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Factors influencing real estate Soft skill gap of

graduate
graduates soft skill gap in Nigeria employees
Timothy Oluwafemi Ayodele
Department of Estate Management,
Faculty of Environmental Design and Management, Obafemi Awolowo University, 581
Ile-Ife, Nigeria and
Received 19 August 2020
Department of Quantity Surveying and Construction Management, Revised 27 January 2021
University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa Accepted 28 April 2021

Oluseyi Joshua Adegoke

Department of Estate Management, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
Kahilu Kajimo-Shakantu
Quantity Surveying and Construction Management, University of the Free State,
Bloemfontein, South Africa, and
Olaitan Olaoye
Department of Estate Management,
Faculty of Environmental Design and Management, Obafemi Awolowo University,
Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to evaluate the soft skill gap of graduate employees, as well as the
factors influencing the skill gaps of real estate graduates in the employment of real estate firms in Nigeria.
Design/methodology/approach – Primary data were employed for the study. Close-ended questionnaire
served on real estate employers in the two major property markets of Nigeria: Lagos and Abuja. From a total of
343 questionnaires administered, 172 (59.7%) questionnaires were retrieved. While data from the graduate
employees were obtained via a web-based survey sent out to a total of 558 graduates, 119 (21.33%) responses
were received. Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques were employed in the data analysis.
Findings – The findings showed that employers had high expectations for soft skillsets relating to
responsibility, administrative, listening and communication skills. These have respective mean scores of 6.38,
6.33, 6.31 and 6.31 on a seven point scale. However, the results revealed significant skill gaps with skills such as
logical thinking, business negotiation, responsibility and marketing. Further, the analysis revealed that factors
influencing the skill gap, in decreasing order of influence, are training/professional mentors/remuneration,
personal preferences/industry characteristics and curriculum/faculties.
Practical implications – Real estate graduate soft skills are investigated to uncover areas of emphasis and
skill gaps. These outcomes could serve as important feedbacks for stakeholders towards improving real estate
teaching and curriculum. The findings could also assist real estate graduates to know employers areas of
emphasis in relation to graduate employability skills.
Originality/value – Extant studies have reiterated and evaluated the soft skills gaps based on the perceptions
of employers, faculties and institutions of higher learning. However, there is the need to investigate the
perception of graduate employees, being the recipient and major stakeholders in the training process.
Keywords Employability skills, Employees, Real estate, Self-perception, Skill expectation, Soft skills
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
The real estate sector underpins the operations of markets, and it significantly influences
global economies. The activities of the real estate sector are intertwined with the Property Management
developments in the construction industry (Yu et al., 2008), and by extension a reflection of Vol. 39 No. 5, 2021
pp. 581-599
the economic vibrancy of a nation. As one of the sectors in the service industry, the real estate © Emerald Publishing Limited
0263-7472
sector consists of groups of specialized service producers (Bryson et al., 2004), rendering DOI 10.1108/PM-08-2020-0051
PM professional services to a wide range of clientele cutting across the public and private sectors.
39,5 In the service industry, the quality of the relationship between the employees and the clients
is a strong determinant of clients’ overall perception of, and satisfaction with the level of
service quality. It thus requires that employees can demonstrate a sound interpersonal
relationship with the clients, service providers and other employees. Hence, employment
preferences in the service industry will not be based solely on technical capacities rather soft
skill sets that enhance good working relationships and increases firms’ productivity,
582 performance and organisational success. Soft skills in this regards refer to interpersonal skills
or personal qualities an employee possesses. Soft skills, also known as people skills, life skills
and emotional intelligence (Rao, 2014), are microsocial skills encompassing intra and
interpersonal relationships, social and cognitive skills (Muzio et al., 2007). Soft skills are
generic skills (Singh and Singh, 2008) comprising work ethics, communication, problem-
solving, adaptability creative thinking, self-confidence and leadership skills among others.
Given the importance of soft skills to business success and productivity, business
executives place a high premium on employees with the right soft skillset (Pindar, 2013),
especially during employment considerations (Cotton, 2001; Nusrat and Sultana, 2019). Thus,
to enhance graduate employability, employees must possess the right soft skills required for
a job (Garavan et al., 2012), in addition to the hard/technical skills. The complementarity of
soft skills with hard skills will enhance professionals’ value-adding capacity and
organisational success (Boyd, 2005). Soft skills are particularly important in the real estate
sector, which embodies a lot of critical thinking and people-oriented activities and
engagements. Consequently, the real estate training in tertiary institutions should go
beyond the technical skills to encompass issues on the dynamic interactions expected of real
estate professionals in the knowledge age (Galuppo and Worzala, 2004; Connor and Brown,
2009; Poon, 2012).
Studies have alluded to the disconnection between the expected soft skillsets and the
observed skillsets, which often leads to a skill gap in the employees’ performance rating.
Given the observed skill gap, there has been criticism by the employers regarding the quality
of graduates, measured by their job performance. The argument leverages on the notion that
higher education has not been preparing the graduates with adequate soft skills required for
the knowledge economy. However, beyond the efforts of the faculties and the institutions of
higher learning, the students must adequately understand the essence of developing requisite
soft skills and its relevance to their employability and professional rating. Failure of the
students to effectively cultivate these skills significantly undermines their prospect for
employment (Robinson, 2000; Salleh et al., 2016; Pazil and Razak, 2019). Where there is a mis-
assessment of the soft skills need by the graduates, it might invalidate the effort of the
institutions of higher learning to adequately prepare the graduates for the workplace, thereby
constituting a barrier towards achieving the aim of bridging the skill gap.
Thus, a comprehensive approach to resolving the skill gap need not focus only on the
perspectives of employers and the faculties. The perspectives of the students and graduates
being the recipient of the training process and as major stakeholders need also be evaluated.
As such, it is expected that the university graduates having passed through the training
process and have had a measure of work experience can provide insights into the factors
influencing the skill gaps in real estate practice. It is thus necessary to evaluate graduate
employees’ perceptions regarding the soft skills requirements in the real estate industry, their
self-assessed level of the requisite soft skills and the factors influencing graduate employees
skill gaps. An understanding of these factors from the graduate employees’ perspective will
engender proactive and concise measures towards bridging the skill gap. Towards this end,
this study evaluated the soft skill gap of graduate employees and the factors influencing the
soft skill gaps. Specifically, the study examined real estate employers’ perception of the soft
skills requirements and the observed skill sets possessed by real estate graduates. Also, the
study examined the perception of real estate graduates regarding the soft skills required in Soft skill gap of
real estate practice, and to what extent do the graduates feel they possess the soft skills graduate
required to work competitively in a real estate firm. Finally, the factors influencing the soft
skill gaps were examined.
employees

Literature review
The literature review is sectioned into three. The first examines the evolution of graduate 583
employee skill requirement; factors influencing the soft skill gap were examined in the second
section. The third section presents a review of past studies examining real estate employee
skill gap.

