These days, we are all about “upgrading ourselves”. Regardless of our occupation and where we are in our career path, we have been told that we need to acquire many more skills to stay ahead of the game. Educational institutions offer many certificate courses on “skills in high demand” – new computer program, big data, project management, etc. We cannot help but ask ourselves – what key skills do we really need have to thrive in the future?
In 2018, the Toronto Financial Service Alliance Talent Initiatives did some extensive research and consultation to look for the answer. The group identified four categories of future-proof skills that will help today’s workforce for the future.
- Human experience skills – emotional intelligence, empathy, communication
- Reimagination skills – curiosity, creativity, critical thinking
- Pivoting skills – adaptability, Capacity to learn
- Future currency skills – Digital and data acumen
Three out of the four skill categories are “soft skills” that are vague and cannot be acquired simply by attending a training session. Sounds frustrating?
It is because skill and talent development does not have a fixed “sure-win formula”. As the report emphasized, it is all about communicating with the team (whether it is 2 or 200) and playing to the strength of people (including ourselves).
The world is constantly changing, and this year we are certainly feeling even more vulnerable and uncertain. Not only the three soft skills – human experience, reimagination, and pivoting – will keep our competitiveness in our workplace, but they will also help us manage the turbulence and stay optimistic in our everyday life.
The full report “unlocking the human opportunity – future-proof skills to move financial services forward” can be found here.