Benchmarking Analysis of Occupational Standards for The Malaysia’s National Occupational Skills Standard (NOSS)
Approach Towards New-Collar Jobs Era
Mohamad Khair Afham Muhamad Senan1*, Wong Shaw Voon1, Koh Tieng Wei1, Zamir Aimaduddin Zulkefli1, Nur Aira Abd Rahim1, Rosmaria Omar1,
Tan Choon Yeap1, Mohd Azran Ranai 2
1 Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia
2 Ministry of Human Resource, Malaysia
*Corresponding Author: [email protected] Accepted: 15 September 2022 | Published: 1 October 2022
DOI:https://doi.org/10.55057/ijaref.2022.4.3.13
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Abstract: Malaysia National Occupational Skills Standard (NOSS) is a document that underlines and specifies competencies needed by a skilled worker who is gainfully employed in Malaysia for an occupational area and level, and pathway to achieve the competencies.
NOSS is developed by industry practitioners and skilled workers based on occupational needs and career structure in particular occupational area. NOSS is used as a guideline in preparing learning equipment and materials development, as a training analysis, and could be used as assessment materials. Meanwhile, in the working environment, NOSS is used as a guide for recruitment, career development, and staff performance evaluation. As the government agency that's responsible for formulating, promoting, and coordinating strategies and skills training programs, Department of Skills Development (DSD) has enforced the use of NOSS as a basis in developing instructional training materials for skills training in Malaysia. Approaching the New-Collar Jobs era, a revision of the NOSS is needed to ensure the competencies are in line with the dynamic change in the job structure. This study analyzed the occupational standards in the benchmarking countries and their approach on new collar jobs. We found that Malaysia is in-line with the other benchmarking countries in approaching new collar job era and could also adopt some of the other approaches by the benchmarking countries.
Keywords: Occupational Standard, New Collar Job, IR 4.0
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1. Introduction
The Department of Skills Development (DSD), Malaysia, is the national and certification body that responsible to manage, coordinate and promote skills training program and career development based on skills competencies for all types of skills sectors in Malaysia. The department is under the purview of the Ministry of Human Resources (MOHR), Malaysia and regulated under the National Skills Development Act (ACT 652). To formulate and coordinate the vocational and industrial skills training, in line with national economic development, the department has objectives, which are design and develop NOSS. It is developed through the method of Developing a Standard and Curriculum (DESCUM) which is based on job requirements according to the career structure in a particular field of work. The development of NOSS involves industry experts and practitioners as well as skilled workers.
The NOSS development process starts from the identification of job titles resulting from the study of the development of the Occupational Framework according to specific fields and positions. Occupational Framework (OF) is the result of an analysis conducted to identify the scope of work of a field in terms of job competencies. It is also used to analyse the need for skilled manpower for industry in Malaysia. OF describes the overall critical job structure and related job descriptions based on the 21 sections of the Malaysian Standard Industrial Classification (MSIC). These sections form the basis for determining the development of NOSS.
Beginning in 2017, the NOSS division has planned to review the NOSS document for the purpose of restructuring the content, format, and terms of reference of the NOSS development.
This process aims to produce a competitive NOSS document in line with the industrial revolution and the latest job patterns including the economic development of Gig and new- collar jobs. In addition, the structuring of NOSS must also consider the needs of green technology, occupational safety, and health as well as entrepreneurship. To consider the current changes in the industrial revolution and the latest employment patterns, this study was conducted for the purpose of obtaining input and current insights on NOSS development methods for the purpose of future improvement.
Changes in current employment patterns; especially Gig economy-based jobs and new additional skills requirements of employees characterized by new collar jobs will affect the content and structure of employment standards. Therefore, the adaptation of the NOSS method to new employment patterns can meet the needs of the change and further ensure that the NOSS development method can be updated according to current developments.
The impact of digitization on the role of traditional jobs continues to be an observed trend in the Malaysian job market. Recruitment firm, Hays Malaysia, reports that more are expected to have digital knowledge and skills after 2020 (Syed Jaafar, 2019). Researchers believe that the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) which involves increased automation along with the Internet and cyber-physical systems coloring the lifestyles and actions of the world community is one of the contributing factors towards changing employment patterns today. IR 4.0 results in the discovery of various new technologies such as the use of automation, big data analytics, intelligent computing, real-time systems, cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IoT).