Evolution of graduate employee skill requirement

Flack (2016) noted that the first reference to “soft skills” was in the 1970s by the US Army,
referring to skills that do not involve the use of machinery. While military personnel were
required to have technical skill of map reading, the soft skill of decision-making also became
essential. However, workplace “soft skills” in the 1970s was related to being a good and
dutiful employee (Fry and Whitmore, 1972). Soft skills in this regards encompass employees’
ability to deliver excellent customer service and workplace adaptation among others.
However, there was a shift in employers demand in the 1990s. Employers increasingly
demanded skills such as critical thinking and strong communication skills (Flack, 2016).
Thus, by the late 1990s, soft skills required related to skills such as communication, personal
qualities, interpersonal skills, work ethics and cognitive skills. By the turn of the century,
employers are increasingly prioritizing soft skills such as social skills, communication skills,
interpersonal relationship skills, emotional intelligence and problem-solving capacities, aside
from the technical know-how (Archer and Davidson, 2008; Hogan et al., 2013). Graduates’
attributes are now viewed over and above the disciplinary/technical expertise (Bowden et al.,
2000). Technical skills are expected to be demonstrated in combination with soft skillsets,
reflected in behaviours and attitudes (Khaouja et al., 2019). Arising from the low-performance
rating of graduate employees, observed deficiencies in employees output has led to issues of
skill gap.
Specifically, in the real estate context, strategic planning skills, organisation and business
skill, deal-making and real estate portfolio management skills have been identified as crucial
skill sets required in achieving success in real estate business (Gibler et al., 2002). This is
further buttressed by Galuppo and Worzala (2004) that professionals in the real estate
industry give cognizance and value to prospective employees that possess skills such as
computer proficiency, financial statement analysis, analytical and decision making skills,
negotiating techniques and communication skills. These submissions are congruent with the
findings of Poon (2014), where real estate employers underscored the need for soft skills as
consideration for graduate employment. These serve as the basis for the justification by
Gibler and Black (2004) that the success of real estate practice is largely hinged on adequate
mastery and possession of management and strategic skills rather than premising solely on
financial or technical skills. The embodiment of these soft skills is what Boyd (2005) referred
to as emotional intelligence. The author stressed that these skills can be taught in institutions
of higher learning through well-planned and integrated training and workshops.

Factors influencing the soft skill gaps

In the global literature, the paucity of soft skills among graduate employees is not only a
growing concern among researchers and educators but also to a great extent among
employers (Stewart et al., 2016). These concerns are borne out of anomalies experienced by
PM employers, such as constraints in adapting to the non-academic environment, lack of
39,5 commercial awareness, inadequate workplace experience and inadequate marketing skills
(Connor et al., 2010). For instance, Jackson and Chapman (2012) found that graduate
employees were significantly deficient in soft skills, especially managerial skills. Also,
Dunbar et al. (2016) submitted that majority of employers strongly emphasize soft skills
requirements when placing job advertisements. This indicates that employers/recruiters are
more concerned with employing graduates that possess the essential soft skills required by
584 the firms. Employers have noted significant skill gaps with soft skills such as oral and written
communication, creativity, social responsibility, collaboration, leadership, problem-solving
and application of information technology among others (Hurrell, 2016; Ayodele et al., 2020).
Several factors contribute to graduate employees’ skill gap. Lipman et al. (2015) highlighted
these to include economic contexts and the changing world of work, gender considerations
and understanding the links between soft skills and workforce outcomes. Adrian (2017)
established that skill gap is facilitated mainly by misalignment in student interpretation to
employers’ needs and lack of proper focus of academic environment on students, especially in
respect to soft skills that are highly required in today’s business activities. Bano and
Vasantha (2019) noted that lack of quality education and inadequate infrastructural facilities
influence employability skills gap. Tsirkas et al. (2020) submitted that neglect of soft skill
development across institutions, the inadequacy of training and development of soft skills in
the working environments and underestimation of soft skills’ value by the employees and
reluctance in developing them influenced skill gap among graduate employees. The
prevalence of students studying courses that they never intended due to the inability of
students to get their desired course also contributes to the rising skill gap, especially in the
real estate sector (Ayodele et al., 2017). This could lead to reluctance in acquiring and
developing the needed skill sets expected of real estate professionals.

