You answered our poll; now it’s our turn!
According to last week’s poll ‘Employers: what interpersonal skill are you MOST interested in or seeking in your employees?’, we have a tie in respondents who answered leadership & ambition and goal-oriented & perfectionistic compared to professional authenticity and consistent motivation.
With that said, we’re going to find out what interpersonal skills employers actually want in employees and why this is the case in today’s global workforce!
The Truth Behind What Skills Employers Want
Currently, there is the ongoing skills gap issue among employers across the globe. Many managers and employers are falling short on basic management essentials such as performance monitoring, engagement, team building, time management, and incentivisation.
For example, according to Hays, 92% of professionals regularly need to learn new skills. But while employers attribute this to a lack of qualified candidates and increased competition, 42% of those professionals say their employer lacks a clear development plan, despite widespread concern over skill shortages. Additionally, 88% of organizations in Australia are still facing skills shortages, which is greatly impacting productivity, workload, and growth.
Given these evident problems and conflicting interests, steps must be taken to ensure both sides can find common ground, benefiting and satisfying each other.
How You (Employers) Can Help Close The Current Skills Gap
Employers and leaders can address and bridge skills gaps by offering training such as targeted upskilling and reskilling programs that align with business needs. By taking responsibility for their teams’ development - actively teaching and mentoring - skills can be effectively transferred in this way. The following steps below can also better prepare your workforce for future challenges and drive overall organisational success.
Embedding Learning in Organizations
- Align With Business Goals: Link training to business objectives, allowing employees to see its relevance and engage more effectively.
- Integrate Into Work: Foster a culture of continuous learning by encouraging questions, knowledge sharing, and assigning stretch tasks to develop skills.
- Leverage Data: Regularly review success metrics of learning programs to enhance their effectiveness.
- Utilize Technology: Employ tools like chatbots, virtual spaces, and emerging technologies to meet learning needs and support upskilling.
- Plan For Future Skills: Focus on both current and future skills, guided by market insights, to ensure your workforce is prepared for tomorrow’s challenges.
Overcoming Skills Shortages
- Revise Your EVP: Align your Employee Value Proposition with current values and purposes to attract talent.
- Optimize Candidate Journey: Streamline recruitment processes to enhance the candidate experience and eliminate bottlenecks.
- Consider Transferable Skills: Focus on candidates with adaptable skills, rather than strictly adhering to specific technical requirements.
- Expand Geographical Reach: Broaden your recruitment to include remote or national talent pools to access a wider range of candidates.
- Impress During Interviews: Ensure job interviews reflect the organization’s values and leave candidates with a positive impression.
- Offer Key Drivers: Provide flexibility, competitive salaries, meaningful benefits, and career growth opportunities to attract and retain top talent.
- Prepare For Counter Offers: Understand why candidates are leaving their current roles and be ready to counter potential offers from their employers.
- Focus On Upskilling/Reskilling: Regularly offer learning opportunities to fill skills gaps and develop employee competencies.
- Use Temporary Assignments: Employ temporary or contract professionals for short-term projects to address immediate skills needs.
How You (Employees) Can Help Close The Current Skills Gap
As careers advance, soft skills and interpersonal skills like leadership and goal-orientation become vital for success and promotion to senior roles, while the need for hard skills lessens. To recognise whether you have skill gaps in your skillset, follow these steps below as well as distinguish how exactly you can improve your leadership and goal-setting skills.
How To Identify Skill Gaps & Close Them
- Active Listening: Essential for recognizing and addressing skill gaps.
- Consulting Mentors And Experts: Helpful for targeted skill development.
- Prioritising Skills: Focus on essential skills for your profession and don't neglect your strengths.
- Available Training: Research numerous resources for leadership, team-building, and impactful communication.
- Practising Daily And Feedback: Set specific improvement targets, integrate them into daily routines, and openly seek constructive feedback to develop and hone skills.
Leadership & Ambition
- Decision-Making: Effective leaders make informed choices in complex situations, balancing organisational interests with diverse employee perspectives. They are responsible for major business strategies and responding to feedback.
- Communication: Strong leaders communicate clearly and concisely, inspire others, and actively listen to build robust relationships. They understand effective communication is as much about listening as it is about speaking.
- Integrity: Integrity forms the foundation of leadership, ensuring leaders act with strong principles and values. Trustworthiness, honesty, and keeping promises are essential to maintaining reputation and doing the right thing.
- Problem-Solving: Leaders are adept at identifying issues, considering potential solutions, and implementing the most effective one. They handle conflicts and enhance operational efficiency.
- Emotional Intelligence: Emotionally intelligent leaders are self-aware and manage their own and their team's emotions effectively. This trait helps build confidence within the team.
- Mentoring: Leaders who mentor others can positively impact employee performance by providing valuable advice, clear feedback, and dedicated support. They are committed to helping employees reach their potential.
- Trust Building: Trust is crucial for employee engagement and loyalty. Leaders build trust by being dependable, accessible, credible, and supportive. They consistently follow through on promises and maintain honesty.
Goal-Orientation & Perfectionism
- Set specific dates for achieving your career goals (quarterly, half-yearly, annually).
- Determine necessary training and its completion date.
- Plan how to expand your network and acquire new skills.
Set Short-Term Goals (1-3 years):
- Learning: Identify required qualifications and courses.
- Experience: Define the experience needed for promotions or new roles.
- Skills Development: Pinpoint specific skills to develop.
- Ideal Next Job: Identify roles that align with your career goals.
- Professional Membership: Consider joining relevant professional bodies.
Establish Long-Term Objectives (5+ years):
- Create a realistic career progression pathway.
- Research typical career paths, consult mentors, and review job descriptions.
- Define technical skills, soft skills, competencies, and specific experiences for each role.
- Plan for personal and professional development.
- Determine the ideal length of tenure in each role.
Write SMARTER Career Goals:
- Specific: Be clear and unambiguous.
- Measurable: Quantify your achievements.
- Achievable: Set motivating yet reachable goals.
- Realistic: Ensure goals are reasonable and attainable.
- Timely: Create timeframes for steps.
- Empowering: Ensure goals feel right and drive desired changes.
- Reviewable: Keep goals workable for adjustments.
Be Flexible And Measure Progress:
- Regularly review and adjust your goals based on changing circumstances.
- Measure progress, celebrate achievements, and identify areas needing improvement.
- Schedule regular self-reflection meetings to stay on track and make necessary adjustments.
Other Interpersonal Skills
- Adaptability: Crucial for handling rapid changes in the work environment.
- Collaboration: Important for teamwork, influencing, and networking, especially with agile and flexible working styles.
- Conflict Resolution: Address conflicts by listening to all sides, identifying the core issue, and calmly finding a solution.
- Strengths And Weaknesses: Leverage your natural abilities while keeping track of abilities that need room for improvement.
At Hyred, we understand the value that human talent can provide. We’re always seeking a diverse range of talented, passionate people who believe in the importance of progression and in helping others achieve their career goals too. If you’re interested in onboarding with us, visit our Homepage now to set up a free 30-minute consultation for more information! Or visit our Career page for our full list of open job positions in the SEA region!
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