The world of work has changed profoundly as a result of recent technological developments. Keeping abreast of the structural trends impacting professional skills, updating and enhancing them, is the key to future employability.
Our way of working is affected by transformations that we must take into account:
- Learn about sustainable development in everyday life.
- Integrate the reality of digital within the business.
- Assessing the impact of artificial intelligence on productivity.
The variety of skills typologies, be they business-specific or interpersonal, means that you need to structure your collection tool and capitalize on this internal wealth. It is becoming urgent not to rely solely on skills acquired in the past, but to create the real conditions for their enrichment. The professional development of employees is an ongoing process, targeted according to the needs of skills companies and the aspirations of employees.
How do you define professional aptitude?
We can use the definition proposed by Cairn to encompass the 2 components of a professional skill:
Professional aptitude is the combination of the qualifications required to carry out a professional activity and the physical and mental conditions validated by occupational medicine.
What is the value of hard skills?
Even if we talk a lot about soft skills, hard skills are still essential. The skills technical skills are generally acquired through a qualification, certification or diploma. As a result, managers and HR teams are contributing to the development of these hard skills by means of training courses, the modalities of which have expanded considerably. Neobrain helps employees to take responsibility for their own development.
Data skills
Data analysis is no longer reserved for Data Science alone. Our analysis of the skills emerging in the support professions sometimes reveals significant proportions of skills linked to Data. This is also the feeling of the Wagon for Business with whom we realized a webinar on this trend. Support functions such as purchasing, treasury or human resources are in the front line.
See the Replay of our Webinar"The impact of data on our business".
Discover the mapping checklist inspired by several Neobrain clients. Each step is illustrated in order to know precisely all the assets of your human resources.
Soft skills in high demand
Let's take a look at some examples of skills which, according to McKinsey, should be valued in companies today.
The development of soft skills is more difficult to achieve. These skills are partly personality-based and partly learning-based, so managers and HR are more concerned with developing these skills skills in the company.
Today, soft skills are more sought after, as they can be applied to different types of jobs and professions. For this reason, they are also referred to as skills cross-cutting or transferable.
Remote collaboration
It can be said that the Covid-19 health crisis gave a boost to remote collaboration, due to the health measures imposed by the situation.
Understanding remote collaboration tools (chats, videoconferences, virtual meetings, etc.) is not always easy. It is therefore a skill that must be mastered in order to evolve in organizations that are increasingly reticular, in other words, integrated into networks.
The organization
The growing need for flexibility in the workplace has changed the traditional form of professional teams. The increased use of remote team management requires great organizational skills to prioritize tasks and succeed collectively.
The difficulty arises when all tasks seem important. The success of a project then depends on the prioritization of tasks, which consists of defining the most important task at a given time. To do this, managers use the OKR method in order to give an overall coherence to the collective objectives, and to accentuate the collective performance.
The adaptation
Today, we are dependent on a constant evolution of our environment, due to globalization and especially, the emergence of the information economy. The ability to evolve in an unstable context implies :
- High tolerance for uncertainty and innovation;
- Multidisciplinary knowledge;
- An excellent predisposition to maintain the ability to change.
Adaptation allows us to deal with unexpected situations in a constructive way and not to be paralyzed by uncertainty. This skill professional goes hand in hand with the ability to analyze. It is a matter of analyzing each situation while maintaining neutrality, in order to seek intelligent solutions.
Due to the economic uncertainty already mentioned, it becomes inevitable to cultivate an attitude of constant opportunity seeking. Maintaining high levels of skills by updating one's knowledge through monitoring is therefore essential.
Decision-making
It can be said that decision making is a determining skill in the evolution of a company, especially in a difficult competitive and economic context. The complexity of this process should not be underestimated, because decision-making involves risk-taking. We must be able to anticipate the consequences. There are adapted methods and tools that managers can use to simplify decision-making and improve risk assessment.
Decision-making can be applied on a broader scale. Some companies have understood the value of this skill key, to the point of instituting it at the collective level in different phases such as :
- Instruction (information gathering, review of previous situations, etc.)
- Choice (options analysis)
- Execution (taking action).
Christel Guillain testifies about the Neobrain solution in its ability to manage all the soft skills and skills techniques, watch this testimony.
Critical thinking
The ability to think critically is fundamental, in an era where technology favors fake news and deep fake. This ability is characterized by the capacity to produce a constructed argument, which machines are not yet able to achieve.
Employees who develop this skill, are better able to identify solutions and make relevant decisions for the good of the collective efficiency.
Emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence is an undeniable asset of employees within a company. It is also called empathy. It refers to an individual's ability to analyze his own emotions and the emotions of others. The strength of emotional intelligence is multiple. It determines the quality of professional relationships, which reduces exposure to stress, and even influences decision making.
Creativity
This skill is the ability to look at things in a new way. What is at stake is innovation, a major challenge to maintain a company in a context of increased competition. Creativity is certainly an innate trait in some people, but it is a skill that can be developed, thanks to many methodologies(Design Thinking, mindmapping, brainstorming, etc.). The objective is to exploit the creativity of each individual, while stimulating the collective intelligence within a group or a team.
The motivation
Motivation does not, at first glance, appear to be a skill. Changing the way we look at this psychological factor, and making it a skill, is a promise of success for companies. They are beginning to take the measure of the problem. In France, we can even talk about a crisis of commitment at work. Yet motivation is a driver of productivity.
Overcoming a lack of motivation is not an easy task. The proximity of the manager, the implementation of continuous feedback, the visibility given to talents on their career paths are the options we recommend through our employee engagement platform.
The use case "Giving visibility to talents"will guide you in boosting the motivation of your employees.
Conclusion: maintaining the value of skills
To conclude, the value of soft skills is undeniable, especially because they present a minimal risk of obsolescence compared to hard skills. They also make up for a lack of experience.
The use case "How to fight against obsolescence will give you some keys.
Considered from the point of view of " skills transferable", i.e. skills that can be used in different professions of the same professional branch, or of "skills transversal" that can be used in different professional branches, they encourage internal mobility within an organization.
