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Healthcare Industry has become one of the extremely complex industries in the world, especially in the Indian context. It is one of the largest service sectors, with the highest contribution to GDP. Services are defined in several ways by different authors and researchers. Few of them defined services as ‘a non-material equivalent of goods’ (Bygstad & Lanestedt, 2009) and ‘a package made up of a set of tangible and intangible elements’ (Karwan & Markland, 2006). Especially, in Healthcare Industry services are a blend of both tangible and intangible details. Quality of service provided acts as an imperative parameter to evaluate the performance of any, and is recognized as one of the key strategic dimensions of services (Lewis, 1991).
Healthcare Industry is growing with the tremendous pace owing to its strengthening coverage, services and increasing expenditure both in terms of revenue and employment. During the 1990s, Indian Healthcare Industry grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16 percent. In year 2012, the total value of the sector was nearly $72 billion. By 2020, India’s Healthcare Sector is projected to grow to nearly $280 billion (IBEF Report, 2017). Private sector started supporting the Indian Healthcare Industry with the vision to provide patient-centered care and safety services. Private sector spending accounts for almost 80 percent of the total Health Care expenditure and is quite dominant in the Healthcare Sector (Talib, & Rahman, 2013). Some of the prominent corporate hospital networks in the country are Medanta Mediclinic, Apollo Hospital, Fortis Healthcare, Max Healthcare, and Manipal Group.
Healthcare services are demand driven and high-involvement industry, which constitute an important part of the service sector. Employees working in such a high risk industry are required to possess the knowledge and skills for increasing the organization’s performance, competitiveness and advancement (Misra & Mishra, 2016). Therefore, there is a paramount need to identify the skill gaps in the workforce before designing any training programs. This skill development process will provide a evident picture of skills deficiency and it becomes easy on the part of organization to tailor the effective training programs for its employees. As the battle for talent continues, restructuring and optimizing the skills required at various levels becomes obligatory for stronger performances (Agarwal & Ahuja, 2014).
An Employability Skill is one of the most sustainable bases of competitive edge in any industry (Vij & Sharma, 2014). Employability Skills cannot be treated as blanket of skills, they need to be industry and job specific. To survive in the cut-throat competitive environment, there is a spellbinding need of highly educated, skilled, knowledgeable, and trained employees (Mora, O’Connor, Raisinghani, & Macias-Luevano, 2011). Hence, organizations are putting huge investments on trainings of their employees to develop the essential skills needed for the job (Blickstein, 2014; Politt, 2001).
This research paper explored various Employability Skills needed in medical services by conducting an extensive literature review in section 2. There are many verticals in Healthcare Industry, for this study, we have considered the Medical Services segment, which includes, line services, support services and auxiliary services. Further, in section 3, the research methodology used in this paper is discussed along with the demographic profile of 100 respondents. In section 4, utilization of all the skills identified is discussed in detail. A conceptual framework “The Whirl of Prowess” is developed to identify the key essential skills required in the Healthcare Industry.