You can bet that an employer is expecting more from you than just the average qualifications and a degree. High expectations don’t just apply to new employees. Older employees are expected to be up to date and knowledgeable nearly about anything and everything concerning their work.
There are skills that every employee needs to master regardless of the job they work and the career they want to pursue. In a world where employers are beginning to appreciate and hire people based more on their skills than their degrees, here is what they’re looking for.
IMAGE: PEXELS
1. Problem-Solving
Problem-solving can depend on intelligence, but it’s not the only factor. Problem-solving also includes having significant and deep experience in technical aspects. You might have the vision, but lack the expertise in technical aspects. Today’s work problems are more technical and complex, which will force you to find that technical experience from others if you don’t have it. The problem solver isn’t the one who isolates themselves from the rest, racking their brains out for a solution. They work with others in finding solutions.
2. Negotiation
Though it’s gone down a couple of notches over the years, negotiation skills are still high on the list of skills. It involves a lot more than making compromises. With businesses being able to expand, you need to know how to negotiate with all kinds of people. You have to learn when to remain quiet, when to walk away, or not give something without taking something in return. Negotiations often fail because of taking things too personally, so that’s another thing you’ll want to work on.
3. Collaboration
Employees who think they can do it all alone are essentially wrong. Successful businesses are built on collaborations. It’s teamwork, not a competition because projects or assignments you’re working on often need the cooperation and collaboration of other departments.
4. Effective Leadership
Poor leadership has a lack of vision, lack of accountability, and no integrity. Effective leadership leads by example, and leaders must demonstrate what they expect of others. In the past, training for this skill and others was only available to mega-companies, but according to the experts from SimulationStudios.com, even small businesses can now get corporate training for their employees. These business simulations give employees hands-on learning experience. Corporate training improves employee performance and addresses weaknesses.
5. Data Literacy
There’s no shortage of information concerning a business. If anything, there’s an overload. But it’s what you do and what you can do with that information that employers want. They will want you to weed out unnecessary information and see how you’re able to understand relative data and turn it into revenues for the business.
6. Decision Making
There are all sorts of decisions to be made. There are team decisions to be made, consumer decisions, rational decisions, intuitive decisions, data-driven decisions, and a much longer list of decisions to make. You must see how your ability to make decisions impacts the broader picture of the company you work for. You need to know when to step in and make decisions.
7. Adaptation
You would be expected to learn new things and familiarize yourself with new things at work. And, most likely, you’ll also be expected to unlearn things. Many aspects of work that were fine just a few years ago are no longer fine and no longer work. The strategies used yesterday may not be applicable today.
8. Emotional Intelligence
While machines have the upper hand in Artificial Intelligence (AI), us mere mortals have it in emotional intelligence (EI). Your EI means keeping your emotions in check at work. Many employees have disruptive impulses and moods that cause havoc in the workplace. EI boils down to understanding, expressing, and managing emotions, especially when under pressure.
9. Cultural Intelligence
As even the smallest businesses are becoming more global, you want to be more aware of different cultures and how they work. It’s more than just being tolerant of others, it’s understanding them. This can make the difference in work between closing a deal and failing.
10. Creativity
Creativity never goes away, and it’s a skill that starts with the knowledge that you are meant to act upon. But creativity will probably be the skill most impacted with new technology, and newer ways of working.
You have five years to hone these skills because five years from now, over 35% of skills that are a priority today won’t be considered so later. Every year, some jobs will disappear and others will be created. Skill sets need to be always aligned with this shift to keep up with this ever-changing world and workplaces.
If you are interested in even more business-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels, then we have a lot to choose from.
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