The work world is changing so quickly. It’s challenging to just keep up, never mind get ahead of it. So often, it feels like what we learn today is already obsolete by tomorrow. Yes, it certainly is challenging to face a future where we will constantly have to reinvent our skill sets.
While there is fear that jobs will be lost to automation, the future of work trends point to an increase in headcount coming in the future. In fact, in 35 of 44 countries studied, companies are planning to grow or maintain their workforce, not shrink it. Most of the anticipated growth will come in customer facing roles, engineering, and management—all of which require uniquely human skills such as advanced communication, negotiation, leadership, management, and adaptability. These skills are hard to find and hard to teach. Those candidates who possess these skills will certainly be in demand. By 2030, demand for human and soft-skills will grow across all industries.
What does this say to you, if you’re a manager? If you wish to remain relevant and, frankly, in a job, you may have to upgrade your soft-skills knowledge. You’re also going to have to ensure your team does the same.
Managers are already pressed for time, so how are they supposed to find the space in their schedules for all this training? Maybe Artificial Intelligence can help! Automating tasks like these can free up some time:
- Emails and follow up activities
- Managing projects
- Using data to evaluate problems
- Make data-driven decisions
- Monitor team performance
- Scheduling
- Document verification
- Giving access to tools and systems
For some tasks there are applications readily available on the market. For others, it’s a bit more complex. As my colleague, Eduardo Mota of C-Change Automates says, if a company would like to automate operational processes, the best course of action is to bring in an expert to build custom integrations with your systems. This may seem like an expensive undertaking. However, the right automation process will quickly pay for itself in terms of time savings, efficiencies, and error reductions.
Now that automation has taken some of the load off the shoulders of managers, there is time to upgrade knowledge. Those managers who demonstrate higher cognitive skills, such as the soft-skills mentioned above, combined with adaptability and likeability, will enjoy greater success in their careers. In other words, if managers don’t possess soft-skills to the degree they’d like, now is the time to change that.
Some of the key areas managers should look for training in are:
- Communication and relationship building
- Presentation skills
- Customer service
- Understanding human behaviour
- Critical thinking, analysis
- Problem solving
The demand for these skills is increasing steadily, and the shortage of talent is at the highest level it’s been in many years. Knowing this, it makes sense for companies to develop their talent from within the company. Learning is essential. The return on training investment is clear. The cost of turnover and replacement can be as much as 30% to 150% of salary (this includes the cost of recruiting, hiring, training, and loss of productivity while learning the new role), while the cost of training is about 10% of salary. It simply makes good sense for companies to invest in training programs.
C-Change Learning and Development is there for you. Our programs are all focused on soft-skills development, combining experiential learning with coaching and support. Our core programs develop the managers in the organization, working with them in the areas of Building Relationships, Developing Understanding, Coaching, Team-Building and Empowerment, Delivering Feedback, Change Management, and Problem-Solving. We also offer training in Customer Service skills and Communication for anyone in the organization. Need a customized solution? C-Change can work with you to create programs to fit your needs.
Are you ready for the future of work? Let us help develop your skills and get you ready!
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