Be aware of the six skills employers want most
You have incredible success fantasies that perhaps include cars, homes, vacations, and expensive clothes. And you’ve got the right attitude too. You’re ambitious, committed, motivated, and driven. In short, you’ve got what it takes.
However, they don’t count for much if you don’t have the skills employers deem essential for success.
Employers used to say, “Give me people who can read, write and do simple math and I will train them for the jobs I have available.” Not anymore. As work became more complicated, they discovered that they needed workers who could conceptualize, organize and verbalize thoughts, work in teams, and integrate new technology and sophisticated production processes. It’s easier said than done. To master all of the above, you need these six skills, say the workplace pundits:
1. Three Rs. Incredible as it seems, the most common reason for rejecting potential job candidates is inadequate reading, writing or math skills. Unfortunately, educational standards throughout the United States aren’t uniform. A nationwide test by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that only 24% of students in eighth and
12th grades were proficient in writing, and just 3% were advanced. Equally upsetting, placement managers and HR professionals routinely receive poorly written resumes and cover letters full of spelling and grammatical errors, many of them from college grads.
Companies aren’t looking for scholars, but they do expect job applicants to write simple, error-free declarative sentences.
The solution lies in a basic grammar handbook, a variation of the text your junior high school teachers should have made you memorize cover to cover. Read it carefully and do the exercises. Practice every chance you get.
2. Communication skills. Reading and writing are core communication skills, yet we spend most of our time listening and speaking. Only idiosyncratic geniuses can get away with mumbling monosyllabic phrases. Everyone else must make sense. When you’re not talking, you’re listening, another vital skill everyone must master. Any successful salesperson can tell you how important speaking and listening skills are. These salespeople are gifted communicators who have elevated communication to an art form.
3. Adaptability (problem solving and creativity). Companies can no longer amble along, offering a single product or service. They must either improve their products or offer new and better ones. The pressure to stay competitive and grasp for market dominance has put a premium on problem solving and creativity.
4. Personal management (self-esteem, motivation, career development). Productivity is directly correlated to self-esteem. Studies reveal that workers with good self-images take pride in their work. They set and meet goals and work hard to better themselves. That’s no small feat in a business environment as uncertain as the weather. Jarring disturbances — mergers, acquisitions, consolidations, layoffs — erode self-esteem, creating stress. Workers feel powerless and out of control because they can’t move toward their goals. Their career destiny is up in the air. That’s enough to keep anyone up at night. Despite turbulence, employers want people who keep their cool and who have a strong sense of self-worth and value: the fuel propelling them to reach their potential. The ideal workers, according to motivation experts, are self-directed, high-functioning and autonomous. Rather than just putting in time to collect their paychecks, they feel good work carries intrinsic value.
5. Organizational skills (leadership). Organizations are a complicated labyrinth of explicit and implicit power structures. In the explicit structure, leadership is bestowed by title and authority; in the implicit structure, it is subtly woven and cultivated by the respect of peers. Workers need strong organizational skills to participate in the tight networks that have replaced rigid hierarchies.
6. Interpersonal skills (negotiation, teamwork). The Association for Talent Development (ASTD) reports that interpersonal and negotiation skills are the foundation for successful teamwork. A better term for interpersonal skills is “people skills.” Rather than hiring people with skills to get the job done, they’re buying people who can motivate others. They can mesh their talents with others to achieve greater results. That’s teamwork.
No wonder management heavies have been making a big deal about teaching teamwork skills in order to build selfdirected groups. Do it right and you have motivated workers, better products, and naturally, bigger profits.