Review of previous studies

Issues relating to graduate skill requirements and employability in the real estate sector have
generated a number of studies. Gibler et al. (2002) examined the changing roles and
adaptability of real estate managers in corporate strategic planning. The findings from real
estate managers and service providers revealed that real estate portfolio management,
strategic planning, negotiation and deal-making were important attributes required of
corporate real estate managers. These skills, collectively termed strategic and management
skills, underpin the successful corporate real estate practice. Callanan and McCarthy (2003)
investigated real estate industry requirements in New Zealand. Based on a sample of 300
employers, the study revealed that employers noted the inability of the graduate employees to
relate theory to real estate practice. Epley (2004) evaluated the skills and knowledge required
by corporate real estate executives in the United States. The findings showed that critical skill
sets required include the ability to interpret market fundamentals and good relationship with
other personnel and the public. Boyd (2005) examined stakeholders’ influence on property
education programs in Australia. The study noted that while students are adversely affected
by the incessant and ever-changing skill demand by employers in the real estate profession,
adequate emphasis on behavioural analysis and interdisciplinary skills can help bridge the
skill gaps. The study concludes that the property industry requires multi-skilled property
professionals who can continually demonstrate their value-adding capacity to business
organisations. Manning and Epley (2006) investigated whether real estate faculty teach the
skills and competencies required by real estate executives in the United States. The study
submitted that while real estate instructors are proficient in teaching the technical skills, the
students were deficient in skills and competencies that are needed for proper interaction,
devising of business strategy and decisions-making process. Weinstein and Worzala’s (2008)
analysed the trends of graduate real estate programs in the United States. The study Soft skill gap of
underscored the need for effective collaboration and partnership between the institutions of graduate
higher learning and professional organisations. Oladokun (2012) analysed the training
requirements of Nigerian corporate real estate practitioners. The study revealed that the
employees
required skill set includes financial performance skill, space efficiency management skill,
productivity skills, as well as customers’/employees’ management skills. Poon (2012)
examined the perspective of human resource (HR) managers of real estate firms on graduates’
employability skills in the United Kingdom. The study revealed that soft skills expected from 585
graduate employees include presentation skills, client care, communication skills, report
writing skills and professional standards. However, the findings underscored a level of
concern concerning the lack of commercial awareness among graduate employees.
Devaney and Roberts (2012) examined factors influencing the employability of property
and construction graduates in the United Kingdom. The study revealed that attributes such
as motivation, maturity and experience, and aside technical skills were an important
consideration for graduate employability. Poon (2014) investigated how sufficient real estate
curricula are developing employability skills of graduates. The study found a low level of
satisfaction among real estate employers with the employability skills demonstrated by the
employees. Ayedun et al. (2017) examined employers’ skills expectations of real estate
graduates. The study established that real estate graduates in Nigeria are deficient in the
requisite soft skills. Adnan et al. (2017) examined employers’ perceptions of the soft skills
expected of real estate graduates in Malaysia. The study found that ethics, critical thinking,
professionalism, teamwork, problem-solving, leadership and communications, lifelong
learning, information management and entrepreneurship are the essential soft skills
required by employees. Oladokun and Gbadegesin (2017) evaluated the adequacy of soft
skills possessed by real estate graduates employees of real estate firms in Nigeria. The study
found that employees possessed good communication and listening skills, but ranked low in
terms of courteousness and writing skills. Oladokun and Olaleye (2017) assessed real estate
graduate employers perspectives concerning bridging the skill gaps in Nigeria. The study
submitted that the student industrial training scheme serves as a veritable tool in bridging
the skill gap. Ayodele et al. (2020) noted that employers found significant soft skill gaps
related to business negotiation, marketing, responsibility, dispute resolution and logical
thinking skills.
Soft skills are generic skills and are crucial components for graduate employability. They
often serve as the baseline consideration with which employers assess the value-adding
potential of prospective employees. Hence, graduate qualifications seen solely from the
perspective of technical competencies are no longer a sufficient basis for employment.
Arising from the increasing market sophistication, there is an increasing demand by
employers for graduates with requisite knowledge, competencies and skills related to the job
specifications. Thus, employers are concerned about the graduates’ employability from the
perspective of skills that are centred on problem-solving, marketing, emotional intelligence,
enterprise potential, work ethics and leadership skills among others. Meanwhile, there has
been an apparent inadequacy of soft skills among graduate employees, leading to an
observed skill gap between the required soft skills and the observed skills.
The real estate sector has evolved from core production to include service-oriented
activities, and the increasing growth of real estate business will continuously necessitate the
need for graduate employees who are dynamic and can meet up with the demands of the rapid
shifts in the knowledge economy. With the ever-changing skill demand and variation of soft
skills across disciplines, context or local markets, it is expected that real estate graduates
possess requisite skills to interpret local market fundamentals and behavioural skills that will
enhance firms productivity in the dynamic real estate market. Skill sets of graduate
employees must be sharpened to fit into the contemporary and dynamic real estate business
PM environment. This will afford employees the ability to adapt effectively to the work
39,5 environment while also ensuring organisational success. There is, therefore, a global
expectation by real estate employers geared towards increased proficiency of soft skills
among graduate employees.

