Tag Archive for: skills
What skills will be most in-demand in 2025 (that’s only 10 years away)?
Imagine being the HR Director at Acme Industries and attending the annual strategy meeting. The theme is ‘What will Acme look like in 2025’ and you will present ‘What skills will Acme’s employees need in 2025’.
Product Development will present on how they see Virtual Reality (VR) becoming part of the design process. Manufacturing, anticipating being seamlessly integrated with Product Design will demonstrate how 3D Printing will replace and change manual production. Marketing will share how Integrated Social Media and the automated analysis of Big Data will revolutionise identifying who, when and how Acme should be communicating with its customers and other stakeholders.
As the HR Director, you have the unenviable challenge of anticipating how such radical changes in technology and the company’s operations will translate into what skills employees should own in 2025.
I have empathy for this HR Directors situation. The question is too broad, and there are too many current possibilities and, even more, future unknowns.
Whenever I pose that same future skills question rather than specific answers such as Sense-Making, Social Intelligence, Novel and Adaptive Thinking and New-Media Literacy as suggested by the University of Phoenix Research Institute in their Future Work Skills 2020 research, I typically receive two polarised broader views:
- From optimists, I hear that technology and connectivity will continue to improve, political and socioeconomic stability will prevail, and that human ingenuity will figure out the rest and employees will be an integral part of the future.
- From pessimists, I hear about the removal of the human involvement by automation, a substantial reduction in the workforce and direct social consequences.
In a previous post I asked the question ‘How do you build a future-ready workforce?’ As the roles and the way we work changes, how can an organisation ensure the workforce will thrive?
Along with Acme Inc., Australia’s Federal Government has been asking the same questions and recently released Australia’s Future Workforce? The report shares the view that the key drivers of changes in the job landscape in future are our ageing population, technology and automation, and an increasingly globalised and fragmented workforce.
Our Professional Challenge
As human resource professionals, I believe we should be open-minded and engaged internally and externally with the changing nature of even traditional roles.
Specifically, I am referring to not pulling a role definition out of the HR documents library and requesting ‘same again please.’ Instead, I am suggesting invoking a process that seeks input from the department head as to how and why that role and its function is changing. Reviewing recruitment advertisements for similar positions can also be a valuable input to be presented to managers.
The Evolving Workplace
History presents new specialist skills that are initially sourced externally and over time brought in-house if they become mainstream. However, in part because of the pace of technological change, I believe that this transition will decrease over the next decade, and the ‘on-demand’ workforce will substantially increase.
I’ve enjoyed sharing my views about the ‘on-demand’ workforce and how your organisation can make sure you get the most out of them. Many might think of this as simply ‘freelancing’ but this is a fast, evolving, agile new version of the professional services sector.
In their paper Five Trends that are Dramatically Changing Work and the Workplace Knoll Workplace Research highlight the ‘coming shortage of knowledge workers, the continuing distribution of organisations and the availability of technologies and social collaboration tools’ will cause organisations to utilise the ‘on-demand’ workforce.
Providing ‘on-demand’ services are lucrative and rewarding personally for the individual. Therefore, I think it’s reasonable to assume this new sector will adapt before new skills become mainstream guaranteeing their availability.
A never ending cycle of transition and transformation
I would like to reassure the pessimists that on our path to 2025 you will not hear a technological big bang, rather, the quiet turning of the wheels of a cycle of transition and transformation providing the opportunity for the workforce to hone new skills.
What did an employee learn in the last year?
Employees keep a close eye on the changes in their domain. They will change employers if they perceive their career will stall without gaining new skills that are required.
An employee’s ability to increase their perceived value to an organisation and enjoy the feedback and recognition that brings has a direct relationship with job satisfaction.
Recent history provides reliable medium-term predictions
The pessimists I meet fear that people, can’t or won’t rise to the challenge of change and sit back and watch their roles be consumed by automation. In my opinion, that severely underestimates the tenacity of the human spirit to grow, learn and adapt.
Technology has been evolving since the wheel. Our skills have been developing ever since someone had to manufacture and fit that wheel.
When one occupation declines, it is replaced by another or perhaps by an enhanced variation that’s requires new skills.
