The best power skills employees need in 2023
Feeling like you may be falling behind with the times? Are you settled into your current work environment and feel fully equipped for the future world of work?
It’s time to rethink the skills that will future-proof you against the twists and turns of the working world. What you once thought might be one of the best skills to display for potential employers might no longer be the case.
Here are some simple stats that might put it into perspective:
- 50% of all employees will need reskilling by 2025, as the adoption of technology increases, according to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report.
- Critical thinking and problem-solving top the list of skills employers believe will grow in prominence in the next five years.
- New skills are emerging in self-management such as active learning, resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility.
- Respondents to the Future of Jobs Survey estimate that around 40% of workers will require reskilling of six months or less.
Here is an idea of the top skills employees will require by the year 2025. Have you started working on developing any of these?
Let’s identify some of the top power skills to carry through into 2023:
1. Critical thinking
The ability to make good decisions involves critical thinking. To make the right decision you need to use all the information provided, analyse it, and use your logic, reasoning and creativity to draw conclusions that may result in the best outcome. This skill is applied to a variety of situations.
Critical thinking involves questioning, analysing, interpreting, and evaluating information, and making judgments based on the information that you have available.
Being able to understand how things link together and how they affect each other brings value to the company that employs people with this skill. The ability to think critically plays a role in many workplace aspects like motivation, problem-solving, decision-making, and self-improvement.
2. Problem-solving
Problem-solving is essential to your everyday life. You are constantly making decisions consciously and subconsciously. There is no right or wrong way of solving a problem. People solve problems in different ways.
Problem-solving is the ability to identify the problem and then to create, and develop ways to solve the problem, taking the actions you believe are best suited. Great problem-solving skills are crucial to empowering your personal and professional lives, as you will be able to solve problems in ways that no one else may have thought about. Problem solvers have a mindset that is creative and curious, allowing them to see things from outside the box.
3. Self-management
You are the only one that can manage your own mental and emotional capacity as a person. No one else can do this for you. It is a vital part of self-management because you can only manage what you are aware of. That which you are not aware of might manage you!
Self-Management is the ability to manage your actions, thoughts, and feelings in flexible ways to get the desired results. Optimal self-management contributes to a sense of well-being, a sense of self-efficacy or confidence, and a sense of connectedness to others.
4. Leadership
It is not only leaders and managers in an organisation that need leadership skills. Every individual should work to improve their leadership skills. Having strong leadership skills improves the working dynamic of the team. It has been proven that team members that have these skills far outperform those that don’t. Strong leadership brings a positive aspect and direction to a team.
Individuals with strong leadership qualities are identified by their leaders or managers as strong contenders for promotions in the future too, so these skills are vital in everyday work.
Leadership means different things to different people around the world, and different things in different situations. In essence, leaders lead people.
If you are leading a team, ensure that you are creating an inspiring vision of the future for the team. A leader must motivate and inspire team members to engage with the vision and manage the delivery of the vision. The leader must coach and build the team so that it is more effective at achieving the vision.
5. Effective communication
Communication is the ability to convey or share ideas, instructions and emotions. It is considered one of the top soft skills sought after by employers.
Effective communication enhances relationships, builds trust, increases productivity, efficiency and output, as well as improves problem-solving skills.
Ineffective communication leads to misunderstanding, conflict, and confusion. Poor or lack of communication creates tense working environments where individuals operate in uncertainty and are reluctant to collaborate, innovate or learn.
6. Remote working
The ways of the world have shifted in recent times, and along with that shift, there has been a massive shift in the way people are working. The old work model of 5 days a week, 9-5 is a distant memory. For the most part, individuals are now working remotely, hybrid, and flexibly.
Many employees have proven to companies that a hybrid or flexible model can work well, and benefit both the organisation, the employer, as well as the employee. Employees have realised the benefits of a hybrid working environment not only for their work but their overall wellness.
Having the skill to be flexible and work on your own while still maintaining creativity and productivity is a skill that can be improved as the work world seems to be sticking with these remote models of work.
7. Time-management
Time management is the process of consciously controlling the time spent on activities. Proper time management gives a person ‘choice’ and control of their time. They can plan and prioritise tasks to ensure their day, in terms of work, social life, family, hobbies and other personal interests or commitments runs smoothly, and productively, providing a sense of accomplishment and purpose.
Apart from being late, feeling a loss of control, producing poor quality work or an inability to focus, poor time management can also impact a person’s mental health. Individuals who struggle with time management are more likely to experience stress, sleep issues, anxiety, depression or other mental health issues.
There are a variety of time management techniques that can be implemented in your day, week or month to ensure you can build on this skill and improve your time management skills.
Do you feel equipped with the skills to head on into 2023?
Upskill yourself with courses available to you online, which focus on the top skills needed for the future. Some of these courses could take a month to complete, others will see you attaining valuable skills in up to 6 months or longer. The important thing is that you are focussing on developing your skills for the evolution of the workplace and are upskilling as the work world progresses around you.