Identifying critical emerging skills for future success

Skills are what drive the success of an organization. They determine whether your employees, managers, and leaders can accomplish company goals and help you remain competitive in the industry. The reality is, many of the skills you currently have in your organization won’t be relevant tomorrow. But how do you identify and prioritize the critical, emerging skills?

According to McKinsey, 87% of companies say they have skills gaps, or expect to within a few years. However, a report by PWC revealed that only 40% of employees said their company is upskilling. So maybe companies don’t know how to identify and prioritize critical, emerging skills. Does that resonate with your organization?

Common Critical Emerging Skills

Some critical skills are common across various industries. Many of the critical emerging skills focus on creativity, critical thinking, people skills, and technical knowledge. Here are three examples:

1. Technical skills – Regardless of your industry, tech knowledge and competencies are in high demand. The importance of these skills has grown exponentially in recent years and will only continue to do so.
2. Analytic and innovative thinking – You want employees who can analyze tasks and issues with a critical eye. Though AI is rapidly advancing, it’s arguably even more important to have people on your team who can offer innovative ideas.
3. Emotional intelligence – Empathy is increasingly important as workplaces aim to achieve more diverse and inclusive teams. Again, as AI contributes to more tasks, this human attribute is crucial for team management.

But these are quite broad. For you to identify what skills and competencies are critical to your organization, you’ll need to dig deeper.

Conducting a Skills Gaps Analysis

Start by conducting a skills gap analysis. A skills gap analysis helps employers understand the organization’s potential and what is hindering achieving this. According to Gartner, only 20% of employees have the skills needed for both their current role and their future career. If you can identify any existing skills gaps, you can implement short-term solutions as well as prepare for future development strategies.

Study key performance indicators, such as sales, signups, and conversions. Drops in performance will shine a light on where employees require extra training. Assessments are an alternative method. You can conduct practical assessments or quizzes to test employee skills. Surveys will also provide detailed feedback on group and individual scales to better understand where training is necessary.

What Emerging Skills Are Relevant to YOUR Organization?

Don’t just assume that business leaders will know what your organization needs. Business is radically changing, particularly post-pandemic. Technology develops further and the gig economy expands. Even if senior executives know how your business is transforming, they may not necessarily understand what skills it will translate into.

Employees are sometimes aware of their personal skills gaps, but they may not be able to rectify them alone. Mastering the skills required today and tomorrow is a big ask. You can’t rely on them to just pull emerging skills out of thin air. Here are a few tips on how to identify what emerging skills your organization requires.

1. Consider your outsourcing or contractor needs – Who are managers outsourcing and what for? Consider their skillsets and whether any existing roles could take on such responsibilities if trained appropriately.
2. Analyze your company goals – What is holding you back? Is there a way to fast-track the company goals? Perhaps you need to introduce a new role. There may be a need for a reshuffle of teams or internal lateral moves.
3. Study market trends – Be aware of what your competitors are doing. Examine their job listings, specifically the requirements section. Take note of announcements or online activity. Capture emerging market skills and determine the most critical skills relevant to your organization.

Upskilling and Reskilling Your Employees

Once you know what emerging skills are most critical to your organization, what do you do with this information? Hiring a bunch of new talent is time-consuming and expensive. The solution? Upskilling and reskilling your employees.

Invest in skills development. Not only does this benefit your organization, but it also creates a positive workplace fueled by growth and opportunity. You can offer coaching, mentoring, online modules, or even reimburse external learning. Give employees with an interest in learning more attention. Support vulnerable learners.

It’s also important to focus on skills when hiring new candidates rather than just their qualifications. This way, you hire specifically for current and future requirements. Remember that job titles and their traditional credentials may not be relevant in the future. Hiring and managing with a focus on skills and competencies is the future.

Final Thoughts

For companies to remain competitive in the market, they must transform their workforce’s skills. When you develop in-demand skills in-house, employees remain more engaged and are more likely to stay longer in their jobs. Retention rates go up, and your company is prepared for the future. As any serious employer knows, attracting and retaining talent is the ultimate goal.

Using skills gap analyses, market trends, company goals, and internal data, you can identify critical emerging skills in your workplace. Use this information in your workforce planning and future-proof your organization.