This technological diversity has posed new challenges to all sectors in the country and necessitates change in line with digital transformation to remain competitive and spur the advancement of the modern world landscape.
The term “new collar job”, was introduced by IBM chief executive officer, Ginni Rometty, in late 2016. The new types of technical jobs place special emphasis on skills rather than general academic degrees thus showing the trend of labor demand by the industry on this time: it no longer depends on academic qualifications but more on the skills possessed. Currently, there has been no re -evaluation of the NOSS development method in Malaysia. Therefore, an overall re -evaluation of the NOSS development method will minimize errors that occur during NOSS development in terms of content, structure, writing approach and NOSS format. Based on the comparative analysis of skill standard development methods, this study will provide any recommendations for the policymakers in Malaysia.
2. Methodology
The main objective of this paper is to benchmark the practice of Malaysian occupational skills standards with other countries along with their approach on New Collar Job. Several criteria were identified and used to develop a framework for benchmarking purposes. A total of 4 countries were considered for this benchmarking purpose including Singapore, Australia, United Kingdom, and United States of America. For comparison purposes, these countries were selected based on their progress in terms of economic development and labor productivity as well as the basic elements of their technical standards. Singapore was chosen as their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per Capita is the highest in ASEAN and labor output is the highest in the world. Meanwhile, Australia, United Kingdom and the United States of America were chosen because the status of developed countries, and labor output is among the highest in the world. These countries were also selected based on their widespread use of English which facilitated the benchmarking process.
Figure 1: GDP per Capita (US$, 2020)
For each country, a comprehensive literature review was conducted. Among the elements that will be discussed for each country are such NOSS development process or equivalent document, parties involved, summary of NOSS content or equivalent document, sector classification sources, and their approach to New Collar Jobs.
Figure 2: Output per worker (US$, 2020)
3. Benchmarking
Malaysia
One of the challenges facing the country is the need for an adequate supply of skilled manpower to support national economic growth. In line with the provisions of the National Skills Development Act, 2006, JPK is responsible for accrediting skills training programs based on NOSS; coordinate, regulate and promote the implementation of the Malaysian Skills Training Program; develop, review and control NOSS according to industry requirements; as well as encouraging skills training for the development and enhancement of employee’s abilities for specific careers.
NOSS is a document that outlines the skill requirements of an employee for a particular field and level of employment, as well as the skill pathways to achieve the competencies that have been set. NOSS is developed according to the current needs of the field of employment in line with the career structure and industry demands. Various stakeholders are involved in the process of forming a NOSS. These stakeholders are such as industry experts, JPK officers, government agencies, Accredited Training Institutions (ILB), experienced employees registered with JPK, industry groups, certified facilitators in the sector, and others.
The NOSS document outlines the minimum skills and competencies to perform tasks, functions, and roles by employees in a particular field of work. NOSS-specific content consists of Job Structure (OS) results from job analysis, Job Field Structure (OAS), results from job field analysis, Competency Profile Chart (CPC) results from job and competency analysis, Competency Profile (CP) results from profile analysis competencies, Standard Practice (SP) results from the development of standard practices and Unit Competency Curriculum (CoCu) results from the development of unit competency curriculum
The NOSS development process involves four main stages. The first stage involves the NOSS development planning process such as literature review, identifying stakeholders such as industry, government agencies and training institutions. The second stage involves the NOSS development management process, using the workshop method (DESCUM) and developing
the Process Employment Framework (OF). The next stage involves the process of compiling and verifying information. At this stage, the NOSS compilation process, internal and external validation, along with NOSS presentation to stakeholders are carried out. The final stage involves a validation process by other practitioners. This involves the validation process by the Standards Assessment Technical Committee (JTPS), the Competency Unit Curriculum (CoCu) development process, the certification process by the Standards Technical Committee, and the approval process by the National Skills Development Council (MPKK). This process usually takes 6-9 months from the beginning of the process until it is approved by MPKK.
Previously, the Malaysian TVET curriculum design was developed using DACUM (Development of A Curriculum), a process of Job Analysis and Job Analysis to identify Workplace Competencies. Nevertheless, 2011 saw an evolution in Malaysia where a modified development methodology was used in the Development of NOSS which improved the methods used to gather information and subsequently how NOSS was structured and formulated. The main reason for this evolution is to ensure that NOSS will be more responsive, flexible, and dynamic to the needs of the industry.
