THE FUTURE OF WORK: SKILLS REQUIRED FOR CAREER PROGRESSION

 According to the World Economic Forum’s “Future of Jobs” report predicts the loss of 75 million jobs by 2025. But it also predicts the creation of 133 million jobs thanks to the digital revolution. A positive balance of 58 million jobs; pretty optimistic, right? So what that tells us is that there is going to be job disruptions. That’s some jobs would be lose temporally and other jobs would be open on the larger scale.   

 

As advancing technology, artificial intelligent and pandemic continue to impact the workforce, acquiring or strengthening important job skills can make the difference between career advancement and stagnancy. Hence, continued learning is necessary in today’s competitive job market, where people are not only competing with each other, but also with advanced machinery.

 

We could call these (Transferable Skills) because they can be adapted between jobs; they are not specific to a single role. Building these skills will greatly expand your career options because they have broad appeal to potential employers. It is important to develop a Personal Brand at work or towards your career.

Below are the key skills that you should develop to ensure you’re on the right path to career progression:

1. Communication (Listening, speaking, writing & observation) and networking skills 

It is important to display excellent communication skills in your relations with colleagues, your employer, clients, and beyond. Good communication is about conveying thoughts and ideas effectively, as well as listening to others and understanding what they are attempting to communicate.

Key communication skills include:

•      Speaking effectively and writing concisely

•      Listening carefully and providing feedback

•      Expressing ideas and feelings constructively

•      Negotiating with and persuading others

•      Presentation and training skills

•      Written communication – email, digital media savvy and report-writing

Also, Employers value personable candidates who can display first-rate networking skills, as these are constantly used in most workplaces. You never know where your next job lead might come from: building a big network of acquaintances increases the chance of job opportunities occurring.

From meeting a colleague in person, to posting on social media networks, your communication skills are continuously on display. Make sure that your communication style matches your personal brand and that you come across well through all mediums.

2. Leadership and management skills

Effective leadership and management is about directing and motivating others to achieve individual, team and company goals. If you have aspirations to progress higher within your organisation, focus on finding opportunities to take the lead on projects and showcase your managerial ability. Develop leadership skills by showing how well you can manage others.

 Key transferable skills include:

•      Managing groups and delegating responsibilities

•      Planning and coordinating tasks

•      Solving problems and managing conflict

•      Making and implementing decisions

•     Motivating, coaching and training others

Businesses are constantly changing and evolving; they need employees who can respond to external influences, showing leadership through times of change. Candidates who show that they’ve been proactive or innovative when responding to difficult situations are able to impress recruiters or promoters with their leadership and management skills.

3. Planning and research skills

Planning and research skills enable you to articulate needs and formulate a strategy to accomplish specific objectives. Many roles require these skills, and employers look for candidates who are proactive in being able to carry out cross-channel research. Keeping ahead of industry developments is key and employers value individuals who are proactive, and understand the best sources to research relevant projects.

Top skills in planning and research can include:

•      Using tech tools to streamline processes

•      Identifying needs and required resources

•      Setting goals and identifying courses of action

•      Gathering relevant information and evaluating results

•      Forecasting, predicting and monitoring situations

•      Analysing, interpreting and disseminating information

4. Teamwork and interpersonal skills 

These skills are about the contribution you make to groups and the way you relate to and interact with others to achieve a common goal. Employers highly value this skill, as most job roles require you to work with others on tasks. Employers are looking for candidates who will make the transition to a new team stress-free.

Key skills in this area include:

·         Stakeholder management skills

·         Sharing credit and accepting responsibility

·         Contributing and encouraging the ideas of others

·         Developing rapport and respecting other opinions

·         Negotiation and influencing others

·         Modifying communication to suit the situation (flexibility)

5. Self-management skills 

Self-management is about how you direct your own activities toward the achievement of objectives. Employers are looking for candidates who can get jobs done efficiently, and through self-motivation.

The skills in self-management include:

·         Agility and ability to prioritise tasks on your own

·         Change management and the ability to thrive in a changing environment

·         Setting goals, meeting deadlines and solving problems

·         Working well under pressure and accepting responsibility

·         Ability to get along well with others

·         Self-evaluation and decision-making

When considering which skills to focus on developing, also be mindful of the specific, technical skills your decision maker will be looking for. Stay up to date with industry publications and trends so you know what skills are particularly valued in your career.

Jobs often have specific technical requirements, so look for resources or courses to upskill and make sure you stay up-to-date with developments in your industry.

6. Computer and electronics skills

Almost all jobs nowadays require some basic understanding of computers and electronics in general. As we move to rely more on technology to help us conduct our daily tasks, be it communicating, writing, calculating, presenting, drawing, creating sound, and many others, we may need in the work place, we are being pushed towards the need to understand circuit boards, processors, electronic equipment and computers.

E.g. Word processing, excel, data analysis, power point (presentation) digital marketing, webinar meetings (zoom), connect WhatsApp to computer,  print through phone, navigate through POS, content marketing, email marketing, artificial intelligence, block chain, robotics, photo and video editing, photoshop, page making, influencer/affiliate marketing and  e-commerce, etc. 

7. Productivity/marketing/negotiation/paying attention to details.  

Live examples

1. Jairus and John joined a wholesale company together just after graduation. Both worked very hard.

After several years, the boss promoted John to sales executive but Jairus remained a sales rep. One day Jairus could not take it anymore, tender resignation to the boss and complained the boss did not value hard working staff, but only promoted those who flattered him.

The boss knew that Jairus worked very hard for the years, but in order to help Jairus realize the difference between him and John, the boss asked Jairus to do the following. Go and find out anyone selling water melon in the market? Jairus returned and said yes. The boss asked how much per kg? Jairus went back to the market to ask and returned to inform boss the N12 per kg

Boss told Jairus, I will ask John the same question? John went, returned and said, boss, only one person is selling water melon. N12 per kg, N100 for 10 kg, he has inventory of 340 melons. On the table 58 melons, every melon weighs about 15 kg, bought from the South two days ago, they are fresh and red, good quality.

Jairus was very impressed and realized the difference between himself and John. He decided not to resign but to learn from John.

1. In our office last week someone (mistakenly) approved N700,000 loan for N70,000.

2. Someone sign a check leaving a space in between the zero the person who supposed to catch the check add one zero to N10,000,000 it becomes N100,000,000.

What is your takes about all these live examples? Leave you comment below.

 According to World Economic Forum: the top 10 skills you’ll need for the future of work.

S/N	2015	2020	2022
1	Complex problem solving	Complex problem-solving	Analytical thinking and innovation
2	Coordinating with others	Critical thinking and analysis	Active learning and learning strategies
3	People management	Creativity, originality and initiative	Creativity, originality and initiative
4	Critical thinking	People Management	Technology design and programming
5	Negotiation	Coordinating with others	Critical thinking and analysis
6	Quality control (not on 2020 list)	Emotional intelligence (New)	Complex problem-solving
7	Service orientation	Judgement and decision making	Leadership and social influence
8	Judgement and decision making	Service orientation	Emotional intelligence
9	Active listening (not on 2020 list)	Negotiation	Reasoning, problem-solving and ideation
10	Creativity	Cognitive flexibility)	Systems analysis and evaluation.

 

Summary: These skills are important for any candidate looking to progress in their career. More also, everything we share here come down to personal development, so if you need a book on personal development click here