Adapt And Change In Covid Pandemic

Covid19 pandemic has created enormous changes in the workplace. Regardless of their jobs, employees needed to adapt rapidly to massive changes ranging from working remotely to changes in operations and fulfillment. But job skills were changing even before the pandemic.

The number of skills required for a single job was increased by 10% per year. One-third of the skills listed in an average 2017 job posting would not be relevant by 2021. Role-based skills planning wasn’t helping organizations develop the right employee skill sets. Grouping unrelated skills doesn’t build the skills that will create competitive advantage.

Several experts have ideas about what those necessary skills of the future will be. As organizations continue to operate in a pandemic and plan for the future, here are some of the essential skills that employees will need:

SELF DIRECTION - In the midst of so much change, employees are going to need to take ownership of their roles and be highly self-directed, much like entrepreneurs within their organizations. Employees, especially at the entry-level, are going to increasingly need “to captain their own careers, [and have] a sort of DIY kind of hacking mentality.”As roles and organizations quickly evolve, the traditional training methods to develop necessary skills don’t exist in the same way. Employees are going to have to be active participants in identifying the skills, resources, and support they need to do their jobs and collaborate with their companies to get them

DIGITAL CAPABILITIES - many companies had accelerated digitization. Employees are going to have to be comfortable with digital technologies. Employees are not only going to need to be comfortable using digital technologies, ranging from collaboration software to videoconferencing, but they’re also going to need to accept its role in evaluating metrics. Analytics was the number 1 area of digital investment for HR executives in a recent PwC survey. This becomes more important as employees work remotely and workforce management can be more challenging. HR leaders and managers will be using tools to measure productivity. But it’s also important to remember that user experience is often a priority in such tools. As they become more ubiquitous, they will also likely be more seamless and easily integrated into workflows.

EMPATHY - The ability to understand the challenges other employees and organizations are facing and help management—in other words, empathy—is also a skill that employers seek and need. That’s helpful for everybody, not just the people who are trying to make their way through the chaos.

COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT - Communication skills have always been critical and in-demand employee skills. These skills now need to extend across platforms. The rise of videoconferencing and collaboration platforms requires new skills. You have to be better with your words, you have to use brevity and levity to be successful getting thoughts and concepts across in an effective and efficient way. And you also have to know when to use which platform and how to use video, audio, and digital communication in ways that don’t create more negative outcomes, such as zoom fatique or lack of engagement. 

ADAPTABILITY - As many workplaces evolve to hybrid models or have other significant changes in how they operate, adaptability is an increasingly necessary skill. Being able to keep functioning, even when you’re a little uncomfortable, is important in a time when so many things may be in flux. Taking on stretch roles or taking on new challenges can help “build the adaptability muscles. You still need to be able to germinate that spark of innovation and produce results and be productive for the organization. But you may need to find new ways to collaborate virtually or achieve results when uncertainty or obstacles lie in your path.

MOTIVATION SKILLS - There is a series of dimensions that are increasingly important for workplace success. In addition to the intellectual ability to do the job, ability to adapt to change, and communication skills, motivation and persuasion also play a big role. An employee might be the greatest risk-taker—a very important one of the capabilities that lives within that dimension of change capabilities—but if he/she part of an organization that is not really ready for being bold in the face of ambiguity, then he/she is going to be a bit on my island by him/herself. Being able to both self-motivate and inspire others to see your vision, could be the antidote to inertia in the face of uncertainty.

Even as the new norms of work emerge, being able to adapt to change, find solutions, communicate, and persuade are skills that aren’t likely to become obsolete.