DOCUMENT RESUME ED 433 059 JC 990 553 AUTHOR Pezzoli, J. A.; Lum, Ku'uipo; Meyer, Diane Community Needs Assessment Office Administration & TITLE Technology (OAT). INSTITUTION Hawaii Univ., Kahului. Maui Community Coll. PUB DATE 1999-00-00 NOTE 23p. Research Reports Numerical/Quantitative Data (110) PUB TYPE Tests/Questionnaires (160) (143) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. Clerical Occupations; Community Colleges; Computer Literacy; DESCRIPTORS Curriculum Development; Educational Planning; *Employer Attitudes; Employment Potential; Employment Qualifications; *Job Skills; *Job Training; *Labor Force Development; *Needs Assessment; Private Sector; Two Year Colleges *University of Hawaii Maui Community College IDENTIFIERS ABSTRACT The purpose of this survey was to obtain from employers the requisite skills and potential employment demand for office workers on Maui. (1) the assessment of various clerical skills and Of particular interest was: computer software in its relevance to the Office Administration & Technology (OAT) curriculum at Maui Community College; and (2) the assessment of the importance of office skills for bookkeepers and accountants, which would impact the requirements for the Accounting (ACC) program. The report presents responses to 17 questions in tabular form. The researchers found that: (1) current employment is diverse; (2) employment demand crosses all sectors; (3) technology is highly integrated into most offices; (4) level of education affects hiring and salary decisions; (5) the need for specialized vocabulary (7) required typing speed (6) basic math skills are needed; is irregular; (8) there is little need for shorthand in the private sectors; varies; (9) the most popular brand of computer is IBM; (10) Microsoft Word and Excel are the most commonly used software packages; (11) desktop publishing software is (12) alphabetic filing is still the most popular filing not widely used; (13) best training times are evenings and weekends; system in use; (14) employers support employee training; and (15) the job skills rated the highest in importance are verbal and computer-related skills. Appended are survey developers, cover letter, questionnaire, and mailing list and respondents by sector. (VWC) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * * ******************************************************************************** Community Needs Assessment Office Administration & Technology (OAT) Section I Purpose Methodology Results Section II Synopsis Section III Responder Comments Section III Appendix A: Survey Developers Appendix B: Cover Letter Appendix C: Questionnaire Appendix D: Mailing List and Respondents by Sector U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research end Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION REPRODUCE AND PERMISSION TO CENTER (ERIC) MET ATERIAL HAS DISSEMINATE THIS This document has been reproduced as B BEEN GRANTY received from the person or organization originating it. Pezzoli J.A. 4( Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent RESOURCES EDUCATIONAL TO THE official OERI position or policy. (ERIC) Submitted by INFORMATION CENTER J.A. Pezzoli, Ph.D. Maui Community College Spring 1999 BEST COPY AVAILABLE Community Needs Assessment Office Administration & Technology (OAT) Maui Community College Spring 1999 Purpose The purpose of this survey was to ascertain the requisite skills and potential employment demand for office workers on Maui. Of particular interest was to assess the importance of various clerical skills and computer software, bearing relevance to the Office Administration & Technology (OAT) curriculum; and also to assess the importance of office skills for bookkeepers and accountants, which would impact requirements for the Accounting (ACC) program. Methodology In conjunction with the Office Administration & Technology Coordinator and Instructors, the Accounting Coordinator and Instructors, OAT Community Advisory Committee, Institutional Researcher, Assistant Dean of Instruction, and under auspices of the Dean of Instruction (Appendix A), a cover letter (Appendix B) and questionnaire (Appendix C) were developed in the Spring 1999 semester. A mailing list of offices from private sectors was generated by consulting a variety of sources, including the OAT and ACC Coordinators and the Yellow pages of the 1998 Maui County telephone directory. The list includes all identified businesses and agencies from 10 Sectors from private industry (see Appendix D). (Ed. Note.