The reality is that we are living in the VUCA world.
Volatile because things can change so quickly. Uncertain due to the difficulty to predict the future. Complex as our environment is now filled with multi-faceted options and scenarios. Ambiguous because of the difficulty in drawing clear conclusions.
Whilst the term VUCA refers to the world we live in right now, it also refers to the environment that we have always lived in. Alvin Toffler, one of the world’s most well-known futurists said:
Each year we think we have seen it all, yet the waves of change just keep on coming.
In our Learning & Development workshops, we have had deep conversations with executive leadership around how best to develop and cultivate the soft skills that are critical as the business environment keeps evolving.
These skills have influence over our every conversation, business transaction and relationship – so it is important to commit to constantly nurture and improve them. By developing greater self-awareness, leaders are able to identify those skills that they are pre-disposed towards and those that need further development. Research shows that highly developed soft skills contribute to more effective leadership in management and better outcomes for professionals and their teams. Another study found that almost half of the establishments who reported a skills gap identified that it was soft skills their teams were lacking.
Which soft skills are needed to surf from wave to wave?
Creating a change-capable workforce where agility and soft skills are highly valued is the first step to preparing your team for 2020 and beyond.
After analysis of more than tens of thousands of employees across organisations across the globe, 10 key competencies were identified that set high performers apart from their co-workers.
1. Ability to prioritise
2. Working well in teams
3. Organisational awareness
4. Effective problem solving
5. Self-awareness
6. Proactivity
7. Ability to influence
8. Effective decision making
9. Learning agility
10. Technical savvy
Organisations benefit greatly by getting employees to understand personal mastery in the workplace – helping them to understand their personal impact and how they can effectively influence change.
This builds greater capability, confidence and competence. This is not an exact science unfortunately, and that is the often the rub, so sometimes we need to just start. It is the VUCA world after all.
As experts in Learning & Development, we would love to partner further with your business and share with you our successes around rolling out workshops that address soft skill development, change management and leadership competency.
For more information, please don’t hesitate to contact us today or visit our Training and Development products and services page!