To sum up…
Rather than a list of specific domain skills that will be in the greatest demand on our journey to 2025, I believe that those skills are in fact the willingness to accept and embrace change, being adaptive to new workplace structures that combine internal and external resources and a commitment to acquiring new knowledge.
Four Ways To Allow Brilliance To Shine In Your Business
A few months ago I came across an article written by Bruce Kasanoff. For those of you who didn’t happen upon it, or have never heard of Bruce, he’s pretty focused on the idea that individuals – not companies – are responsible for nurturing talent in others.
I’ve seen too many examples of successful organisational L&D to fully support this approach, but there was one phrase in his article that really struck me:
‘The person who is capable of designing a better tool is not necessarily the person with the mechanical or technical skills to build it.’
It’s pretty obvious to point this out, and it’s something most of us would agree with, but it got me thinking: does everyone in the company need to be good at everything? Should we invest time and money bringing individuals up to a ‘meets expectation’ level in competencies that other staff already excel in? Does a brilliant sports scientist really need to be fabulous at running meetings? Should this person be able to manage potential under-achievers, get budgets right to within a dollar, have excellent interpersonal skills and know how to recruit expertly?
Or should we accept that no individual can master everything, and instead focus training on areas in which they already excel? Fostering remarkable skills that then become invaluable to the individual, the team they work with and, by extension, the organisation? To me, that sounds like a much better use of everyone’s time, and talent.
An army of minions
Whether you run an SME or a Fortune 500 company, time is not an infinite resource. Focusing training on areas where staff have the potential for brilliance is an efficient (and effective) strategy. Rather than creating an army of minions who all have the same basic skill set, organisations that promote individual brilliance increase the value of the skills available to them. They ensure employees don’t waste time on areas they’ll only ever be mediocre at, facilitating greater engagement and reaping all the competitive advantages that a productive, engaged and skilful workforce provides.
Take the design team at Dropbox. It includes the founder of ‘Mailbox’, Gentry Underwood, who sold his app to Dropbox in 2013 for $100 million. Had he found himself in the traditional corporate environment, expected to invest time and energy gaining proficiency in a wide array of skills, would Gentry have been able to achieve so much so quickly?
What about Steve Jobs? Would Apple be the same today if he’d spent his time increasing his proficiency in skill areas where colleagues already excelled? Of course not. These innovators are innovators because they recognise their strengths, aren’t afraid to acknowledge their weaknesses and are happy to rely on the strengths of others.
No one excels at everything, but everyone excels at something.
So how do you nurture individual star talent?
1. Identify the movers and shakers
It sounds obvious, but knowing your employees is key. Identify the areas in which individuals excel and don’t insist that they invest time building up competence in lesser skills at the expense of brilliance.
Performance metrics can be a useful tool for gauging where individual strengths lie, but they are only an indication. Take time to talk to employees, understand their likes and dislikes, how they perceive their strengths and, most importantly, the areas peers think they excel in. You need to identify these strengths at every level of the organisation if you’re going to make the most of them.
2. Focus on success
Employees need to understand that their growth is important to your organisation. Managers who are committed to the individual progression of those under them create an open, collaborative environment in which junior staff feel free to challenge the status quo and progress.
There are a number of ways to effectively foster individual brilliance among your workforce. Career coaching enables employees to define a clear path, encourages them to identify their strengths and gives them the tools they need to fully utilise those skills. A 2012 report by the CMI ranked external coaching as the fifth most beneficial management and leadership development (MLD) practice assessed (see page 8, they looked at 26). This approach was actually cited as 32% more effective at promoting individual performance than appraisals and skills audits.
3. Ignore titles
Star performers often upset the balance of a hierarchical environment, and they should be encouraged to do so. Individuals need freedom to display their strengths, regardless of their job title, to excel. While maintaining hierarchy is important, it’s up to managers to provide staff with the freedom to think laterally and display brilliance.
By delegating tasks based on accomplishments rather than seniority, you improve the skills you’re trying to foster (in an earlier article, I touched on the fact that as much as 70% of development comes from on-the-job experience). Most importantly, assigning tasks to the people who are best at them — not best qualified or most experienced — results in a far better result.
4. Promote teamwork
Developing individual strengths does have potential drawbacks. Focusing on areas of brilliance in individual employees means that you create an environment where success is reliant on the skills of multiple individuals.