-- This research was not designed to assess the public sector and its large numbers of office jobs from government and judiciary positions.) In May 1999, the 487 questionnaires were mailed, along with the cover letter and a postage paid return envelope. The number of respondents was 96, for a return rate of 19.7 percent. One survey was returned blank, dropping the number of usable returns to 95. The resultant number of respondents per Sector are displayed below. Worthy of note is that the Hotel and Attorney Sectors contribute to about half the results (42% collectively). TABLE A Description of Sample Sector Code No. % Attorneys Attn 20 21% Hotels, condominiums Htl 20 21% Investment Co., Insurance Co., Financial Advisors Inv 15 16% Business Service, Employment Agency, Printers, Architecture BSv 12% 11 Non-Profit Agencies NoP 8 8% Banks, Credit Unions Bnk 6 6% Mortgage Co., Title Co., Securities Mort 5 5% Advertising, Marketing, Communications Adv 4 4% Medical Centers Med 3 3% Graphics, Networks, Computer I.T. Net 3 3% Totals 95 100% Results A. Current Employment is Diverse. Responses to Question #1 are displayed below in Table Q-1. TABLE Q-1 Current Employment by Sector Employment Attn Htl Med Bnk BSv Mort Adv Inv NoP Totl Net % Other 47 10 -- 5 9 2 6 90 7 3 18% 1 Bookkeeper 4 45 6 10 2 2 83 16% 11 1 1 1 AdmAssistant -- 6 41 9 5 2 -- 5 2 14% 71 1 Scty to Mgr 39 3 4 3 -- 2 5 12% 59 1 1 1 Receptionist 22 5 10 4 2 -- 4 3 2 10% 53 1 Office Mgr -- 10 9 5 2 6 3 -- 3 39 8% 1 General Clerk 4 4 10 3 3 2 7 5 -- 38 7% Computer Opr 4 3 4 5 -- 2 6% 11 32 1 1 1 Leg/Med Scty 25 -- 6 -- -- -- 2 -- -- -- 6% 33 Steno 5 1% WordProcessr -- -- -- 2 -- -- 4 -- 1% 1 1 Info System 1% 5 Total 79 27 171 27 20 38 4 81 14 51 512 Percent 33% 16% 15% 10% 5% 7% 4% 5% 3% 100% 1% The 95 respondents report employing a total of 512 office workers. Job titles of the 512 office workers are varied. The most common response is Other (18%), followed by Bookkeeper (16%), Administrative Assistant (14%), and Secretary to Manager (12%). The list of Other titles is quite varied, as seen from Section II -- Responder Comments. Sectors reporting the largest employment of office workers are Hotels (171, 33%), Medical Centers (81, 16%), and Attorneys (79, 15%). (Ed. Note.-- Hotel and Attorney Sectors have large numbers responding.) B. Employment Demand Crosses all Sectors. TABLE Q-2 Employment Demand Hiring Htl Med NoP Attn BSv Inv Mort Bnk Adv Net Totl % Replacement 43 17 4 5 7 3 7 87 53% 1 Expansion 5 10 12 11 12 6 7 7 5 76 47% 1 Total 54 22 17 17 14 15 8 10 5 100% 163 1 Percent 33% 13% 10% 10% 5% 9% 9% 6% 3% 1% Respondents anticipate hiring 163 office workers in the next three years. The demand for 163 workers in three years from these respondents averages 54.3 per year, which would absorb many of the 124 OAT majors and 100 ACC majors currently enrolled. (Ed. Note.-- Assuming the 224 OAT and ACC majors take two years to graduate, then statistically half of them (112) would be available each year to take the 54.3 office positions. In fact, many majors are in-service students who already hold jobs. Furthermore, additional jobs are available from the many employees not surveyed, including the public sector and Doctor's Offices that were surveyed last year under the Needs Assessment for Health Unit Coordinator.) Most Sectors expect to hire office workers, implying generalized hiring activity. Expansion accounts for 47 percent of the anticipated hires, despite the economy. 4 Technology Enters Offices. C. TABLE Q-3 Equipment Used in Offices Equipment Equipment Usage Usage 78% Personal Computer 10-Key Adder 99% Fax Machine Etron Scanner 36% 99% Photo-copier 32% Etron Mem'y Type 95% Laser Printer Transcriber 21% 86% Electric Typewriter Other 13% 79% Almost every respondent reports using the personal computer (99%) and the fax (99%). "New" technology has become commonplace in offices. Most respondents employ a photo-copier (95%) and laser printer (86%). Electric typewriters and 10-key adders are still around, as they are used in (respectively) 79 percent and 78 percent of respondent offices. Electronic Scanners are gaining momentum, with 36 percent of those responding reporting having one in their office. Vestiges of electronic memory typewriters (32%) and transcribers (21%) are still apparent. The Other equipment mentioned include Digital camera (2), postage meter (2), and sundry others. Section II furnishes the full listing. Consideration for Education is Given. D. TABLE Q-4 Higher Starting Salary with Education Higher Salary No. % Yes 10% 10 No 19% 18 Maybe 56 59% I don't know 10% 10 Blank 1% 1 Overall 100% 95 New hires with a 1-year or 2-year degree from MCC are paid a higher starting salary by very few respondents (10, 10%). About a fifth of the respondents say flatly they would not pay a higher entering wage to applicants with an MCC credential (18, 19%). Yet the most frequent response is Maybe (56, 59%), suggesting an MCC degree indeed may be a pathway to a higher salary. Section II reflects how some (4) respondents claim it depends on work experience. Analysis of Sector data indicates that respondents asserting to paying the higher beginning wage are from various Sectors: Investment (3), Attorney (3), Mortgage (1), Non-Profit (1), Advertising (1), Business Services (1). 