Essential skills for the future of work: what you will need to develop

This guide outlines what the changes in the future of work will mean for the essential skills set needed.

The future of work is defined by more than just technological change. It is also impacted by sociological change. As of 2020 there were more people born since 1980 than before it, meaning that Generation Y or Millennials (born 1980 to 1994), Generation Z (1995 to 2009) and Generation Alpha (born since 2010) now comprise over half of the population. Additionally, since 2019 Generation Y and Generation Z now comprise the majority of the workforce, outnumbering Generation X and Baby Boomers for the first time.

11 essential skills of the future professional

1 – Conflict management

Amid constant changes, the work environment has become increasingly complex. Studies claim that professionals usually spend. Thus, it is necessary to know how to deal with different technologies, nationalities, cultures and ways of working.

Thus, the professional of the future needs to master the ability to manage conflicts that may arise from this complexity, knowing how to integrate teams, solve problems and improve communication within the company.

2 – Negotiation

Trading is another of the essential skillsof the professional of the future that will never be replaced by a machine — and that is very important for any company! Thus, to stand out in the market with the characteristics of the professional of the future, it is necessary to master the art of persuading and convincing people of your ideas, in order to close great deals.

3 – Emotional intelligence

Today, more important than cognitive skills are interpersonal essential skills. Thus, the professional of the future must be able to manage their emotions, shape their behavior and exercise control over the intensity of their feelings.

People who master this skill tend to manage teams better, know how to listen and show greater focus. They are also seen as more empathetic, communicative, flexible and good listeners.

4 – Agility and adaptability

To face the big changes that are to come, the professional of the future must be flexible and agile to adapt to them and not be “discarded” by the company.
Thus, it is important to transform your mindset, keep up-to-date and learn about essential skills and tools that make your business day-to-day more agile, such as the Scrum method. Furthermore, multidisciplinary knowledge is a good way to become flexible and endowed with the skills of the professional of the future.

5 – Initiative and entrepreneurial spirit

Proactivity is essential not only today, but also for the professional of the future, who must take the lead and face the changes that will dominate the market. In addition, the worker must develop an entrepreneurial spirit, in order to challenge processes and ideas, be nonconformist and seek incessantly for improvements for the company. “Nothing is so good that it cannot be improved” is one of the thoughts that must be incorporated by the professional of the future.

6 – Ability to analyze information

We already know that technology will have big impacts and that machines will replace many of today’s jobs, but one thing is certain: people are needed to analyze information and make decisions! Thus, presenting critical thinking, knowing how to analyze data and interpret information are essential skills for the professional of the future.

After all, 2.5 quintillion bytes of information are produced every day, many of which are incorrect and quickly spread, which demands a lot of critical sense and analysis skills by the professional who will be responsible for verifying this data.

7 – Creativity

A fundamental characteristic for the professional of the future is the ability to see beyond the conventional and provide unique solutions for the company in which he works. Thinking outside the box is one of the essential skills that makes the employee valuable, making him stand out in the organization and better able to adapt to changes in the coming years.

8 – Communication

As we have seen before, interpersonal essential skills are on the rise and are the most targeted by companies. Thus, the professional of the future, as well as the professional of today, must know how to communicate assertively, express their ideas clearly and connect with other people .

9 – Leadership

Leadership, which is already figuring repeatedly this talk of essential skills, has increased its importance in the future. So, if you want to stand out in the market with the characteristics of the professional of the future, you cannot stop looking for ways to improve .

10 – Time Management

Another important one of the essential skills of the future professional is to do more with less. Thus, it is necessary to constantly look for ways to be as productive as possible on a daily basis, which demands good time management. After all, to handle different tasks and responsibilities, it is essential that the professional of the future has a lot of organization and discipline!

11 – Training

As we’ve seen, changes are inevitable, but there are many ways to prepare for them. Among all of them, there is one thing that is always present: empowerment! To develop the essential skills of a professional of the future, it is necessary to seek knowledge in different areas and develop the right skills through a lot of effort. The professional of the future needs to be aware of one of the great characteristics demanded by the market: agility!

Overlooked aspects of future work

Diversity

A key characteristic of the future of work is diversity – gender-wise, culturally and generationally. With different generations mixing in the workplace, the new reality is one where teams of diverse ages work together on a project, where older leaders give guidance across several generations and where young graduates engage with and sometimes lead older workers.

The benefits of diversity in the demographics of a workplace as well as in other differences (personal characteristics, family composition, education and tenure within a company or lifestyle) enable organisations to create a competitive advantage for themselves. By welcoming different perspectives, they are better able to connect with a wider and more global audience.

Greater cultural and generational intelligence

In response to a more diverse workforce, we need workers to possess emotional intelligence, cultural intelligence and generational intelligence. In a nationally representative survey of 1,160 employed Australians conducted by McCrindle, 72% said emotional intelligence is extremely/very important for leaders to possess, above regular intelligence (71%). A critical role of leadership is to motivate and inspire people towards a common goal or outcome, thus interpersonal and human skills are needed. The uniquely human skills of empathy, ingenuity, co-operation, resilience, ethics and integrity are all contained within emotional intelligence.

Additionally, generational intelligence is considered extremely/very important by 67% of workers, as is cultural intelligence (62% consider extremely/very important for a leader to possess). Leaders need these skills to bridge gaps and create cohesion and a common direction among diverse teams.

Transferrability

Digital disruption and artificial intelligence is changing what jobs people will do in the future. The World Economic Forum predicts that 65% of children entering primary school today will ultimately end up working in completely new job types that don’t even exist yet!

The future of work will include jobs suited to technologically savvy young people such as quantum computing, biometric programming and AI technicians. However, new jobs such as wellbeing managers, office concierges, life simplifiers and urban farmers are also emerging and are roles where experience and people skills favour repositioning workers of diverse ages and not just new, younger workers.

Although many futuristic jobs will need technical and digital skills, it is also important to remember that human beings possess certain skills such as empathy, creativity and context-dependant critical thinking skills that are difficult to translate into a language a computer can understand. These skills are also transferrable, which is a key aspect of futureproofing ones career.

Our own research into the future of education suggests parents believe schools should focus on ‘developing transferable skills’ and ‘future proofing students by equipping them with workforce skills’ even above ‘educating students to achieve high academic results’.

Many organisations and leaders focus on ensuring their teams are equipped with technical skills that often are relevant only for a current job. While these skills are important to a certain extent, people skills that are both transferable and lifelong and are in demand in more workplaces. To future proof our teams we need to develop people skills, as well as technical skills.

Conclusion

Preparing for a global world and workforce should be a key priority for all workers as the world of work continues to shift and change. Investing in transferrable skills such as digital skills, creativity, leadership qualities and critical thinking is important because these can be used across different industries and sectors. In order to remain relevant in a changing context, workers need to make a habit of continually refreshing existing skills and adding new ones.