The year 2020 was a roller coaster ride for businesses. They had to change the way of their operations drastically. While some people suffered job losses, some industries, especially in the digital marketplace flourished. In the coming times, we are bound to see the impact of this on their hiring behavior. Some skills will be more in demand as they will help businesses recover and get ready for the new normal. For the employees, possessing these skills can make them stand out from the crowd and get job security at least for the time being.
Through this article, we want to highlight 5 key skills that employers will look for in their potential employees in the future.
Emotional Intelligence
It is the ability of a person to identify different emotions, comprehend them, and use them effectively to reduce stress, overcome challenges, understand others’ feelings, and clearly communicate with them. Post pandemic the workplace environment will be more stressful and sensitive. Thus, businesses will be looking for people with high emotional intelligence to make the organization a happier place.
Ability to Negotiate
It is a quality that allows people with diverse interests to reach a common solution and work together. Negotiation skills include the ability to communicate your demands and expectations clearly, understand the needs of the other party, convince the other party, and close the deal. Businesses have suffered heavy losses during the pandemic. They would want to spend as little as possible to earn a good profit. At this time the ability to negotiate will be of excellent use for businesses to get profitable deals.
Adaptability to a Dynamic Environment
Though the business environment has always been dynamic, the pandemic has further accelerated the pace of these changes. The acronym VUCA has become a trending concept in the management world. VUCA means Volatility,
Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity. VUCA is the new normal for the business environment. By adaptability to a dynamic environment, we mean you should have a flexible mindset to deal with the frequent changes. A workforce with a flexible mindset will help businesses to compete in a dynamic environment.
Creativity in Problem Solving
The new normal will bring with it, new problems. Creativity is the ability to come up with out of box solutions for problems. For example, the modern workplace will not be restricted to an office building. We saw that during the lockdown many employees were working from home. Some companies have even gone as far as making work from home a permanent option for employees. Managing a workforce in diverse locations will be a new challenge for many businesses and they will be looking for creative solutions for it.
Technical Skills
The pandemic has made businesses realize the importance of an online presence and having a technically reliable workforce to run their operations. It does not matter which industry or job profile you apply for; some degree of technical knowledge will be a part of the job requirement. Here are some technical skills that will be in demand in the future-
-
Digital Marketing
It is a form of marketing that connects businesses with consumers by using digital platforms. It is beneficial for businesses in a lot of ways like it gives them a wider reach, helps them target the customers more effectively, enables them to analyze consumer behavior and preferences, and even sell products online. Digital Marketing is a vast field. It includes mobile marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, search engine marketing/optimization, and content marketing. You can choose to specialize in one or more areas.
-
Data Analysis
The amount of data that is produced daily has increased tremendously over the years. Now companies are using this data to build data-driven business strategies. Data analysis starts with collecting raw data and cleaning it. Cleaning data means organizing it and removing any inconsistencies present in the data so that it is ready for analysis. The analysis can be done using a variety of tools like MS Excel, SQL, R, Python, etc. Once the analysis is done the results are presented in a visual form for better understanding.
-
Cybersecurity
With businesses moving online they are prone to new risks of cyber hacking, data theft, etc. A cybersecurity expert will help businesses to understand their security needs and create a strong security system. The expert will also continuously analyze and evolve the system by identifying and managing risks. A company that can promise the safety of data to its consumers will surely win their trust and loyalty.
We all know that the post-pandemic world will never be the same. Old ideas and approaches will not be of any use. If you want to be in a position where you can make the best of the diverse opportunities available in the business world, try to develop these skills.
