As The World Becomes Increasingly Automated, What is the Human Touch?

Technological advancement is not a new phenomenon. Throughout history humans have made advances that have had huge implications for how people live. The COVID-19 pandemic is just the latest event to spark faster-than-expected development of automated systems and solutions.

The shift to automation has been happening for centuries: the industrial revolution in Europe and North America in the 18th century being just one example. More recently, in 2020, we saw an unprecedented switch to online working, schooling, and shopping as governments put their countries into lockdown. People had to stay at home but continue to work, learn, shop, eat and entertain themselves there.

Companies fast-tracked automated solutions for many aspects of the working and living landscape. Now that the world is beginning to emerge from a period of intense change, some of these changes are here to stay.

How does automation affect job prospects and skills?

The emphasis on some hard skills will be less, as robots can replace humans in certain jobs. This means that certain jobs and skills will no longer exist. Robots will do them more quickly, cheaply, and safely. However, it also means that the skills robots don’t have will be in greater demand.?

Robots don’t have ‘the human touch’. Literally or metaphorically. They don’t possess the soft skills that are so valuable, both in our personal and business lives. Soft skills are the personal attributes that enable people to engage meaningfully with others.

A person with strong interpersonal skills who can communicate and listen well, with empathy and emotional intelligence, will be an asset to a company.

If you can motivate yourself and others, lead people or work harmoniously within a team, you will be valuable as an employee. Someone with no emotional intelligence or interpersonal skills will find it difficult to get along with others, gain respect or get things done.

Employers want to see evidence of soft skills in business

In the current job market, employers complain they are finding it increasingly difficult to come by employees with well-developed soft skills. So how do you develop your soft skills and how do you prove to a prospective employer that you have them?

Regardless of the industry, strong business skills are an asset, and business skills are not just limited to report writing and being able to stand in front of people and talk. At ABMA Education our qualifications are developed together with employers and industry specialists. They take full account of the skills that employers see as lacking in the candidates they interview. Strong soft skills are not just an asset in the job market, as we already know. They are transferable and will stand you in good stead in all aspects of your personal life too.

An ABMA Education qualification covers key competencies, such as time management, problem solving, decision making, report writing, presentation skills and critical thinking. But the soft skills required for working effectively with others and being a valuable employee are just as important, so our qualifications include the development of skills such as teamwork, debating and discussing, dealing with conflict and emotional intelligence.

The world is changing, and we all need to change with it. If you can prove you have the essential business skills that employers want, you will stand out from the crowd, you will maximise your chances of employment and future career advancement. An ABMA Education qualification gives you the recognised knowledge expected with your diploma, but also allows you to develop those skills to make a great first impression and show you to be a valuable asset as an employee.

We are committed to driving positive change, bridging the skills gap and bringing the human touch to the workplace.?