The 3 Most Important Skills Needed to Thrive in the Workplace in 2021 (and Beyond)
What are the skills that will be needed now and in the future to thrive in the workplace? How will workers manage to remain competitive in this ever-changing environment?
It's 2021 and the world has been living for more than a year in remote mode: more than 60% of the working population has had to learn new skills, build new routines and re-learn what productivity looks like under the pandemic.
LinkedIn has released a new Learning Workplace Report where they analyse where organisations are focusing their Learning and Development (L&D) efforts.
Are companies around the world focusing on helping their workers learn Artificial Intelligence, coding, databases, finance? Or are they focusing on something else?
In the Era of Robots and AI, Soft Skills Reign Supreme
It turns out that in this era of robots and AI, Learning and Development experts around the world are focusing on something else: soft skills. And why? Because the shelf life of any technical skill is very short — less than 5 years. Soft skills, by contrast, will last forever and will apply to anyone in any role. So it's a smart choice.
You might think that soft skills have little "hard value", but once you have to lead 200 people without ever meeting them — like I have to do every day — you realise that the ability to think, lead, and communicate effectively gives any employee tremendous leverage that can be used at any level of the company ladder.
The Top 3 Skills of 2021
According to the survey done by LinkedIn, the top 2 skills are Resilience and Digital Fluency, but their ranking depended on where you are.
They landed the #1 or #2 spots across every country LinkedIn surveyed. Resilience was #1 in the US, Canada, France, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, with technology skills coming in second.
In Germany, DACH, Southeast Asia, and India, the results were flipped, with technology skills ranking #1 and resilience #2.
The third most important skill for Learning and Development professionals was: Communication.
#1 Resilience
Resilience is the ability that allows us to "be happy and successful again after something difficult or bad has happened." And it's no wonder that resilience would make the top 3 of the list. With all that has happened and is happening in the world, only those who can master this ability will be able to continue to function.
Contrary to what many of us think, resilience isn't a fixed or elusive trait that some people have and some people don't. In reality, it requires the willingness to try basic strategies like these.
The more you cultivate this trait of your personality the more successful you will be. As resilience researcher Lucy Hone says in her TEDx Talk: "Contrary to what many of us think, resilience isn't a fixed or elusive trait that some people have and some people don't. In reality, it requires the willingness to try basic strategies like these."
Resilience can be learned — and Lucy shares 3 easy strategies you can apply yourself from today (watch the speech, absolutely brilliant and touching).
#2 Digital Fluency
Digital Fluency is the ability to use digital tools in a fluent manner. Surprised? I doubt it. We have lived and worked remotely for more than 13 months and the average worker has had to learn — sometimes the hard way — how to collaborate with others via the internet.
"You're on mute" has been the most quoted phrase in 2020 (and 2021) for a very good reason.
You're on mute. — Everyone, 2020–21
Technology, even in 2021, most of the time doesn't work and you really have to know your way around certain quirks if you want to be productive. I don't know how many working hours have been lost in the last year because something wasn't working, but it must have been a staggering amount of time.
#3 Communication
There you have my favourite topic: communication. Learning and Development professionals want their workforce to learn how to Communicate! Why? Well, I believe that everyone has realised that "The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place." (The quote is from playwright G.B. Shaw, not mine.)
The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place. — G.B. Shaw
Everyone is now sitting at their desk and the only things they have to make sure collaborative work gets done are their voice and their slides. Email and chat communication are a distant second when we want to truly communicate — and that is why so many of us are spending so many hours in Teams and Zoom meetings.
If we can't convey our messages properly then how can we work in the first place?
Conclusion
Resilience, Digital Fluency, and Communication are the top 3 skills that companies around the world are focusing on. All of these can be learned, and I strongly suggest that you start today your journey in order to get ahead in your life and your career.