How will you get your people future job ready?
The world we live and work in today is a far more complicated place to navigate than ever before. Businesses need to morph and adapt at light speed and workers must quickly understand and anticipate the changing world, whilst continuing to deliver results amongst ever-growing uncertainty. Young people entering the workforce for the first time, must be able to meet the demands of their job and career, be driven to succeed and develop as capable leaders of the future within this environment.
Earlier this year I attended a talk by Dr
Phil Lambert, a Professor at Sydney University, on Global Developments in
Education and Skills. He spoke about a global forum that had come together to
identify skills that 5 year old’s, entering school in 2018, would need to be
successful in the workplace of 2030. A workplace that would be vastly different
to the one we know today.
I was intrigued and it set me on a path to
rethink the soft skills that we at Development Beyond Learning (DBL), a leading
provider of graduate programs, were teaching in our professional development
solutions. If primary school educators were looking to transform their
curriculum to focus on developing skills for the future, it was essential that
DBL do the same.
Six months (and a lot of discussion and
research) later DBL has created a suite of micro-learning units and
experiential workshops for 18 identified future skills. These 18 skills
were determined by collating data from 4 main sources - Future of Work research
papers, Education frameworks, Organisation leadership competencies and our own
DBL feedback surveys with insights obtained from 4000 graduates located across
15 countries.
Consistently mentioned across all
these sources and at the top of the DBL list of future skills to develop
were Creativity and Complex Problem Solving - capabilities critical in
aiding innovation in organisations, allowing businesses to stay ahead of the
game and remain relevant in a highly competitive landscape. These skills can be
built by understanding and practising Design Thinking - following the steps of
empathy, problem definition, ideating solutions, prototyping ideas and
iterating until the right product, service, system or process is found to
implement.
Not far behind creativity and
complex problem solving were Resilience and
Adaptability - key
skills essential for coping in work environments that rapidly change, and
demand consistently high performance and flexibility from workers. Research
shows that having or lacking these skills is not a fixed trait and they can be
taught and strengthened by focusing on positive attitudes, thoughts and
beliefs.
It was interesting to see that not all skills that
made the list were ‘new’ with some of the more traditional skills being
elevated in priority. Personal
brand, Networking, Presenting and Social Intelligence skills were and still are
consistently asked for by students and young professionals. They understand the
value in, and want to know how to make an impression, get noticed and progress
in their careers.
Underpinning most of the skills that were uncovered as
part of the research were Self-awareness and the ability to have
a Growth Mindset. These are foundational to
anyone, at any level, being successful in their careers, and becoming great,
authentic future leaders. They can be developed by recognising one’s own
strengths, and by practising self-reflection to foster learning and openness to
new perspectives.
All these professional skills that form the Future
Skills program, were once considered ‘soft’ and a runner up to technical
skills. As our environment continuously changes, technologies advance and work
becomes more and more automated these skills will be the sought after,
transferable or ‘hard’ skills of tomorrows workforce. The skills that are
uniquely human and will never be replaced by technology.
Kindergarten
kids are getting ready, so how will you get your people future job ready?
By Saskia Spaan, Development Beyond Learning.
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