In these profoundly uncertain times, everyone is attempting to understand how best to respond. While everyone’s well-being is paramount, workers whether laid off or not should utilize this interruption or slowdown in their careers to develop new skills. Proactively utilizing online courses to acquire new skill sets—in a remote, socially distant capacity—could make a dramatic difference in post-pandemic abilities to return to work or start a new career.
The skills needed to thrive in the post pandemic world of work can be best described as a combination of soft and hard skills. Acquiring skills that make an employee irreplaceable by technology guarantees a much more stable career. Here are some of the most important skills to focus on when considering upskilling.
Data Literacy
Data scientists and workers who can analyze raw data to find trends and answer questions will be crucial to businesses. Businesses benefiting from workforce equipped with data analytics skills understand business trends and shifting customer needs. Therefore, they are able to respond in the right way whether after this pandemic or should a future pandemic come along.
Emotional Intelligence
Ability to identify and manage emotions is now one of the most sought-after skills. This soft skill allows you to relate to others, recognize their own strengths and weaknesses, and also understand what a company’s clients are going through. This has made those with high emotional intelligence a real asset to employers.
Critical Thinking
Applicants who can prove that they are able to analyse situations and find workable solutions to business problems will have a much better chance of being hired. Those who can think critically can evaluate information and decide what is credible and is worth investing resources.
Flexibility
This is the capacity and ability to adapt and adjust to change quickly and calmly so you can manage unexpected problems effectively. Flexibility makes you versatile, resilient and responsive to change. Flexible people are highly prized by managers and businesses. They help to stabilize situations when crisis strikes.
Leadership
With the changes coming to the workplace and employees working remotely, there seems to be a higher demand than before to lead teams. Leaders are facing some rare challenges where they have to show flexibility, provide support and inspiration without micromanaging their teams. Professionals with strong skills in leadership, those who know how to bring out the best in the team, will be in high demand.
Companies need rapid and solid adaptations more than ever to develop resilient systems that can withstand present as well as future outbreaks and disruptions. Upskilling to what is now in high demand gives employees and employers opportunities to come out of the crisis successfully.
There is ample amount of resources and skills to learn, but it is definitely important to prioritize. Click here to learn more.
