease in stage 3. The result of the 1st stage listening skill shows 90% of the students are excellent, and the rest 10% are good. There is an increase in stage 2 and remains stable at stage 3. The result of measurement for speaking skills in stage 1 shows 15% of the students are excellent, 75% are good, and 10% are fair. There is an increase in stage 2 and a decrease in stage 3. The result of the measurement for customer service skills in stage 1 shows 35% of students are excellent, 60% are good and 5% are poor skilled. There is an increase in stage 2 and stage 3.
c. SMK Negeri 2 Subang
Measurement of reading indicators consists of students’ ability to read work place related information, SOPs, job description, manual specifications / quality of raw materials, prescriptions, OSH rules, applicable rules, and workplace related information. Measurement indicators of writing consists of the ability of students to write the log book and the employment report. Measurement of the calculating indicator consists of the student’s ability to calculate the amount of formula to be produced, the production cost, and the estimated profit to be gained from the production performed. Measurement of the listening indicator is assessed by the student’s ability to listen to the OSH rules delivered by the supervisor and to listen to workplace related information. Measurement of the speaking indicators consists of the student’s ability to ask for information relating to the workplace and to promote the bread produced. Measurement indicators to serve customers consist of the ability of students to give service well, and provide service in case of damage to the bread.
Figure 3 Communication Aspect SMK Negeri 2 Subang
The linear graph in figure 3 of communication aspects in SMK Negeri 2 Subang increased in good category but decreased in very good category. The graphs increases on indicators of speaking and serving customers. However, there was a decrease in the 2nd stage measurement results on reading and counting indicators. There is a decline in the result of stage 3 in the indicators of writing, and listening.
The result of stage 1 reading indicator of students in SMK Negeri 2 Subang shows 70% of students have excellent ability, and 30% have good ones. There is a decrease in stage 2 and increase in stage 3. The result in stage 1 for writing skill shows that 30% of students have excellent ability, and 70% have good ones. The result of measurement stage 2 is stable and there is a decrease in stage 3. The result of calculating skill measurement in stage 1 shows 95% of students have good ability, and 5% have medium ones. There is a decrease in stage 2 and remains stable at stage 3. The result of the listening skill in stage 1 shows that 20% of the students have excellent ability, and 80% have good ones. There is a decrease in stage 2 and increase in stage 3. The result of measurement for speaking skill in stage 1 shows that 85% of the students have good ability, and 15% had medium ones. There is an increase in stage 2 and remains stable at stage 3. The result of measurement for customer service skill in stage 1 shows 15% of students have excellent ability, and 85% have good ones. There is a decrease in phase 2 and remains stable at stage 3.
E. Conclusion
In SMK Negeri 1 Cibadak, indicators of writing, listening, speaking, calculating and serving customers increase in very well category. However, there is a decline in reading stage 2 but increase again in stage 3 measurements.
Meanwhile, in SMK Negeri 1 Pacet, the measurement of indicators of reading, counting, listening, and serving customers increases in very good category. However, there is a decline in stage 3 for indicators of writing and speaking.
Finally, in SMK Negeri 2 Subang, the result of measurement of communication aspect incline in very good category but decline in good category. There is a decline in stage 2 on the indicators of reading and calculating. The decline also occurs in stage 3 for indicators of writing, and listening
.
F. References
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