Has your business experienced periods of intense change and uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic? A “no” for an answer would have surprised us. In fact, businesses nationwide and around the world have seen sales and revenues drop, workplace safety concerns increase, and their workforce burdened with new responsibilities in the home. Many businesses have been forced to make difficult decisions in order to survive.
Some companies have had to close their doors, suspend operations, reduce working hours, lay off employees and transfer members of their teams to remote work. While this list could grow further, many employers quickly realized that a new set of in-demand skills is needed to navigate this period of uncertainty.
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understanding the post-pandemic workplace
During the pandemic, employers had very little time to analyze budgets and consumer demand or assess staffing needs before making critical business decisions.
All they could do was make the best decisions they could with what little information they had at the time. The speed with which the pandemic has hit the business world has created a lot of uncertainty and misunderstanding between employers and their employees.
Today, as the pandemic begins to subside, employers have a small window of time to prepare their staff for the changes to come. It is essential that business leaders seize this opportunity to take action now, rather than waiting for these changes to be forced on their employees.
the skills sought for the future of work
While it may take years to see the full impact of COVID-19 in the workplace, there are already enough signs to determine that new skills in demand are essential to secure the future of work. While job-specific skills, acquired through education, training and experience will always be a critical component in hiring decisions, it is increasingly clear that personal skills are just as important. During the pandemic, employers saw an increased need for staff with strong communication and collaboration skills, as these talents helped alleviate the stress of transitioning to remote work.
The ability to operate platforms as well as technical equipment from the home has also become crucial in these uncertain times. Most importantly, employers needed resilient workers, able to adapt to new working conditions, with or without notice.
This is only a brief overview of some qualifications employers should prioritize in recruitment and promotion processes.
the importance of transferable skills
The importance of transferable skills is a factor that many employers quickly became aware of during the pandemic. As some companies were forced to downsize or reduce working hours, they therefore needed employees who could multitask. This change quickly became a challenge for some employers, who found that not only did their team members not receive cross-training, but some of the best employees lacked the transferable skills needed to be successful in multiple roles and posts.
In the future, employers will need to place more emphasis on job skills, such as customer service, quality control, and communication, which are useful in virtually every job. Employees who possess these highly coveted skills make excellent team leaders, managers and supervisors.
for more details, read our guide to future skills.
Changes in the trends and demands of the world of work are already taking shape, employers have limited time to prepare their current employees for the future of work, also to change hiring practices significantly to facilitate identifying and recruiting candidates with the skills of tomorrow.
We’ve put together a guide that identifies the ten most in-demand skills of the future, along with tips for identifying desirable employees and candidates who have those skills.
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