Methodology
586 The study is a cross-sectional survey, and primary data were employed. These were obtained
from estate surveying and valuation firms and graduate employees in the employment of
these firms. Data required from the employers relates to the profile of the firm, their
perception of the expected and observed soft skills demonstrated by the real estate
employees. Regarding the employees, data obtained include their profile, their perception of
the soft skills expected in real estate practice, their perception of their soft skills competencies
and the influencing factors contributing to the soft skill gap.
Close-ended questionnaire were used to elicit responses from the graduate employers,
these being the principal partners/branch managers of estate surveying and valuation firms
in the two major property markets of Nigeria, Lagos and Abuja. Data from the Nigerian
Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) showed that the total number of firms in
the study locations was 152 in Abuja and 382 in Lagos, representing 57.17% of all the firms in
Nigeria. While 191 (50%) firms were selected in Lagos, total enumeration was adopted for the
firms in Abuja. Thus, a total of 343 questionnaires were administered to firms in the study
locations. A total of 172 (59.7%) questionnaires were retrieved and found suitable for
analysis. An online survey was used to gather data from the graduate employees. This was
primarily focused on graduate employees who graduated not more than five years. From the
558 graduates who were sent the survey link, 119 (21.33%) responded to the survey. Except
otherwise stated the data emanated from a survey which spanned between October 2019 and
March 2020.
Table 1 shows the themes and subthemes used in assessing the graduate employees’ soft
skills. The real estate employers rated their expectations and the observed soft skills on a
seven-point Likert scale across each of the subthemes. These mean ratings from the
subthemes were subsequently computed to determine the average mean score for the themes.
The rating of the graduate employees regarding their perception of the soft skills expected
and the self-assessed skill rating was also on a seven-point Likert scale. The paired mean
values for each category of respondents; that is, the employers (expected and observed skill)
and the graduate students (skill expectation and self-assessed skill) were subsequently used
in assessing the skill gap. The study employed the paired sample t-test in examining the mean
differences. The mean differences were categorised based on a hypothetical scale developed
by the study. The mean difference for the soft skills was categorized as follows:
x ≥ 1.50 5 extremely influential skill gap
1.49 ≥ x ≥ 1.00 5 very influential skill gap
0.99 ≥ x ≥ 0.50 5 somewhat influential skill gap
0.49 ≥ x ≥ 0.01 5 slightly influential skill gap
x ≤ 0.01 5 no skill gap
Cronbach’s alpha test was used to examine the reliability and internal consistency of the
scales. The rating of the employers expected and observed soft skills gave a Cronbach alpha
value of 0.972 and 0.976, respectively. Concerning the graduates’ employees, the rating of the
expected skillset gave a Cronbach alpha value of 0.962, while the soft skills variables used
self-assessment had a Cronbach alpha value of 0.970. Lastly, the Cronbach alpha value of the
S/
Soft skill gap of
N Soft skills graduate
employees
A Communication skill
1 Graduates ability to speak clearly and politely to heads, colleagues, clients, etc.
2 Ability to know what medium to use when communicating at different levels
3 Graduates ability to communicate frequently with their client
4 Graduates ability to provide information of all activity from contract to closing to their clients 587
B ICT skill
1 Graduates versatility in the use of MS Word, Power Point and Excel
2 Graduates use of software and computer programmes in performing their duties
3 Graduates ability to perfectly organise and document clients’ portfolio in appropriate folder
4 Graduates ability to use the Internet effectively to firm’s advantage
C Listening skill
1 Graduates ability to listen to their clients
2 Graduates ability to patiently attend to clients complaints
3 Graduates ability to understand clients specific needs
D Time management skill
1 Graduates ability to make good use of clients time
2 Graduates ability to be punctual to work
3 Graduates ability to promptly discharge their duties
4 Graduates ability to work under stress
5 Graduates ability to meet deadlines
E Logical thinking skill
1 Ability to demonstrating skill and expertise with given tasks
2 Logical and critical thinking before taking any course of action
3 Graduates taking into consideration issues and factors in decision-making
F Problem-solving skill
1 Ability to eliminate unanticipated problem and challenges
2 Ability to solve problems that arise in the absence of senior colleagues/surveyors
3 Ability to attend to clients’ needs/problems satisfactorily
G Writing skill
1 Ability to read well and write legibly
2 Graduates ability to write correspondences and dispatched to clients with no typos and grammatical
errors
3 Graduates requiring no thorough supervision before any report/letters are issued
H Work ethic
1 Graduates being focused and ethical
2 Graduates being courteous
3 Ability to demonstrate integrity and honesty
I Business negotiation skill
1 Graduates being good business negotiators
2 Ability to interact well in the process of negotiation
3 Ability to negotiate with the interest of both client and the firm in mind with no compromise
4 Ability to use influencing skills to conclude negotiations
J Teamwork skill
1 Ability to work in a team and in a collaborative style with others to achieve results
2 Ability to have effective relationship among staff members
K Leadership skill
1 Graduates leading a group of people and making them work for a common goal
2 Graduates ability to delegate to subordinates in the team
3 Graduates ability to give and receive feedback
4 Ability to understand the roles of each team member
L Flexibility skill
1 Ability to accept changes as a new challenge
2 Ability to adapt to new situations and modify approaches if required
Table 1.
(continued ) Soft skills variables
PM S/
39,5 N Soft skills

3 Ability to respond positively to changes

M Responsibility
1 Graduates being trustworthy
2 Ability to take responsibility for their actions without blaming others for something they are liable for
588 3 Graduates being self-disciplined
N Marketing skills
1 Ability to provide clients with information on the listing of their properties
2 Ability to provide prompt presentation and advice of all offers
3 Ability to understand the evolving local market and collaborate effectively with other firms
4 Ability to understand the cultural set up of the local market
O Dispute resolution skill
1 Ability to avoid conflict with colleagues and clients
2 Ability to resolve conflict among third party (clients)
3 Ability to resolve conflict within members of staff
P Administrative skill
1 Ability to keep records and documents
2 Ability to be punctual at meetings
3 Ability to dispatch letters appropriately and as at when due
4 Ability to manage the firm’s resources
Table 1. 5 Ability to work independently

factors influencing soft skill gaps was α 5 0.887. The result showed that all the scales are
reliable and have a good measure of internal consistency (Tavakol and Dennick, 2011).

Findings and discussion of results

Profile of respondents
An analysis of the employers’ profile showed that majority (74.4%) were first degree holders,
while only 15.1% had a second degree. Also, while 27.9% have management experience
spanning 6–10 years, 31.9% of the employers have management experience of over 10 years.
This suggests that the respondents have sufficient industry experience to provide valuable
insights into graduate skill expectations and observed competencies. Further, the result
showed that 68.0% of the firms have 1 to 5 branches suggesting that the firms are actively
engaged in real estate practice. The results of the employees’ profile (Table 2) shows that
while males were 54.6%, females accounted for 45.4% of the total sample. It was also revealed
that 39.5% were 25 years and below, while 42.0% of the respondents were in the 26–30 years
age bracket, 18.5% were above 30 years of age. Regarding the duration of employment 13.4%
have had up to six months of experience, 30.3% between six months and one year, while
56.3% of the respondents have worked in real estate firms for a minimum of one year. Hence,
it is expected that they are conversant with employers’ expectations, their deficiencies
regarding the skill set demanded by their employers, as well as the likely causative factors
necessitating the skill gaps

