Future In-Demand Skills and Attributes

Recently we began a review of all reports prepared by government agencies, consulting groups, and academic gurus who have focused on the practices, skills, and attributes needed for working in a V.U.C.A. (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous) economic and social environment. After aggregating the studies, we asked a series of C.E.O.s heading up manufacturing, healthcare, pharmaceutical, and engineering companies to confirm or challenge the list. They all said the list was on target, though several thought that some of the items on the list were repetitive. They also noted that there are specific knowledge sets needed, given their industires.

In alphabetical the list is as follows with the notation of anything that is "new":

Analytical and Critical Thinking

Employers will continue to look for employees who can think analytically to find solutions to problems. Thinking analytically can help you categorize information into small groups to better interpret data and make accurate conclusions. You use analytical thinking to detect patterns, brainstorm, interpret data, integrate new information, and make decisions based on multiple factors and options.

?Critical thinking is the act of analyzing facts to understand a problem or topic thoroughly. The critical thinking process typically includes steps such as collecting information and data, asking thoughtful questions, and analyzing possible solutions. Good critical thinkers can work both independently and with others to solve problems.

?Active Learning

Active learning is a strategy that uses activities to fully engage in the information you're trying to learn. Being an active learner can help you develop skills and learn how to perform job tasks quickly. This is valuable to employers because it means you're adaptable so it may be easier to train you.?

?Complex Problem-Solving

Complex problem-solving is the ability to gather the information needed to analyze an issue and use strategic planning to resolve it. This skill helps identify issues in real-world business settings. Businesses face complex problems every day, and it's important they hire employees who can develop creative solutions.?

?Communication

Communication will continue to be an in-demand skill for future jobs. Good communicators?interpret meaning from written and spoken language as well as convey ideas effectively to others. In the workplace, communication is key to collaborating with coworkers and achieving company goals, such as production output or increasing sales.

?Cognitive Flexibility

Cognitive flexibility allows you to adapt your behavior to different environments. Flexibility skills can help you adjust your work habits to fit a different job or task. People with great flexibility can change their schedules or change their tasks quickly to accommodate unusual situations that occur on the job.?

?Creativity

Creativity involves the ability to think of unique solutions and use your perspective to see situations differently. It can be a useful tool for developing new ideas, increasing efficiency, and devising solutions to complex problems. Creativity is also a skill that can translate to any job role in every industry.

?Digital Literacy and Collaboration (Relatively New Skill Set)

Digital literacy is a skill that is increasingly important as technology in the workplace advances. Being digitally literate means understanding terminology for social networks and mobile applications. Employers may prefer employees who are well-rounded and competent with technology.?

?Emotional Intelligence (Called by other things in decades past)

Emotional intelligence is a skill that helps you regulate your own emotions and understand and empathize with others. These abilities are valuable in a workplace because they help you understand others, resolve conflict, reduce stress, and improve the overall working environment This skill can also enhance your collaboration capability, aid in teamwork, and help you meet company goals more efficiently.?

?Initiative

Initiative is the ability to recognize where and how to make improvements and create a plan to perform improvement. Employers may seek employees with the initiative to help further company goals for innovation. People who have initiative are valuable in the workplace.

Interculturality (Relatively New Skill Set)

Another important future skill to learn and embrace is the different cultures from around the world. Given the surging rise in the global trade sector, knowing about the business and corporate culture we work for is crucial.?

?Innovation

Innovation skills are the critical skills enterprises need to contribute to an organization’s innovation performance—skills needed to produce new and improved strategies, capabilities, processes, and services. They allow you to use your existing knowledge to discover original ideas that benefit you and your team.?

?Interpersonal Skills

Interpersonal skills are abilities such as active listening, dependability, empathy, verbal and reading non-verbal behavior, and flexibility. These skills can help you build healthy relationships, which can contribute to success in your career.?

?Leading and Demonstrating Social Influence

Employers often prefer candidates who demonstrate responsibility, initiative and integrity, collaboration, goal-setting, and time management. Having leadership skills is helpful for any job role.?

?Social influencers are valuable in future businesses. They are valued for their ability to influence others, often helping them make decisions with online or physical purchases and lifestyle choices. They have an audience or following that trusts them as a source of information for their interests.

?Self-Management

Developing strong self-management skills can help you improve your performance and achieve your professional goals. Managing yourself, or self-management, is the ability to control your thoughts, feelings, and actions at work and in your personal life. It includes being organized, ambitious, adaptable, and the ability to maintain your time and stress. This means you can take the initiative to reach your goals and motivate yourself to keep working hard.?

?Sustainable Functioning The world will only reach its environmental goals and avert a global disaster if corporations invest money in organizing their operations. Reduce waste as much as possible, recycle whenever you can, convert it to renewable energy sources, and lessen pollution and carbon emissions.

From this list of 15 skill sets, only 2 are relatively new expectations in the workplace. This tells us that the behaviors and attributes essential to effective work have been constant for some time. The research does not identify what are mission-critical behaviors, though it is reasonable to think of these as "price of admission" abilities. At the same time, we know that these vary greatly in terms of developmental difficulty. For example, it has long been known that impulse control is core to self-management and that creating the shifts needed to elevate emotional control is very difficult. Learning to communicate ideas is a relatively easy skill set by comparison.

We might consider the young people in our lives and the kinds of experiences they are having that can teach these "price of admission" skills, as it will benefit them and the rest of us for them to be prepared for a path toward success. And that path has some important and more complex behaviors essential to the building blocks of a satisfying career.