02nd August 2021
Guest Blog: 9 employability skills with the highest relevance in futuristic workplaces
The world is changing at a rampant pace because of some extraordinary human skills. Hence, the demand for skills is much higher than ever before and is set to get even larger with time. The modern-day corporate world is aligning itself around some pragmatic professional skills with a lesser focus on qualifications. The relevance of these employability skills is tipped to grow even larger in the future. Also, it is quite possible that traditional workplace skills may find little room in the array of skills for the future.
If you are a job seeker or a working professional, it is significant that you keep pace with changing perspectives of essential workplace skills. You would be intrigued to know what the World Economic Forum has to say about the future of jobs and skills. The WEF suggests that almost 50 percent of the global workforce will require reskilling by 2025. This suggests that skills relevant today may not be as desirable for business organizations five years from now. Having said that, you should commit yourself to update your skills to meet your career aspirations. It should be a continuous endeavor that you take up. For that, it is important that you know about the most relevant skills for the future.
In this thoughtful blog, we highlight the key skills that will prove pivotal for success in the future. These skills and traits are linked to the latest and upcoming trends in the corporate world. So, without much ado, let us find out which skills you need to hone or polish for a secure and happy future.
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Leadership
Leadership is one of the most prominent soft skills that are in overwhelming demand. Organizations will any day be interested in people who can lead positive changes. Great leaders embrace challenges, keep their teams motivated, and convert opportunities into achievements. Having said that, employers are interested in investing in those candidates who can take leadership roles in the future. The charm and prowess of leadership make it an essential employability skill.
You need to understand further without much ado because leadership in itself is a vast skill set. As per Gallup, accountability and responsible decision-making are crucial elements of leadership. Other leadership attributes include empathy, trust-building, effective communication skills, and the ability to overcome adversities. Having said that, you need to work on multidisciplinary virtues of leadership. All these traits will have a massive role in bridging the gap between you and your dream job! Show recruiters that you are tailor-made for management and leadership roles by exhibiting exemplary leadership.
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Creativity
Employers are looking for candidates who can challenge ordinary precedents and think outside the box. In contemporary workplaces, creativity is one of the most prominent measures of competitive advantage. Besides, the significance of creative skills will only amplify with time. To validate, as cited by the World Economic Forum, creativity is integral to nine of the top ten skills for the future. Also, as per IBM, most CEOs rate creativity as the primary skill for future success.
Organizations are looking for people who can express their creativity with confidence. Creative people bring new perspectives to the floor that drive positive changes. This is why the demand for creativity will witness a massive hike in the future. Creativity will be your key to unlocking new career opportunities. Having said that, you need to incorporate creative skills into your resume as well as your personality. The best way to do that is to develop a knack for thinking outside the box. Remember, a lot of employers look at creativity as a top priority!
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Emotional intelligence
Intelligence has a new definition in the modern-day corporate realm! Do you have great control over your emotions and their influences? Are you able to command your emotions in a positive direction? Your ability to manage and control your emotions will be evaluated by most interviewees in the contemporary corporate world. To put it the other way around, emotional intelligence is gaining great prominence as an employability skill. As cited by Cision, 95 percent of HR managers seek strong emotional intelligence in candidates. Moreover, 20 percent of corporate workers rate EQ higher than IQ. Hence, your intelligence in the future will be measured more in terms of your EQ than your IQ.
To add, emotional intelligence can further be classified into various dimensions. These include self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, social skills, and motivation. Each of these elements is a competitive advantage in itself. Employers are interested in motivated people with a greater sense of self-awareness. People with high EQ can mitigate the influence of negative emotions and produce positive outcomes.
With EQ, you can make your personality far more attractive for recruiters. So, it is time you hone your EQ skills and develop them in a way that they speak for your core strengths. In the future, EQ may well be the underlying difference between people excelling in their careers and those struggling to find jobs.
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Critical thinking and problem solving
As per the Future of Jobs Report, critical thinking and problem solving will be among the most desirable employability skills in the next five years. This should give you a clear idea of why you should work on developing these skills with immediate effect. People with critical thinking skills have a knack for attention to detail. They make informed decisions after analyzing all aspects and incorporating others’ perspectives. This is why people with critical thinking skills are great at collaboration. They value others’ opinions and take decisions for the collective good. So, if you aspire to take up managerial positions, critical thinking traits are indispensable.
Besides, companies want to invest in employees who have complex problem-solving skills. An individual who does not lose motivation to challenges and rather looks to find unique solutions to befitting problems will make a great candidate. Needless to say, employers want people who talk about solutions than the problem. This is a prerequisite for managers and people who wish to escalate to leadership roles.
A workplace will always be prone to complex challenges and unprecedented situations. The COVID-19 pandemic and how it reshaped the world is a prime example of it. Hence, organizations want people with pragmatic problem-solving abilities. They want people who can lead them through crises and offer appealing remedies. So, you have to be more optimistic and confident about your abilities to sail through challenges. Of course, you got to build these abilities first!