DESCUM (Develop a standard & curriculum) is a new process created to improve the existing DACUM system. The modified process is a Malaysian product based on the DACUM system that has been adopted. The DESCUM process is developed according to levels compared to DACUM where all levels involved are developed simultaneously.
Malaysia has taken few approaches in the context of New-Collar Job. For example, Cybersecurity Malaysia, with the help from Department of Skills Development (DSD), has organized a workshop on the development of employment standards in the field of Digital Forensics for First Responders (DFFR) in 2020. The objective of this workshop is to determine the scope of employment in the field of DFFR as well as identify the level of competence of DFFR related to the field of employment.
Australia
The Training Package is a set of nationally validated training standards, qualifications, and guidelines in Australia (Australian Government - Australian Skills Quality Authority, n.d).
Training packages are used to identify and assess the skills and knowledge people need to perform effectively in the workplace. Training packages are developed by Service Skills Organizations or by enterprises to meet the training needs of industry or industry groups.
Training packages set the outcomes needed by the workplace. The training package contains three mandatory components namely competency standards, qualification framework, and assessment guidelines (Government of South Australia, n.d.).
To develop a training package, the Service Skills Organization must first check if there is an industry that supports the need to change the current system for training employees in the hopes of improving employee competencies for the workforce. The process of developing and validating training programs requires forecasts that anticipate future skills needs, as well as a breakdown of how to change training packages will fit into the training development schedule that may take place in Australia over the next four years. One approach of Service Skills Organizations to achieve this goal is through Industry Reference Committee (IRC) meetings.
IRCs are conglomerates of experienced individuals from specific industries that come together to work together on how to package training to improve the applicability of job training to the workforce. If the program created meets the units required for the Australian Business Competency, Innovation and Skills (IBSA) standards and does not overlap with any recurring
requirements or courses, the Australian Industry and Skills Committee (AISC) can implement the program in the training package schedule in time. (Australian Government - Department of Industry, 2012).
The Training Package Compilation Framework consists of the Standards for Training Packages and the Training Package Product Policy. The standards for the Training Package are comprehensive standards as endorsed by the Minister of Skills. This standard establishes a Training Package Compilation Framework and defines the components that make up a training package. The Training Package Product Policy outlines the rules that training package developers must follow when developing (or modifying) training package products.
The Standards for Training Packages specify the knowledge and skills an individual need to perform effectively in the workplace, expressed in competency units. It also details how competency units can be incorporated into nationally recognized and mobile qualifications that comply with the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF).
Among the parties involved in the development and implementation of the Training Package in Australia are Employers, employees, trade unions, state, and provincial governments (licensing & regulatory bodies), registered training organizations, students, and Quality Assurance Panel Members. Members of the Quality Assurance Panel (selected through a merit -based open tender process for a period of 3 years) consist of individuals who demonstrate expertise in the product policy of training packages, design, and development of training packages. They should also demonstrate expertise in the implementation of training package components as well as editing, proofreading and publication, as well as considering the learning needs of disadvantaged groups.
The Australian and New Zealand Standard Industry Classification (ANZSIC) is a standard classification used in Australia and New Zealand for the collection, compilation, and publication of statistics by industry. ANZSIC is a key component of the integrated statistical framework, providing a standard framework for classifying establishments (e.g. individual mines, shops, factories, etc.) and other statistical units by industry in official statistics. It is the way in which establishments are classified to the same industry in all statistical collections in which they are included.
The Australian and New Zealand Standard Employment Classification (ANZSCO) was jointly developed by ABS, Stats NZ and the Australian Government’s Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. It provides the basis for the standard collection, analysis, and dissemination of employment data for Australia and New Zealand. It was established in 2006 and was partially reviewed in 2009, 2013 and 2019 jointly by the Australian and New Zealand statistical offices. A review of selected areas of the Australian labor market was implemented by ABS in 2021. ANZSCO aims to provide an integrated framework for storing, organizing, and reporting job-related information in both statistical and other analytical applications, such as job matching job seekers and providing career information.
In the latest issue of 2021, ANZSCO has issued a new register after a review. In this review, several new jobs assessed under New Collar Job have been included in the list. Examples are Cyber Security Analyst and User Experience Designer.