5 Specialized Vocabulary Need is Irregular. E. TABLE Q-5 Specialized Vocabulary Need is Irregular Specialized Vocal; No. 23% Legal 22 Medical 7% 7 None 45% 43 Other 28% 27 Blank 2% 2 Overall 106% *101 *Note. More than one response accepted. No specialized vocabulary is reported by 45 percent of respondents. The specialized vocabulary usage is diverse: Legal (23%), Medical (7%), and Other (27%). The Other vocabularies include: Financial (9), Business (5), Hospitality/Travel (5), and several more (see Section II). It is interesting to note how a good number of respondents (9) declared that the specialized vocabulary needed is Proper English or Good Attitude. Sector analysis shows much -- but not all -- of the Legal Vocabulary usage comes from the Attorney Sector, where 16 of the 20 returns selected that option. (Ed. Note.-- Not included in this sample are public sector Judiciary workers who might add to the need for Legal terms.) Business Math Problems. F. An open-ended question asked what specific types of business math problems employees need. Many (34) respondents mentioned Basic Math -- addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, percentages. Others mentioned are: Interest calculations (5), Tax calculations (4), Amortization (3), and sporadic others -- especially in relation to the comparatively overwhelming call for Basic Math. (Verbatim comments are presented in Section II.) Required Typing Speed Varies. G. TABLE Q-7 Required Typing Speed Job Titles Blank Total None 25-40 40-50 60+ 50-60 Clerk-Typist 10 28 95 20 20 8 9 Secretary 6 95 35 13 14 16 11 AdmAssistant 8 34 95 16 8 17 12 Overall 24 285 43 97 30 53 38 Percent 11% 8% 100% 13% 34% 15% 19% Required typing speeds are dispersed across the range, from none (8%) to 60+ wpm (11%): the highest concentration is 19 percent selecting 40-50 wpm. The three job titles do not evoke substantial differences in needed wpm: just a few more respondents believe the lower typing speeds (at 25 to 50 wpm) are adequate for Clerk-Typists (20 + 20 = 40) compared to Secretaries (11 + 16 = 27) and Administrative Assistants (12 + 17 = 29); and, just slightly more believe the higher typing speeds (at 50 to 60+ wpm) are requisite for 6 Secretaries (14 + 13 = 27) and Administrative Assistants (16 = 8 = 24) than for Clerk-Typists (8 + (Ed. Note. The differences, albeit slight, confirm some of our biases.) 9 = 17). The top speed of 60+ was chosen by just 11 percent of the respondents. Consideration should be given to just how much weight to place in the OAT curriculum on speedy typing vis-à-vis other requirements. Further analysis by Sector indicates the requirement for top typing speed comes mostly from the Attorney Sector, where 9 of 20 respondents used the top rank. None of the other Sectors saw the need for 60+ wpm except one each from Hotel, Medical Center, Business Services, and Investment. Little Need for Shorthand (from Private Sectors). H. TABLE Q-8 Required Shorthand Speed for Secretaries Proficiency No. °A 100+ wpm -- -- 80 -100 wpm 2% 2 60-80 wpm 1% 1 Not required 84% 80 Blanks 13% 12 Total 100% 95 Shorthand need from these respondents is practically non-existent: most responders either said shorthand is not required (84%) or left the item blank (13%). This result supports the perception that much of the call for shorthand comes from the public sector, where the Civil Service exam requires shorthand proficiency for employment in the higher paying Secretary and Clerk-Steno positions. Just three (3) offices report using shorthand, with the required level reported at 60-100 wpm. The Sectors of these affirmative repliers are: two (2) from Medical Centers; the other from a Hotel. Most Popular Brand of Computer is IBM. 1. TABLE Q-9 Brand of Computer Usage Computer Brand No. % None 1% 1 IBM or compatible 83% 79 Macintosh 12% 11 Other 9% 9 Blank 1% 1 Overall 106% *101 *Note. More than one response accepted. IBM is used regularly in the offices reporting (83%). Macintosh is used rarely, in only 11 offices responding (12%) -- half (6) of these also checked IBM. Several offices are using other equipment: Dell (3), HP (2), Wang (2). See Section II for full listing. 