Analysis of soft skill gap

As presented in Table 3, the employers and graduate employees rated a list of soft skills
based on the level to which the skills are expected of real estate professionals; the employers
also rated the observed level to which graduate employees possessed the soft skills. The table
also shows the self-rated level to which graduate employees perceived that they possessed the
soft skills. The mean ratings and the paired differences are as shown in the table.
Employers’ profile (n 5 172) Frequency Percentage
Soft skill gap of
graduate
Respondents academic qualification National diploma 5 2.9 employees
HND/BSc 128 74.4
MSc 26 15.1
PhD 1 0.6
No response 12 7.0
Years of management experience Up to 5 years 55 32.0 589
6–10 years 48 27.9
11–15 years 25 14.5
16–20 years 15 8.7
More than 20 years 15 8.7
No response 14 8.1
Number of firm’s branches None 33 19.2
Up to 5 branches 117 68.0
6 to 10 branches 10 5.8
Above 10 branches 7 4.1
No response 5 2.9
Graduate employees’ profile (n 5 119)
Gender Male 65 54.6
Female 54 45.4
Age 25 years and below 47 39.5
26–30 years 50 42.0
Above 30 years 22 18.5
Duration of experience in real estate practice Up to 6 months 16 13.4
6 months to 1 year 36 30.3
1–2 years 33 27.7
2–3 years 15 12.6 Table 2.
Above 3 years 19 16.0 Respondents’ profile

An examination of the skill expectation showed that the employers rated higher expectations
regarding skill such as responsibility (6.38), administrative (6.33), listening (6.31) and
communication (6.31), while the expected skill rating by the employees appears divergent.
The employees rated listening skills (6.45), teamwork (6.38), responsibility (6.34) and work
ethics (6.31) more highly than other soft skills. This rating is in line with the submissions of
studies such as Galuppo and Worzala (2004) and Adnan et al. (2017), which underscored the
importance of business skills, teamwork, work ethics and professionalism as key skills
required of real estate employees. However, skill sets such as flexibility (6.11), problem-
solving skills (6.08), dispute resolution (6.05) and ICT skills (5.97) were the lowly rated by the
respondents. Furthermore, across both categories of respondents, ICT skills were the least-
rated skill, with a mean value of 5.99 and 5.97 by the employers and employees, respectively.
The low mean rating of ICT skills contradicts the results of Galuppo and Worzala (2004) that
highlighted the increasing importance of computer proficiency among graduate employees.
Meanwhile, given the variance in the real estate practice across the different markets, the
rating might owe to the low integration of digital technologies into the property management
operations in the Nigeria real estate market as most firms do not have fully automated
processes. However, with the increasing integration of fintech and proptech into real estate
practices, coupled with the changes brought about by the fourth industrial revolution, the
real estate landscape might begin to witness increasing integration of technology into its
practice and operations. As the integration of ICT into firms’ operation is expected to surge up
in the near future, there will be a need for graduate employees to scale up their skills in this
regard.
 PM
39,5

590

skill gap
Table 3.
Analysis of the soft
Paired differences1 Paired differences2
Observed Paired samples Skill Self-assessed Paired samples
Soft skills Expected skill skill correlation Paired Samples t-test expectation soft skill correlation Paired Sample t-test
Mean(r) SD Mean SD Correlation Sig MD SD T p-value Mean(r) SD Mean SD Correlation Sig MD SD t p-value

