Top 10 Job Skills to Boost Your Career in a Dynamic Work Environment
- Top 10 Employability Skills
The “Great Resignation” phase has transformed into the “Great Reshuffle” movement, making both employers and employees rethink future work trends. Millions of employees globally are leaving their jobs to find more fulfilling roles that offer value and career growth. Organizations are focusing on reskilling and retaining their employees. While this signals new career opportunities, reconfiguring such work trends requires professionals to upskill and learn transferable skills. Only newer skills will make them eligible for new job opportunities. Against this background, we take a look at the most in-demand employability skills and how these can help professionals gain work flexibility. With better skills, they will have better negotiating power and can build a secure career for themselves.
This blog discusses the following:
- What are Employability Skills?
- Top 10 Employability Skills
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- Digital Literacy
- Data Analysis
- Critical Thinking
- Emotional Intelligence
- Green Skills
- Creativity
- Interpersonal Communication
- Teamwork and Collaboration
- Leadership
- Problem-Solving
What are Employability Skills?
Employability skills or job skills are the fundamental soft skills or personal attributes of working professionals. Without possessing such skills, professionals today can find it difficult to find a good job which has potential for growth. These include excellent communication, self-management, Information Communication and Technology (ICT), problem-solving, and critical thinking, among others. Employability training boosts employee efficiency and productivity and improves the ability to contribute to organizational growth.
ALSO READ: Emeritus Global Workplace Skills Study 2023 – India Edition
Top 10 Employability Skills
The following are the top 10 career skills that modern working professionals need for a secure career in a dynamic work culture:
1. Digital Literacy
Digitalization is a key factor driving business growth in the modern business environment. The Future of Jobs Report 2023 by the World Economic Forum (WEF) states that 85% of global organizations will increase the use of digital platforms and frontier technologies such as AI, machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and cloud computing in the next five years. As a result, there will be a massive growth of up to 40,00,000 jobs. These jobs are, not surprisingly, in the digital field, including digital transformation specialists by 2028. Furthermore, LinkedIn’s 2022 Workplace Learning Report shows that digital upskilling is the primary Learning and Development (L&D) focus area.
These statistics indicate that digital literacy is one of the most crucial employability skills for the modern workforce. It refers to the ability to learn and use the latest technologies to perform tasks like collaboration, research, and problem-solving. Professionals can develop digital literacy job skills by learning new tools and apps, watching video tutorials, and reading resources on using digital platforms. Online courses are also beneficial in attaining digital literacy skills and trends to advance your career.
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2. Data Analysis
Data analysis is another important skill for professionals because of the large number of organizations that are becoming data-driven. It helps professionals to study data and identify problems, derive insights, and arrive at innovative solutions. Basic data analysis and interpretation skills are also relevant for preparing reports, communicating with stakeholders, and making informed business decisions. One of the best ways for professionals to learn data analysis/analytics skills is to pursue online courses.
3. Critical Thinking
Critical thinking refers to the ability to objectively analyze a situation or information and weigh its pros and cons. Such thinkers make strategic decisions based on similar past experiences, skills, knowledge, and reasoning abilities. It is one of the most sought-after employability skills that enables professionals to analyze and interpret information. With critical thinking, professionals can build strategies and frameworks for business growth. Critical and analytical thinking skills also help professionals find unique solutions and ideas to mitigate business risk and uncertainty. Moreover, it allows employees to make data-driven and informed business decisions that benefit organizations.
ALSO READ: 6 Amazing Tips to Improve Your Critical Thinking Skills
4. Emotional Intelligence
According to the India Skills Report 2023, emotional intelligence will be one of the top employability skills in the next few years. Skills like self-awareness, empathy, and relationship management enable professionals to perceive, control, and evaluate emotions in the workplace. The new-age employee seeks purpose as well as emotional and mental health support at work. This has led to a rise in the need for team members and leaders with emotional intelligence at organizations. It boosts employee engagement, enhances resilience, reduces stress, and increases productivity. Overall, emotional intelligence fosters a positive work culture.
