The world of work is evolving quickly, anticipating the needs for a future job role in todays competitive market can be challenging. Moreover, the rise of hybrid working and rapid digital transformation has changed the demand for skills for good. Even though hard skills are necessary to do your work properly, experts feel that the following skills are in high demand for next year. Side note: soft skills are on the rise too, even for leadership
Regardless of what your type and line of work is, where your (hybrid) office is located, even what sector you work in, the reality remains the same: everyone needs communication skills. Making your point through email, Slack, or a Zoom conversation might be even harder than before or you find that the tone or meaning of message could be misconstrued versus in an actual in-person meeting. A different type of communication is required. So how do you approach this?
You can start by investing in upskilling (or reskilling for some) in interpersonal and language skills. Aside from getting your message across clearly, honing this skill minimizes miscommunication and conflict while also allowing you to collaborate with both local and international colleagues effectively. It is quite important to start communicating in a manner that is more direct and straightforward due to the avid use of online communication tools. However, getting to the point doesn't mean sacrificing your kindness, productivity, or relationships. Leaders and team members need to challenge themselves to adopt this communication method for all parts of their work life. This kind of communication can be challenging at first, so it’s important to consider introducing learning courses or trainings on how to approach this and learn how to do it correctly.
Over the course of the pandemic, many have felt as though they had either gained more or lost more personal time. In whichever situation you see yourself, it’s important to acknowledge that all employees’ situations and priorities differ. It’s key to get a grasp on time management skills to ensure that your employees can have a handle on both their personal and work life without going overboard and potentially impacting their mental health. Time management skills will give employees the opportunity to quickly pivot between tasks and responsibilities as the workforce becomes more agile in the future.
Time Management does not only apply for remote and hybrid work, there might be changes on the horizon when it comes to working hours. There are many companies around the globe who are experimenting and event shifting towards a shorter work week, giving more reason to pursue time management skills to not sacrifice efficiency.
Following the influx of hybrid working over the last year, companies were and are bound to face new challenges, especially in relation to the way teamscollaborate. Teamwork skills can be learned and developed like any other skill. Skills such as working with teammates that are hybrid working, productive meetings, and managing expectations for example, can be both upskilled and reskilled to lead to more efficient and effective collaboration. Managers need to place a special focus on addressing the teamwork skill gap to make hybrid working more successful.
Additionally, the need to foster a more diverse and inclusive workplace has affected the way that companies’ hire and integrate teams. The questions that candidates are asking in HR selection process or the expectations that current employees are having about creating a more inclusive workplace are at the forefront. It’s crucial to approach such issues and concerns and prepare managers to acknowledge and properly address these topics.
It’s not new that happy employees are more satisfied and productive, but what do professionals need to be happy and resilient? According to the PERMA model, there are 5 components needed to reduce stress: Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment. People's needs change along with the context, in the past, a good salary was the basis of an individual's job satisfaction; today other factors make a difference. It is important to create environments where your employees feel that they can grow, share ideas, and connect their personal values with that of the company.
Your employees need resilience and flexibility to stay engaged and happy. The good news: resilience can be trained. It's a mix between training employees and the happy environment created by the HR team and other stakeholders in the office. You can start driving resilience and flexible training by investing in online courses that help shape employees’ skillsets so that they feel that they are not only investing in the today version of themselves, but also their future self.
Hybrid working will fail if you don’t have digital skills. What kind of digital skills should be encouraged in your company? The obvious suspects are always Microsoft skills courses and others such as how to use social media to increase your business efforts. However, some may be fearful of putting their vulnerability in upskilling their digital skills. How can you motivate those who are hesitant? You can start by having conversations with your teams about where they would like to see the future of the team going and encouraging.
As the need to quickly embrace modern technology has further increased demand for digital talent, it has also widened an already large digital skills gap. Considering the skills gap was already a cause for concern before the pandemic, it's also an issue that should be a priority for all of us now. A widening gap could lead to an even larger inequality crisis across different communities and areas. The need to bridge these skills is imperative for the future of your organisation and everyone should get on board.
Though most people see the importance in learning, only a minority actually seek to develop themselves, despite soft skills becoming increasingly in demand by employers. This article was included in the Digital Learning report that was featured in The Times.
Will I lose my job to robots? Will more talented individual take my job? This might be questions that are popping up in your employees' heads. But is that how it will be? And did the recent shakeup that occurred due to the global pandemic, cause a major shift in the way we think and do our work? For some industries, the fear of the future of work is looming; however, for others, they know the importance of human emotions and value the loyalty and hard work of their employees. So how can you shake that fear of loss from your employees? There are 2 options that you can explore: upskilling or reskilling. They sound the same, but don't get confused: their journey to the end goal is different. Which of these applies to your company and how can you start to implement these and prepare for the future?