þ * * þþþþ
Responsibility 6.38(1) 0.943 5.28 1.196 0.028 0.740 1.098 1.502 8.681 0.000 6.34(3) 0.749 6.42 0.692 0.576 0.000 0.08 0.665 1.248 0.215
Administrative Skills 6.33(2) 0.875 5.36 1.173 0.169 0.043* 0.969þþ 1.339 8.649 0.000* 6.28(6) 0.827 6.31 0.793 0.588 0.000* 0.03þþþþ 0.736 0.438 0.662
Listening skills 6.31(3) 0.811 5.39 1.128 0.188 0.025* 0.917þþ 1.260 8.671 0.000* 6.45(1) 0.695 6.23 0.693 0.509 0.000* 0.22þþþ 0.688 3.458 0.001*
Communication skills 6.31(4) 0.857 5.32 1.147 0.399 0.000* 0.988þþ 1.125 10.83 0.000* 6.20(9) 0.787 6.05 0.797 0.499 0.000* 0.15þþþ 0.793 2.020 0.046*
Business negotiation skills 6.25(5) 0.886 5.20 1.296 0.217 0.010* 1.044þ 1.403 8.839 0.000* 6.30(5) 0.823 6.07 0.923 0.547 0.000* 0.23þþþ 0.835 2.897 0.005*
Work ethics 6.22(6) 0.866 5.29 1.159 0.155 0.066 0.935þþ 1.334 8.321 0.000* 6.31(4) 0.835 6.50 0.645 0.520 0.000* 0.19þþþþ 0.743 2.724 0.008*
Teamwork skills 6.21(7) 0.863 5.22 1.209 0.248 0.004* 0.993þþ 1.300 8.935 0.000* 6.38(2) 0.726 6.27 0.780 0.552 0.000* 0.11þþþ 0.715 1.601 0.112
Time management skills 6.16(8) 0.996 5.23 1.093 0.045 0.587 0.934þþ 1.512 7.436 0.000* 6.22(8) 0.772 6.12 0.869 0.486 0.000* 0.10þþþ 0.836 1.295 0.198
Logical thinking skills 6.15(9) 0.853 5.01 1.266 0.274 0.001* 1.132þ 1.318 10.267 0.000* 6.19(12) 0.824 6.11 0.852 0.587 0.000* 0.08þþþ 0.762 1.162 0.248
Marketing skills 6.11(10) 0.931 5.11 1.269 0.251 0.002* 1.004þ 1.372 8.780 0.000* 6.19(11) 0.802 6.00 0.850 0.594 0.000* 0.19þþþ 0.745 2.668 0.009*
Writing skills 6.10(11) 0.989 5.20 1.156 0.167 0.046* 0.895þþ 1.390 7.724 0.000* 6.20(10) 0.845 6.30 0.809 0.492 0.000* 0.10þþþþ 0.834 1.243 0.217
Dispute resolution skills 6.10(12) 1.061 5.05 1.321 0.162 0.055 1.052þ 1.554 8.013 0.000* 6.09(14) 0.833 6.07 0.926 0.566 0.000* 0.02þþþ 0.824 0.233 0.817
Problem-solving skills 6.08(13) 0.883 5.18 1.243 0.220 0.009* 0.904þþ 1.357 7.934 0.000* 6.09(15) 0.845 6.05 0.813 0.488 0.000* 0.04þþþ 0.839 0.453 0.652
Leadership skills 6.07(14) 0.974 5.10 1.230 0.298 0.000* 0.974þþ 1.322 8.716 0.000* 6.24(7) 0.713 6.08 0.855 0.499 0.000* 0.16þþþ 0.795 2.050 0.043*
Flexibility skills 6.05(15) 0.968 5.10 1.181 0.233 0.006* 0.946þþ 1.341 8.314 0.000* 6.13(13) 0.813 6.10 0.917 0.623 0.000* 0.03þþþ 0.756 0.380 0.705
ICT skills 5.99(16) 0.945 5.15 1.158 0.368 0.000* 0.839þþ 1.195 8.399 0.000* 5.97(16) 0.853 5.76 0.927 0.487 0.000* 0.21þþþ 0.904 2.436 0.016*
Aggregated values 6.15 0.787 5.23 1.068 0.206 0.009* 0.920þþ 1.189 9.749 0.000* 6.22 0.635 6.15 0.686 0.735 0.000* 0.07þþþ 0.484 1.542 0.126
Note(s): * significant level set at p < 0.05; (r) 5 Item rank based on mean values; 1 5 Paired differences (employers); 2 5 Paired differences (graduate employees);
þ
5 very influential; þþ 5 somewhat influential; þþþ 5 slightly influential; þþþþ 5 no skill gap
 Concerning the observed skill sets, the employers mean rating showed that the graduate Soft skill gap of
employees had higher performance regarding skills such a listening skill and administrative graduate
skills. These have mean values of 5.39 and 5.36, respectively, while the employees were rated
low on logical thinking (5.01), dispute resolution (5.05), leadership (5.10) flexibility (5.10) and
employees
marketing (5.11). The analysis of the self-rated soft skills shows that the respondents rated
themselves highly across most of the skills. Skills relating to work ethics, responsibility,
administrative skills and writing skills had higher mean scores than most other soft skills
while rated themselves low in terms of leadership (6.08), business negotiation skills (6.07), 591
dispute resolution skills (6.07), communication skills (6.05), problem-solving skills (6.05),
marketing skills (6.00) and ICT skills (5.76). The low mean rating on leadership and dispute
resolution by both the employers and the graduate employees might stem from the fact that
these skills are developed through work experience. The findings of Poon (2012) and
Oladokun and Gbadegesin (2017) corroborate this assertion. This low rating of these skills
might be attributable to the need for sufficient hands-on training, which further raises the
need for a detailed curriculum and perhaps a review of teaching approaches adopted by
faculties.
A detailed perspective of the soft skill gap is presented by the mean skill gap (Table 2). The
mean skill gap represents the mean differences between the expected skill sets on one hand
and the mean value of the observed skill sets and graduates’ self-assessment on the other
hand. The paired sample t-test was used to establish the likelihood of a statistical significance
between the mean values. An examination of the employers’ perspectives of the skill gap
showed that there were very influential skill gaps with attributes such as responsibility (md:
1.098), business negotiation (md:1.044), logical thinking (md: 1.132), marketing skills (md:
1.004) and dispute resolution (md: 1.052). The results of the mean differencing of the graduate
employees showed that respondents rated a higher self-perception than the skill expectation
regarding skills such as administrative skills (0.03), responsibility (0.08), writing skills
(0.10) and work ethics (0.19). As regarding business negotiation, listening, ICT, marketing
and leadership skills, the analysis showed skill gaps between the rated expectation and the
self-assessed skills of the respondents. These have mean differences of 0.23, 0.22, 0.21, 0.19
and 0.16, respectively. This skill gap further reinforces the earlier submissions on the need for
a re-evaluation of the curriculum and mode of imparting the students with the requisite soft
skills. The findings underscore the need for improved measures of soft skill acquisition by
graduate employees. There is a need for urgent measures by stakeholders’ towards upscaling
the soft skills acquisition of the students to improve their employability prospects. Being a
service industry, soft skills are an integral part of the requirement for graduate employees
and career advancement. Thus, based on the understanding of the graduates that the soft
skills are an integral part of real estate practice and operations, it might be expected that
students would be willing and receptive to training and opportunities that would increase
their employability prospects and career advancement.
Regarding the statistical significance of the employers, all the skills had statistical
significance at p ≤ 0.05. However, the result for the employees shows that only listening,
business negotiation, work ethics, leadership, communication, marketing and ICT skills were
significant at p ≤ 0.05.

Examination of factors influencing the soft skill gap

The study further assessed the factors influencing soft skills acquisition and training of real
estate graduates in institutions of higher learning. While the factors influencing the soft skill
gap were extracted from the literature, other factors were developed based on the outcome of
informal discussions held with the graduates and the faculties (Appendix).
PM An examination of the mean ratings (Table 4) showed that influencing factors that are
39,5 more highly rated include level of understanding of the need for the acquisition of soft skills
(6.03), level of interest in the real estate profession (5.92), level of exposure during industrial
training (5.89) and the multidisciplinary nature of the real estate profession requiring varied
skillset (5.82). This finding supports the assertion of previous studies such as Boyd (2005) that
highlighted the constantly changing demands of the industry and the need for multi-skilled
professionals. An examination of the factors along gender lines showed that the males rated
592 level of interest in the real estate profession (6.13), level of understanding of the need for the
acquisition of soft skills (6.08) and level of exposure during industrial training (5.89) as the
major factors influencing the acquisition of soft skills. The most influential factors as rated by
the female respondents include the level of understanding of the need for the acquisition of
soft skills (5.98), level of exposure during industrial training (5.89) and the multidisciplinary
nature of the real estate profession requiring varied skill sets (5.77). The factors rated as having
the least influence were similar across both categories of respondents. These are salary
structure of the real estate industry in comparison to the skills being demanded (males – 4.74;
females – 4.42), creating time to socialize during academic training (male – 5.46; females –
5.38) and availability of personal mentors in the profession (males – 5.46; females – 5.45).