Singapore
The equivalent document for NOSS in Singapore is the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) (Government of Singapore, 2021). The Workforce Skills Qualification System (WSQ) is a national continuing education and training system designed for workers in Singapore, complementing the formal education system for students. WSQ training is accessible to all employees and requires no academic pre-requisites. WSQ provides training for skills upgrading as well as recognition and certification of employees ’existing skills. There are seven levels of qualification from Basic Certificate to Postgraduate Diploma and these describe the path of improvement and career advancement for employees. Employees can also be certified with a Statement of Achievement for individual modules to fill gaps in their skills.
The WSQ Development Process involves 4 Main Phases namely planning, development, review, and implementation. Under the planning process, the parties involved will analyze the learning needs as well as design training and assessment programs. In the next phase, training materials and evaluation as well as implementation for both will be done. Next, a review process will be performed. And, in the final phase, an implementation process will be carried out where an evaluation of the training program will be made (Ministry of Health Singapore, n.d.).
Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) Singapore outlines two elements that must be adhered to in the development and implementation of the framework. The first element is the Competency Unit, which is the basis of development for WSQ. The WSQ competency unit is derived from the analysis of the jobs, functions, and work processes of an industry. The types of analysis involved include job analysis, functional analysis, value chain analysis, job-family analysis, and skill level analysis. The WSQ framework is designed based on the selected types of analysis that are most relevant to the workforce development of specific industry needs. The competency units acquired under the WSQ framework reflect the way work is organized and jobs are defined to deliver industrial goods and services.
The second element involves the WSQ Competency Standards, where it will determine expected job performance outcomes, determine the acceptable level of performance an employee needs for effective performance in the workplace, provide behaviour -based performance descriptors, state the knowledge a competent employee needs. , explains the types of evidence that employees need to show to prove competency, and describes the circumstances and contexts in which employees should demonstrate the level of job performance expected.
The parties involved in the development of WSQ in Singapore are employers, Industry Associations, Educational Institutions, Unions, and the Government.
The Singapore Standard Occupational Classification (SSOC) 2020 or the Singapore Standard Occupational Classification is a national standard for classifying occupations and is used for population censuses, household surveys and administrative databases (Government of Singapore, 2021). SSOC adopts the framework and basic principles of the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO). It is reviewed and updated periodically to reflect developments in the labour market, particularly the emergence of new jobs, as well as to keep pace with changes in international standards.
Singapore has also taken into account new patterns in the New-Collar Job era. Among the examples of approaches that have been taken from the WSQ is to add the type of New-Collar Job in their accreditation. For example, accrediting digital advertising and cyber security courses.
United Kingdom (UK)
The National Occupational Standards (NOS), also known as professional standards, outline the UK performance standards that people are expected to achieve in their work, and the knowledge and skills they need to perform effectively. The NOS, approved by UK government regulators, is available for almost every role in every sector in the UK.
The development process for each NOS in the UK involves 8 main stages. The first stage involves research and analysis of sector and employment needs. The second stage is to conduct a functional analysis for the requirements of the NOS. Next, identification of existing NOS will be done to avoid redundancy. Once this review is carried out, the development of the NOS will be done and subsequently will await approval for the development of this NOS. Once approved, the next process is to ensure the relevance and role of this NOS. The next step is to promote and support the new NOS. And finally, assessing this NOS after it is implemented.
This document was developed by the Standards Setting Organization (SSO) which consults with employers and other stakeholders in every UK country, (Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and England). This process allows any specific requirements to be considered by each country and the result is a set of NOS suitable for use across the UK. The NOS, which is set out in a regular format, is approved based on four countries and the content is scrutinized by SQA Accreditation. Each NOS has a publication date stating when it was approved, and the most recent NOS is listed in the UK NOS database. There is also an expected review date, and this will be used as a guide when they need a review and feedback from stakeholders is taken to influence when this is implemented.
Although NOSs were developed as individual competency measures, they are grouped in suites that identify the sectors associated with them and there are approximately 900 suites at present, with nearly 23,000 separate NOSs and covering multiple sectors. NOS can be used to develop skills and knowledge, and these include direct transfer into vocational and other qualifications, the framework for training programs, workplace competency measures and relevant job descriptions.
