The world of work is changing rapidly. Technological adoption will remain the main driver of this change for the next five years. In spite of this, today’s emerging skills are more about individual attributes and abilities than about technical capabilities.
World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2023 explores how jobs and skills will evolve over the next five years. It brings together the perspective of 803 companies – collectively employing more than 11.3 million workers – across 27 industry clusters and 45 economies from all world regions. Business leaders state that soft skills related to cognition and self-efficacy and working with others are sought after as the work becomes increasingly automated. Nearly all of the top 10 most in-demand skills for the next five years are soft skills, according to this report. This data supports findings from my interaction with business leaders that it's hard to find people with necessary soft skills. So what are soft skills?
Soft Skills
Soft skills are interpersonal qualities and personal attributes that people possess. Examples include analytical thinking, creativity, listening, learning, problem-solving, communication, etc. We regularly use soft skills in all aspects of our life, but their relevance at the workplace is ever increasing, although these skills have always been critical to career success.
The soft skills describe how a person approaches their tasks. Employers may consider soft skills to anticipate their employee’s future potential. Perhaps, that’s why soft skills are also called workplace skills.
You need soft skills in whatever field you work in because organizations consist of people and their working relationships. Soft-skill intensive occupations will account for two-thirds of all jobs by 2030, according to Deloitte Access Economics. To stand out in the crowd, you need to have the essential soft skills that companies are searching for.
Even in a world where digital transformations are occurring more quickly than ever, technical proficiency can only advance your career so far. You need soft skills that are harder to quantify yet essential to success if you want long-term growth in your career.
Sought-after Soft Skills
Based on Future of the Jobs Report 2023, let’s talk about some of the most important skills that employers will be looking for at your resume:
Analytical Thinking
Analytical thinking is an integrated ability that combines elements such as searching for, selecting, categorising and presenting relevant data and information. It also includes identifying the most likely causes and suggesting solutions or alternative approaches to resolving complex problems based on findings from multiple sources of data.
This skill is fundamental to building and evaluating arguments. You'll be able to see things clearly if you can learn to take your time and analyse data with a keen eye.
Creative Thinking
Creative thinking is the capacity to produce many ideas, change those ideas in unique ways and connect those ideas in unexpected ways in order to describe new options that can help achieve a specific goal. Creative thinking is often stimulated by an unstructured process such as brainstorming and by a structured process like heuristic program. It’s the very definition of “thinking outside the box.”
Creative thinking helps workers adapt to disrupted workplaces. It may also lead to opportunities such as finding new markets, improving processes, providing innovative solutions or starting new ventures.
Self-efficacy Skills
Self-efficacy is a person’s belief in his or her capability to successfully perform a particular task. A person's effort, perseverance, and strategizing, as well as their future training and work performance, are all strongly influenced by their level of self-efficacy.
Four sets of self-efficacy skills: resilience, flexibility, and agility; motivation and self-awareness; curiosity and lifelong learning; and dependability and attention to details are among the top skills prioritised by businesses for the next five years.
People with a high level of self-efficacy put in a lot of effort and persevere in the face of obstacles. Such individuals can gather relevant information, make wise decisions, and act appropriately, even when they are pressed for time. In present dynamic work environment where continuing learning and performance improvement are required, high self-efficacy enables people to respond to negative feedback less defensively.
The growing importance of these attitudes shows that businesses emphasize the importance of resilient and reflective workers who embrace a culture of lifelong learning.
Working with People Skills
Two attitudes related to working with people, empathy and active listening, as well as leadership and social influence, are the other top skills that employers are looking for.
Active listening includes eye contact as well as vocal and nonverbal acknowledgements that you are paying attention. This involves actions like nodding your head, giving positive feedback, and seeking clarification with questions. Reflection, affirmation, and a sincere interest in another person's thoughts and feelings are all components of empathy.
Empathy and attentive listening result in human connection from friendships to coworkers to families.
It takes years of work to become a dedicated and motivating leader. But there are ways to improve the abilities you'll need to advance your managerial prowess. For example, new leaders are managing their companies through social influence.
As new leaders, you'll be able to inspire others better if you know how to support their individual aspirations.
There is no shortage of opportunities for professional development. Decide which skill you want to learn, determine your upskilling plan and take the leap. There are plenty of online courses to choose from. Work with a friend or a mentor. Then practice and refine your skill.
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