This can be a good thing, it increases engagement, facilitates greater organisational ownership and helps employees to shine. However, to be ultimately successful, this approach requires a cohesive team. Each individual must have clearly defined responsibilities and the understanding that they are one part of a bigger picture.
In conclusion
By removing the focus from competency areas where employees might be struggling, and encouraging improvement of outstanding skills, you should be able to create a well-honed workforce: efficient, productive, engaged in their tasks and confident of their strengths. You should be able to turn every employee into a top performing superstar, someone who contributes meaningfully to the success of your organisation and doesn’t waste time developing skills in areas where they will only ever be average.
References:
Hierarchical environments are particularly difficult for Millennials, 34% of whom say their personal drive intimidates older colleagues. Source: PWC
A poll by the International Coach Federation found that 86% of organisations who used a career coach felt they received a good ROI. Source: ICF
To build exceptional leaders, focus on these seven skills
The skills required for leadership don’t change through your career
We do a lot of work with Cognology clients in identifying the competencies that leaders require to succeed. It’s fascinating work. And through this process, I also get to hear a lot of assumptions about what people think it takes to succeed as a leader.
One of the most common assumptions is that as leaders progress through their career they need to develop a dramatically different set of leadership skills. After all, they’ll be taking on bigger and more varied projects. And they’ll be responsible for more and more people.
But this just isn’t the case. Whether you’re leading one person, or 100,000, the skills required are remarkably similar. Recent research into key competencies for leadership published by Harvard Business Review shows this. The study surveyed thousands of HR and business professionals on the skills leaders needed at each stage of their career. And the results were surprisingly consistent, regardless of the level of leadership.
The seven skills you’ll need with you at all times.
From the 332,860 people surveyed in the study, seven skills were picked almost twice as often as the remaining nine. So I don’t take up too much of your time (I could talk about these things all day!) I’ll give you some of my thoughts on the top seven skills:
- Inspires and motivates others: this one’s a no brainer. How could you lead without being inspiring and motivational? If people look up to you and believe in you then they’re more likely to follow you.
- Displays high integrity and honesty: again, fairly intuitive. If you work hard and apply yourself then the truth is all you need. How can you be a leader without being honest?
- Solves problems and analyzes issues: how well can you think on your feet and solve problems on the spot? Are you able to analyze issues and stop them from becoming problems?
- Drives for results: you want your results to be able to speak for themselves. Are you able to bring a project home and get the results required?
- Communicates powerfully and prolifically: some argue that you can make anything happen if you just communicate the right way. How well can you articulate your ideas so people understand what your big goals are?
- Collaborates and promotes teamwork: You’re the one bringing everyone together and making sure delivery works smoothly. How well can you can you work with others and get a team to work for you?
- Builds relationships: your ability to build rapport with others. Can you find a way to connect and engage with other people?
You’ll find that these skills are complimentary to each other. Develop one and you’ll typically improve in other areas too. Think about how well you can solve problems when you drive for results. Your ability to inspire others is dependent on how well you can communicate.
Why you need to introduce all new and potential leaders to these skills.
Do you have an employee on the cusp of becoming an effective leader? Review these key competencies and see where they need improvement.
Break the requirements for the position down to its simple elements. Treat these key competencies as if they were the desired outputs for a project. They may already have these skills, but are they at the level they need to be?
In our own article on the importance of competencies, we use the example of the difference between the ability to craft a pitch for a Public Relations Assistant and a Public Relations Manager.
An assistant must be able to craft a pitch, in that they understand what is required to craft one, but a manager must be able to craft one that is engaging and compelling. The same skill is required, but at a higher level.
Use these skills for ongoing development, feedback, and coaching.
Recognition of these skills is essential for development. It becomes easier to assess the skills that employees need when you can put them into objective terms.
Using these skills you can almost predict which employees will advance, based on the leadership skills they possess at the moment.
This removes the guesswork out of training employees in areas they need improvement. Once you can articulate the areas an employee is lacking in, you can help plan, manage and coach for the development required.
Do you agree with this list of key competencies? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the competencies required for leadership in your organisation. Jump into the comments below and let’s get the conversation going.
Photo Credit: Sara&Joachim&Mebe Used under license CC BY-SA 2.0
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