Among the parties involved in the development and implementation of NOS in the UK are the Sector Skills Council (SSC), UK Employment and Skills Commission, UK Standards and Frameworks Panel, trade bodies, professional bodies and associations, trade unions, statutory bodies, other standards-setting organizations that its scope of supervision covers sectors/
occupations in which similar or similar functions are performed, awarding bodies, educational and training institutions, and social partners (if applicable).
The UK Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities, abbreviated as UK SIC, is a five -digit classification that provides a framework for collecting and presenting a large range of statistical data by economic activity. This classification was first introduced to the UK in 1948 to be used in classifying the businesses of establishments and other statistical units according to the type of economic activity they engaged in. This classification provides a framework for data collection, scheduling, presentation and analysis, and its use promotes uniformity. In addition, it can be used for administrative purposes by non -governmental organizations as a convenient way of classifying their industrial activities into similar structures.
The UK government also considered the issue of New-Collar Jobs in the development and updating of their NOS. In 2019, they proposed that the NOS implement the National Standards for Essential Digital Skills or National Standards for Digital Skills. In 2020, they also began
planning to develop NOS for IT, Cyber Security, and analytics. The development of this new NOS is in line with the demand for New-Collar Jobs in the future.
United States of America (USA)
The approach in the USA to setting employee skill standards is somewhat unique compared to other countries. The development of skills standards is carried out by private entities such as industry groups. These skills standards will be validated at the State Government level or at the Federal Government level depending on the needs of the industry sector involved. Initially, a federal government agency, the National Skills Standards Board (NSSB) was responsible for developing skills standards that could be applied, voluntarily by any party in the USA. In 2003, NSSB turned into a non -governmental institution that continued to conduct research into the use of skills standards in various industries. Nevertheless, the skills standards developed by NSSB have been adopted by various parties including State governments in the USA. For this study, the benchmarking process was performed through a case study of skills standard development in Texas, USA (Texas Workforce Investment Council, 2015).
The development process for each skill standard in Texas involves 8 main stages. The first stage involves the process of identifying jobs and reviewing sources for relevant information.
The second stage involves the process of assembling an industry technical advisory committee followed by the determination of a submer of existing information related to the proposed skill standards at the next stage. The fourth stage involves the process of determining a project plan for the development of skills standards, methods of job analysis and strategies for validation.
This stage is followed by a work -oriented information development process. Stage six involves an employee -oriented information development process and a skills assessment process. The seventh stage involves the process of synthesizing and compiling data ready for the eighth stage, the process of recognition by the relevant authorities.
Currently industries are grouped according to the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) developed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) with the latest version in 2017. All economic activities are organized in 20 sectors (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, n.d.). In addition, there is also the Standard Occupational Classification system, which divides occupations into 23 major groups and 98 subgroups. Both standards are used to identify and classify industries in the development of skills standards in the USA.
USA showed significant progress in the development of NOSS for New Collar Job. In 2021, a bill was passed by Congress entitled the New-Collar Job Act 2021 (US Congress, 2021). The focus of this bill is to improve the skills of employees in the Cybersecurity sector. The focus on the area of Cybersecurity has been emphasized in the Workforce Framework for Cyber Security that was developed in 2020 (Petersen, Santos, Smith, Wtsel, & Witte, 2020). Skills in addition to Cyber Security skills have also been given attention through other studies such as the Skilled Technical Workforce framework issued by the National Science Board (2019) and The Work of the Future published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Author, Mindell, & Reynolds, 2020).
4. Conclusion
The purpose of NOSS is to provide benefit to all related stakeholders of skills related occupation and sectors in Malaysia. The success of a NOSS development project and its usefulness to the community is dependent on the wide participation and commitment of all stakeholders. The content of the NOSS reflect changing workplace realities and it is a very
useful tool that can be used by applicants and employees to access greater career opportunities.
Since updating skills and knowledge is a lifelong endeavour, many employers and employees must spend more effort, time, and money on education and training. Therefore, skill standards could provide benchmarks for making education and training decisions, shaping curricula, and directing funds toward highest value education and training investments. The benchmarking study has reviewed any developments related to new collar jobs in NOSS or equivalent documents. We found that Malaysia has developed several NOSS in the context of New-Collar Job. These efforts were found to be similar to other selected benchmarking countries. Although, Malaysian government could also consider adopting approaches from countries listed in the benchmarking study.
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