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Virtual Collaboration
Virtual meetings, remote projects, and hybrid teams are a part of the new normal. The sooner you realize that the future of work is remote, the better it is for you. As per a Gartner CFO survey, two-thirds of employers are willing to offer permanent remote work to employees. Also, freelancing work opportunities are on the rise. Even after the pandemic is long gone, remote work will continue to grow in stature and prevalence. Having said that, virtual collaboration has become a prerequisite employability skill in this new normal. As per Mckinsey, 80 percent of businesses are already using social collaboration tools. So, you should make sure that you have effective virtual collaboration skills to fit in the digital workspace.
In the future, many organizations may adopt a comprehensive remote working culture. In remote setups, all forms of team communication and interactions will be entirely digital. Hence, the need for virtual collaboration skills will amplify further. In fact, collaboration has always been one of the most critical workplace skills. What has changed in this AI-driven age is how people collaborate at work. You need collaboration skills to work in teams, coordinate with your colleagues and deliver quality projects. You ought to know that the lack of workplace collaboration is the biggest reason fueling workplace failures. Hence, to land a job and achieve transcending success, you must work on your collaboration skills.
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People management
Managers should always be on the top of their people management game. The future belongs to those who can manage remote teams, hybrid working cultures, and freelancers effectively. The most basic people management skills include how you treat, communicate and motivate people around you. Moreover, people management includes patience, integrity, optimism, and accountability. Your skills to manage people around you will define your success as a manager.
Having said that, you need to work on your people management traits with due diligence. Your social skills or people management skills will make you a promising candidate for management positions. Also, your people management skills will speak for your confidence and the ability to manage diverse teams in difficult situations.
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Quick adaptability
The modern corporate world is far more dynamic than it has ever been. Paradigm shifts in workplace cultures and functioning are driving major overhauls. Moreover, these major overhauls call for greater adaptability skills in the global workforce. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic alone has brought some major changes to the functioning of businesses. In addition to these changes, technological innovations are sparking key transformations and will continue to do so in the future. Hence, organizations would want people who can adjust to changes in a brisk way.
Besides, adaptability also defines how quickly an individual learns new skills and attitudes. For career advancement, it is vital to be open to learning new skills and dimensions of work. Similarly, it is essential to learn and incorporate all the latest virtues of workplace culture. Needless to say, quick learners will make the best performers. So, if you can enhance your learning potential and adaptability, your dream offer letter is not much far from you. If you are already working, adaptability and brisk learning will unfurl more opportunities for you. It is one of the most important and decisive steps on your ladder of success. Remember, if you stay resistant to learning new skills and behaviors, others will outdo you by a big margin!
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Stress management and resilience
Stress management is a vital skill in the new age contemporary world. People who are resilient to adversities and effectively manage stress are seen as being more productive. On the other hand, people who are unable to cope with work stress disengage from work. Companies are now realizing this and evaluating candidates on their stress management abilities. Also, a lack of stress management abilities in the workforce leads to high attrition. A common example of this is the high turnover rate among teachers due to high stress. Of course, no organization would like to invest in employees who cannot sustain work pressure.
So, it makes sense that you see stress management as an important employability skill in this new era. Even if your stress management skills are not tested in interviews, they will be put to the test each day at work. To stay at your productive best, attain your career goals and be valuable to an organization, you will have to manage your stress effectively and stay focused. As per Quantum Workplace, stress is the most negative workplace emotion that 45 percent of employees feel.
If employees fail to manage their stress, they become highly vulnerable to burnout. This can put their careers in jeopardy and also affect organizational performance. Hence, for career success in the future, it is imperative that you work on building resilience and stress management capabilities. You do not want to put your career at risk because of your inability to manage stress!
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Technological literacy
In addition to qualifications and soft skills, it is critical to have technical skills and technological literacy. Technologies like artificial intelligence, IoT, and so on are now penetrating every domain of work. In fact, the impact of artificial intelligence in the workplace is overwhelming and will get much larger in the coming years.
You need at least basic technological literacy or digital literacy to excel in your field. Most work operations nowadays depend on project tracking tools, collaboration tools, or digital communication platforms. So, having a knowledge of the commonly used tools in the industry can be of great benefit.
In the future, the reliance of businesses on technology will become even larger. The IT industry is booming, and it will offer many state-of-the-art solutions to businesses in the future. The ongoing digital revolution will get even more colossal and will keep reinventing workplaces. Hence, it is significant to be tech-savvy in this digital age, given the high dependence of almost all job profiles on the technological infrastructure. Not being proficient in the use of basic work technologies and tools can be a major hindrance to career advancement. Hence, you need to keep upgrading your literacy of technology with all the latest developments.
To conclude, the above skills are among the top priorities of recruiters in the reinvented corporate world. Employers want to invest in candidates who have a stronghold of these skills so that they can create a high-performing workforce for the future. The sooner you master these skills, the greater will be the number of opportunities you can access. The best kind of investment you can ever make is an investment in yourself and your skills. The returns on investment, in this case, are very high and rewarding. Be known for your skills, and opportunities will keep coming to you rather than you running after them!