Males Females Aggregate Independent t-test

p-
Influencing factors Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD T value MD

Level of interest in the real estate 6.13 1.055 5.67 1.381 5.92 1.228 1.962 0.053 0.46
profession
Salary structure of the real estate 4.74 1.890 4.42 2.143 4.59 2.008 0.869 0.387 0.32
industry in comparison to the
skills being demanded
Mode of training at the higher 5.65 1.166 5.49 1.280 5.58 1.217 0.705 0.482 0.16
institution
Level of exposure during 5.89 1.294 5.89 1.187 5.89 1.241 0.001 0.999 0.00
industrial training
Availability of personal mentors 5.46 1.625 5.45 1.338 5.46 1.494 0.027 0.978 0.01
in the profession
Level of understanding of the 6.08 1.021 5.98 1.083 6.03 1.046 0.502 0.617 0.10
need for soft skills
Level of compatibility of my skill 5.86 0.948 5.66 1.073 5.77 1.007 1.048 0.297 0.20
set with required skills
Multidisciplinary nature of the 5.86 1.014 5.77 1.120 5.82 1.060 0.421 0.674 0.09
real estate profession, requiring
varied skill sets
Skills being explicitly taught 5.63 1.168 5.60 1.446 5.62 1.297 0.128 0.898 0.03
during academic training
Level of emphasis on technical 5.66 1.115 5.51 1.171 5.59 1.139 0.711 0.478 0.15
competencies in curriculum/
academic training
The ability of academic role 5.73 0.987 5.47 1.085 5.61 1.036 1.343 0.182 0.26
models to typify the required soft
skills
Creating time to socialize during 5.46 1.366 5.38 1.289 5.42 1.326 0.334 0.739 0.08
academic training
Availability of support programs 5.67 1.257 5.57 1.308 5.62 1.276 0.422 0.674 0.10
Table 4. to reinforce the development of
Analysis of influencing soft skills
factors Note(s): * significance level at p < 0.05
An examination of the statistical differences across both categories of respondents showed Soft skill gap of
that there were no statistical differences between the mean scores of the males and the graduate
females. Though the males rated higher mean values for the influencing factors than the
male respondents as evidenced by the positive mean difference across all the influencing
employees
factors.
However, given that the use of descriptive analysis will not give a clear presentation of the
underlying clusters, the study further analysed the factors using the principal component
analysis (PCA), to identify and categorise the clusters. Preliminary analysis to determine the 593
factorability of the data set showed that the data had a KMO value of 0.852 and Bartlett’s test
of sphericity significant at p 5 0.000. The results show that the data set satisfies the
factorability criteria. Subsequently, a three-factor solution was obtained (Table 5). The three
factors explained a cumulative of 62.984% of the total variance. The first factor explains
22.63% of the total variance, while the second and the third factors explain 20.804 and
19.581% of the total variance, respectively.
Regarding the factor loadings, the study adopted a 60% overlapping variance. As
presented in Table 6, the items that were loaded under the first factor are level of exposure
during industrial training, mode of training at the higher institution, availability of personal
mentors in the profession and salary structure of the real estate industry in comparison to the
skills being demanded. These are collectively tagged as training/professional mentors/
remuneration factors. The items loaded under the second factor are personal motivation to
acquire the required soft skills, level of compatibility of my skill set with required skills and
multidisciplinary nature of the real estate profession, requiring varied skill sets. These were
termed personal characteristics/preferences and industry characteristics. The third factor
was termed as curriculum/faculties. Variables loaded under this are level of emphasis on
technical competencies in curriculum/academic training, the ability of academic role models
to typify the required soft skills and skills being explicitly taught during academic training.
An examination of the percentage variances of the three factors (Table 6) shows that
factor 1 - training/professional mentors/remuneration had the highest variance of 22.599%,
suggesting a greater level of influence on the factors influencing the acquisition of soft skills.
Issues on the mode of training, that is, part-time, full time or distance learning influence social
interactions and to a great extent determines the level at which soft skills are inherently
acquired by the students. As with most disciplines, students impliedly learn some of the soft
skills through exercises such as term papers, teamwork and class presentations among
others, the level to which these can be fully integrated into the mode of training will
significantly influence the level to which the soft skills are acquired. Also, the availability of
professional mentors could influence the grooming and training of students such that
graduate employees are better suited for workplace practices. Issues of remuneration are
major influences on the readiness of employees to acquire skills. Where remuneration is poor,
prospective employees might not be willing to acquire the needed skills, and vice-versa. The
second factor, personal characteristics/preferences and industry characteristics were the
second most influential factor accounting for 20.804% of the total variance. This perhaps
owes to the fact that a number of students’ studying real estate in Nigeria enrolled for the
course out of their inability to get their desired course of study. Hence, the need to develop
requisite skills and build a career in real estate might not be a major driver, and the resultant
reluctance of the students to build up capacities and acquire the requisite soft skills. The third
factor, curriculum/faculties, accounted for 19.581% of the total variance underscores the need
to reevaluate curriculum and the impact of faculties as role models, more so in a professional
discipline like real estate. While this supports the assertions of Manning and Epley (2006) that
there is a need for faculties to ensure a balance in the emphasis between the soft skills and
technical skill, this brings to the fore the need to be explicit with the training and education
with respect to the soft skills requirements expected of real estate graduates. The findings
 PM
39,5

594

Table 5.

influencing
Total variance
explained of the factors
Initial eigenvalues Extraction sums of squared loadings Rotation sums of squared loadings
Component Total % of variance Cumulative % Total % of variance Cumulative % Total % of variance Cumulative %

