Essential Skills for the Workforce of the Future

There have been so many upheavals for businesses over the recent months that, to be honest, I’m not sure any firm knows which way is up, or where they are heading. However, with this confusion set to continue for the foreseeable future, firms will need to rely on their workforce in new ways and will require a different set of skills for the coming future.

Remote working, reduced contact with peers and management, challenging work transformations, and increased stress, are just some of the key factors likely to burden firms and their employees within this ‘new normal’ in which we find ourselves.

The essential skills that the workforce of the future will need have altered; below you’ll find an explanation of them and tips on how to encourage them in your workforce.

Resilience

Over the last few months many of us have realised that change is often unstoppable and that battling against the tide can be exhausting, futile and frustrating.

Learning to accept change (understanding why it has happened, knowing when to accept it or learning to embrace it) is a vital skill in overcoming work-based stress.

Resilience to change, set-backs, challenges and work-based stresses is essential to overcome burnout, fatigue, failure and disappointment.

Individuals who have cultivated personality traits such as, optimism, mental agility, creativity, empathy and a positive mental outlook, tend to be highly resilient, balanced people who can manage stress well and overcome difficult emotional situations with greater ease.

Resilience is a learned trait – we can all have the opportunity to improve our ability to ‘bounce back’ and reduce the burden of our stress. Consider offering resilience training to your workforce, especially those who struggle with change or work-based stress.

Learning to accept, innovate, create and adapt are the key skills for the resilient workforce of the future.

Emotional Intelligence

The ability to be resilient during times of change and stress is closely linked to high emotional intelligence.

Being aware of (and able to control) one’s own emotions, while remaining conscious of others and their emotions, shows a high level of emotional intelligence which equates to personal integrity, empathy, understanding, and an ability to work well as part of a team.

As humans, our ability to connect with others is essential during times of high tension. We all need compassion, understanding and a supporting hand every now and then.

A workforce that promotes emotional intelligence, supporting and encouraging each other to reach full potential, will be a winning combination in the years to come.

Professional training can improve emotional intelligence and covers aspects such as, how to adapt personal perspectives, positive reasons for becoming more emotionally intelligent and tools for developing your own emotional intelligence levels.

Communication Skills

With the current pandemic we’re living through, the ability to communicate clearly, concisely, and accurately is an essential skill.

People need to be able to exchange information using the right tone of voice and body language in order to get their message across without ambiguity or uncertainness.

A workforce that is operating remotely will need clear communication from management, with encouragement, understanding and motivation. Those in leadership roles must ensure they are able to effectively connect with their team whether it be in person or via platforms such as, Zoom.

Inspiring the workforce, through effective communication, to become the best version of themselves, especially when the usual in-person connectedness is missing, has become more essential than ever during these difficult times.

Cultural Awareness

Diversity and inclusion are more essential than ever.

Individuals and organizations must have the necessary skills to understand, empathize, respect and value others, irrelevant of their colour, language, race, class, gender, political or religious perspective.

The ability to work with people from any background, culture or societal structure is vital in today’s multicultural workplace and organizations that value and promote cultural awareness within their workforce will benefit from highly cohesive and successful teams.