7 Word Processing Software is usually Microsoft Word. J. TABLE Q-10 Word Processing Software Usage WPRO Software No. % 80% Microsoft Word 76 41% Word Perfect 39 Other 12% 11 3% None 3 Blank 1% 1 Overall *130 137% *Note. More than one response accepted. Microsoft Word is used by most respondents (80%). Word Perfect is used by under half (41%). Others mentioned include Microsoft Works (4) and Coats (2). See Section II for full listing. Most Popular Spreadsheet Software is Excel. K. TABLE Q-11 Spreadsheet Software Usage Acct'g Software No. % 69% Excel 66 Database 26% 25 Other 28% 27 Blank 8% 8 Overall *126 133% *Note. More than one response accepted. Excel is used by about two-thirds (69%). Database is used by only a fourth (26%). A common response to this item is Other (28%), including a long list of diverse others: Lotus (12), Quickbooks/Pro (6), Quicken (3), MS Works (3), Access (1), Paradox (1), Peach Tree (1), Omega (1), EBT/IBM (1), Times lips (1). See Section II. Specialized Desktop Publishing Software is Not a Priority. L. TABLE Q-12 Desktop Publishing Software Used Publishing Software No. % 48 None 50% Pagemaker 12% 11 Other 23 24% Blank 19% 18 Overall *100 105% *Note. More than one response accepted. The most frequent response to this item is None (50%) -- suggesting low current usage of specialized desktop software by offices. Evidently offices are currently handling much of their needs for graphics by the less sophisticated Microsoft Word and Power Point software; or else farm out the job. Only 12 percent use Pagemaker, suggesting study in Pagemaker may be elective to the OAT curriculum at this time. About a quarter (24%) of the offices checked Other, listing: Microsoft Publisher (10), Printshop (5), Quark Express (4), Desk Jet (1), Photoshop (1), Adobe (1). Alphabetic Filing is still the Most Popular. M. TABLE Q-13 Filing Systems Used Filing System No. % Alphabetic 89% 85 Numeric 41% 39 Computerized 33% 31 Subject 23% 22 Microfilm/fiche 6% 6 Other 5% 5 3% 3 Geographic Blank 1% 1 Overall 201% *192 *Note. More than one response accepted. Most agencies (89%) use the Alphabetic system of filing. Also popular are Numeric (41%), Computerized (33%), and Subject (23%). A small number of agencies report doing Microfilm/fiche (6%) or Geographic (3%) filing. Others mentioned are Chronological (2), Alpha Numeric (1), Tax Map Key (1). See Section II. Best Training Times are Evenings and Weekends. N. TABLE Q-14 Best Times for Training Classes Time for Classes No. % Before Work (early a.m.) 6% 6 Morning (8 a.m.-noon) 20% 19 Lunch Hour 7% 7 Afternoon (noon - 4 p.m.) 15% 14 Late Afternoon (4-6 p.m.) 35% 33 Evenings 56% 53 Weekends 27% 26 Blanks 13% 12 Overall *170 179% *Note. More than one response accepted. No training time is best for everyone, when 75%+ could attend. About half express interest in Evenings (56%). Less interest is expressed for Late Afternoons (35%) and Weekends (27%). The traditional Morning and Afternoon slots are less popular (20% and 15%, respectively). Very few express ability to come to campus over the lunch hour (7%) or before work (6%) -- occluding support for the College's Breakfast and Brown Bag series. 0. Employers Support Employee Training. TABLE Q -15 Reimbursement for Education Reimbursement No. Yes 57% 54 No 40% 38 3 3% Blank Overall 95 100% A very pleasant 57 percent of the respondents report having a current policy of reimbursing employees for the cost of job-related education. Section II illustrates variations in policies of reimbursement. Employees Need In-Service Training. P. When given an open-ended question about what training their office employees need, respondents replied overwhelmingly with requests for various computer training, and for several other areas as well (see verbatim comments in Section II): Computer Training (24) Writing skills/English usage (5) Customer service (4) Telephone etiquette (4) Time management (4) Legal Aspects (4) Specific Job Skills Needed. Q. Respondents were asked to rate a variety of skills as Low, Medium, or High in importance (with High = "3") for successful performance on the job. Table Q-17a displays the average ratings for each of four office positions (Clerk Typist, Secretary, Administrative Assistant, Bookkeeper/Account Clerk), so that comparisons between the OAT and ACC office workers may be made. The last column of the Table reports the sum of the four averages, in order to evaluate which skills are weighted the most important overall. Top 10 Requirements Overall. Ten (10) skills are rated very high, with sums at 11.0 or higher (out of a possible score of 12). Four of these are Verbal skills, four are from the Computer field, and one from Clerical: Verbal: Verbal (11.6), Telephone Etiquette (11.6), Grammar (11.2), Human Relations (11.2) Computer: Computer Literacy (11.2), Computer Operations (11.2), Work Processing Software (11.1), Windows 95 (11.0) Accurate Typing (11.2) Clerical: It is interesting to note how just one of these highly regarded skills is from the Clerical field. This result alone gives evidence to the transformation of office positions into the professional and technical arenas.