1 5.804 44.645 44.645 5.804 44.645 44.645 2.938 22.599 22.599

2 1.338 10.289 54.934 1.338 10.289 54.934 2.705 20.804 43.403
3 1.047 8.051 62.984 1.047 8.051 62.984 2.546 19.581 62.984
Note(s): Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis
 % of Cumulative
Soft skill gap of
Variables/Items Loading Extraction variance % graduate
employees
1. Training/professional mentors/remuneration 22.599 22.599
factors
Level of exposure during industrial training 0.807 0.704
Type of training received at the higher institution 0.725 0.684
Availability of personal mentors in the profession 0.718 0.667 595
Salary structure of the real estate industry in 0.714 0.558
comparison to the skills being demanded
2. Personal characteristic/preferences and industry 20.804 43.403
characteristics
Personal motivation to acquire the required soft skills 0.758 0.718
Level of compatibility of my skill set with required 0.741 0.639
skills
Multidisciplinary nature of the real estate profession, 0.637 0.560
requiring varied skillsets
3. Curriculum/faculties 19.581 62.984
Level of emphasis on technical competencies in 0.856 0.825
curriculum/academic training
The ability of academic role models to typify the 0.797 0.729
required soft skills
Table 6.
Skills being explicitly taught during academic 0.642 0.685 Rotated component
training matrix of factors
Note(s): Extraction Method: Principal Component AnalysisRotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser influencing soft
Normalization skill gap

also emphasize the need for faculties to demonstrate these required soft skills through formal
interactions with the students. The faculties are the first role models of the students regarding
the soft skills requirements in the real estate industry.

Conclusion
Real estate activities are viable sources through which economic development and prosperity
are realized. As one of the sectors in the service industry, employees are expected to
demonstrate employability skill sets that will enhance good working relationships and
increase the firms’ performance and organisational success. The study examined graduate
employees soft skill gap, as well as the factors influencing the skill gaps in the Nigeria
property market.
The findings show that employers have high expectations for skills such as listening,
teamwork, responsibility, work ethics and business negotiation skills. However, skills relating
to problem-solving, dispute resolution and ICT were lowly rated perhaps because these skills
are more or less acquired through experience and practice. The mean rating of the self-
assessment showed that while graduates rated themselves high regarding skills such as
responsibility, work ethics and administrative skills, the rating for skills such as problem-
solving, communication, marketing skills and ICT skills were low. The skill gap analysis
showed that the highest skill gap was found with listening skills, business negotiation, ICT,
marketing and communication skills. The study also revealed that factors influencing the skill
gap in real estate practice, in decreasing order of influence, are training/professional mentors/
remuneration, personal preferences and industry characteristics and curriculum/faculties.
The foregoing suggests the need for tertiary institutions to increasingly emphasize soft
skill development, while not underplaying the important role of technical skills to graduate
employability. The synergy between the industry and practice need also to be strengthened,
PM thereby enhancing mentoring by practitioners to aspiring real estate professionals. The need
39,5 for practical knowledge should be emphasized by encouraging students to gain hands-on
work experience with attached academic credit point. There is also the need for faculties to
ensure that requisite soft skills are integrated into the teaching modules and are consciously
evaluated. This would ensure that the students are conscious about the need to acquire such
skill towards increasing their employability and being well-trained professionals well-fitted
for the ever-changing dynamics of the workplace, and the real estate sector in particular.
596 Professional institutions could also organise training and mentorship programmes for
graduating students’ where the graduates’ interest are developed, and their skilled honed
towards becoming better real estate practitioners. Also, the ICT skill gap suggests the need
for a reevaluation of the curriculum in tandem with global best practices. Emerging digital
technologies in the real estate sector, revolving around proptech and fintech among others,
are becoming the centrepiece of real estate practice. It might thus be expected that these are
integrated into the curriculum and are well-prized by real estate students to enhance their
employability prospects.
The skill gap as noted with the ICT skill might be attributable to the increasing global
technological advancement and the resultant changes in market place dynamics. Thus, the
real estate business environment is significantly being affected by the increasing integration
of ICT. The demand for ICT skills could be expected to be on the increase given the effect of
the current pandemic. There is an increasing role of technology in the operations of real estate
firms, and the ability of firms to take advantage of technological capabilities will significantly
impact on the firms’ success and productivity. The new wave of globalization and
technological changes thus presents a new challenge to the real estate business environment
and graduate skill requirements. Existing realities in the Nigeria property market shows
increasing investment sophistication and rapidly evolving market centered on proptech,
fintech and the need for reliable market data. This presupposes that graduate employees
should be conversant with ICT skills and data analytical skills. The new trend been amplified
by the recent pandemic will necessitate firms to integrate the use of digital technologies in
their operations and business transactions. It might thus be expected that graduate
employees possess digital skills and are conversant with how these can be harnessed with
hard skills. Besides, employers are increasingly desirous of employees who are innately
driven and are knowledgeable about local market fundamentals, especially as it relates to
market data and analytics. This owes to the paucity of market data which appears a major
component driving real estate investment decisions.
While the focus of the study has been on the views of graduate employees in the service of
private real estate firms, further studies could examine the perceptions of faculties regarding
the factors influencing graduates employability skill gaps. However, the findings herein
could serve as useful benchmarks for policy documents and curriculum reviews by industry
stakeholders.

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Appendix

Influencing factors Sources

Level of exposure during industrial training Adnan et al. (2017), Lipman et al. (2015)
Skills being explicitly taught during academic training Adnan et al. (2017)
Level of emphasis on technical competencies in curriculum/ Adnan et al. (2017), Bano and Vasantha (2019),
academic training Tsirkas et al. (2020)
Creating time to socialize during academic training Adnan et al. (2017)
Availability of support programs to reinforce the Adnan et al. (2017)
development of soft skills
Availability of personal mentors in the profession/work Tsirkas et al. (2020)
environment
Level of understanding of the need for soft skills Tsirkas et al. (2020), Adrian (2017), Lipman et al.
(2015)
Level of interest in the real estate profession Extracted from informal discussion with
Salary structure of the real estate industry in comparison to graduates and faculty members
the skills being demanded
Mode of training at the higher institution
Level of compatibility of my skill set with required skills by
real estate employees
Multidisciplinary nature of the real estate profession,
requiring varied skillsets Table A1.
The ability of academic role models to typify the required Factors influencing the
soft skills soft skill gap

Corresponding author
Timothy Oluwafemi Ayodele can be contacted at: ayodele.t.oluwafemi@gmail.com

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