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What are Enterprise Skills?
Being "enterprising" is not the same as having an ambition to be self-employed. Rather it is someone who is characterised by a particular mix of individuality, creativity, and leadership. These are key skills and increasingly demanded by academic and non-academic employers and research organisations.
While every researcher and academic is different, those who are enterprising have in common a number of skills, attributes, and behaviours. Some of the most important are summarised in the following table:
| Skills | Attributes | Behaviours |
|---|---|---|
| intuitive decision making with limited information | sense of belief in self | seeks and takes opportunities |
| coping with uncertainty and complexity | strong sense of independence | takes initiative |
| building know-how and trust relationships | goal/achievement orientated | builds and develops networks |
| creative approach to problem solving | builds own know-how and trust relationships | assesses and takes risks |
| negotiation capacity | commitment to see things through | holistic management of situations |
| selling/persuasive capacity | sense of ownership over problems/actions | thinks strategically |
Based on Gibb, A (2005) Towards the Entrepreneurial University
How important are enterprise skills?
The Researcher Development Statement sets out the knowledge, behaviours, and attributes that researchers are expected to demonstrate and many of these are applicable to academic staff not actively involved in research. Effectively the Researcher Development Statement is a summary of those things that characterise an effective and highly skilled researcher and which are looked for by employers and research organisations.
Enterprise skills are an integral part of the Researcher Development Statement reflecting the increased importance now placed on them. In particular, enterprise skills are key to the broader engagement and impact skills that employers now look for.