Green Skills
The increasing threat of climate change has forced countries to focus on building low-carbon economies. As a result, organizations across the globe are hiring candidates with green skills to build sustainable business solutions. According to LinkedIn’s Global Green Skills Report 2022, jobs requiring green skills have increased annually by 8% since 2013. The green workforce, on the other hand, has only increased by 6%, thus creating a shortage of talent with green skills. Green skills are, therefore, one of the most prioritized employability skills today. The most in-demand green skills are as follows:
- Sustainability
- Environmental remediation
- Occupational safety and health advisory
- Ecosystem management
- Renewable energy generation
- Environmental awareness
- Corporate social responsibility
- Recycling
6. Creativity and Innovation
Businesses rank creativity and innovation among the top employability skills to drive growth in a complex business environment. Creative thinking is also one of the most important career skills for workers in 2023, according to the WEF Report. It enables professionals to find unique business opportunities and solutions. They can enhance productivity, improve the quality of products or services, and help the organization gain a competitive advantage. Professionals can work on their creative thinking and innovation skills. They can do so by staying updated with industry trends, brainstorming with others, doing market research, and practicing mindfulness.
7. Interpersonal Communication
Excellent interpersonal communication is another of those crucial employability skills. It fosters teamwork and collaboration and improves work efficiency. Interpersonal communication skills also help professionals connect with clients and other stakeholders, which, in turn, facilitates business growth. Interpersonal communication is one of the most powerful job skills to have; it is useful in conflict resolution, for those aspiring to leadership positions, in change management, and negotiation as well.
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8. Teamwork and Collaboration
The ability to seamlessly collaborate within a team is one of the most underrated yet crucial career skills. The hybrid work culture trend today requires professionals to demonstrate teamwork and collaboration skills for efficiency and productivity. Many organizations are already promoting diversity, equity, and inclusivity in the workplace to improve team productivity and efficiency. The demand for professionals with excellent teamwork and collaborative employability skills is also rising. Companies are thus seeking empathetic professionals who can support their teams and deliver results.
9. Leadership
Leadership, too, ranks among the top employability skills professionals must cultivate. In today’s business environment, which is extremely dynamic and competitive, organizations need strong business leaders who can adapt to changing industry trends. A strong leader, therefore, can facilitate smooth change management and inspire and motivate team members to achieve business goals.
There is a high demand for professionals with impressive leadership skills. These types of leaders can navigate through complex business challenges and support business growth. LinkedIn’s 2022 Workplace Learning Report also shows that leadership and management employability training is the top priority for organizations. This will result in a huge demand for quality leaders. According to Microsoft’s New Future of Work Report 2022, leaders need a multimodal approach in a remote or hybrid set-up. This often involves the following roles:
- Catalyst: Aid in facilitating collaboration and innovation
- Coach: Mentor team members and help them perform at their best
- Champion: Act as an advocate for the team before external stakeholders
- Conductor: Ensure that the team members work in harmony
ALSO READ: Hard Skills Vs. Soft Skills of Leadership
10. Problem-Solving
Given the high competition in the market, problem-solving has become more crucial for businesses. As is often the case, problem-solving skills help professionals eliminate challenges and achieve business goals. Therefore, problem-solving is one of the core employability skills.
Professionals can enhance their problem-solving skills by understanding and analyzing the root cause of a problem. They must stay updated with the latest industry trends, improve research skills, and ensure effective communication at the workplace.
ALSO READ: 12 Benefits of Training Employees in the Workplace
According to the World Economic Forum, lack of skill development can lead to a loss of 7.1 crore jobs globally. So, while there will be instant job losses across various industries, the creation of new jobs will be comparatively slower. Interestingly, lost jobs may not necessarily be created in the same industry. Therefore, working professionals need to be flexible and learn transferable skills to navigate through the changing work environment. As a result, employability training is a must for professionals to acquire advanced career and employability skills. Emeritus’ online courses help professionals acquire the latest skills and practical experience across various industries. Explore these online courses to build a successful career in your field.
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