Because we are in the midst of the transformative impact of the Industrial Revolution 4.0, it is time to start preparing for the future of work.
In fact, according to the Future Employment Report from the World Economic Forum, just five years from now, more than one-third of the essential skills for today’s workforce will change.
Fast-moving technological innovation means that most of us will soon share the workplace with artificial intelligence and bots, so how can you stay ahead?
10 Skills Needed for Future Work
Here are 10 vital skills you need for future work.
1. Creativity
Employees in the future must be creative to fully realize the benefits of all things new for the future – new products, ways of working, and technology.
Today’s robots cannot compete with humans in terms of creativity. The future workplace will demand a new way of thinking, and human creativity is the key to that.
2. Emotional Quotient (EQ)
A person’s ability to realize, control and express their own emotions and to be aware of the emotions of others illustrates their emotional intelligence.
You show high emotional intelligence if you have empathy, integrity, and work well with others. A machine cannot easily replace a human’s ability to connect with other humans, so those who have high EQ will be needed.
3. Analytical Thinking (Critical)
Someone with critical thinking skills can suggest innovative solutions and ideas, solve complex problems using reasoning and logic and evaluate arguments.
The first step in critical thinking is to analyze the flow of information from various sources. After observing, someone who is a strong analytical thinker will rely on logical reasoning rather than emotions, gathering the pros / cons of the situation and open-minded for the best solution.
People with strong analytical thinking will be needed to navigate the division of human / machine labor.
4. Active learning with a growth mindset
Anyone in the future needs to learn and grow actively. Someone with a growth mindset understands that their abilities and intelligence can be developed and they know their efforts to build skills will result in higher achievement.
Therefore, they will face challenges, learn from mistakes and actively seek new knowledge.
5. Assessment and decision making
Human decision making will become more complex in future workplaces. While machines and data can process information and provide insights that are impossible for humans to gather, ultimately, humans need to make decisions by recognizing the broader implications of those decisions in other business fields, personnel and their effects on other human sensitivities such as morals.
Because technology eliminates more menial and worldly tasks, it will make humans do more high-level decision making.
6. Interpersonal communication skills
The ability to exchange information and meaning among people will be an important skill during the industrial revolution 4.0.
This means people must hone their ability to communicate effectively with other humans so they can say the right things, using the right tone and body language, to convey their message.
7. Leadership skills
The traits that you normally associate with leadership, such as inspiring and helping others, become the best version of themselves will be needed for the workforce in the future.
While typical organizational charts today may be unusual, individuals will take leadership roles in project teams or work with other employees to solve problems and develop solutions.
8. Cultural diversity and intelligence
As our world and workplace becomes more diverse and open, it is very important that individuals have the skills to understand, respect and work with others regardless of differences in race, culture, language, age, gender, sexual orientation, political or religious beliefs, etc. .
The ability to understand and adapt to other people who may have different ways of understanding the world will not only improve the way people interact within the company but also tend to make the company’s products and services more inclusive and successful.
9. Technological skills
The industrial revolution 4.0 is driven by technological innovations such as artificial intelligence, big data, and more. This means that everyone will need a certain level of comfort around technology.
At the most basic level, employees in most roles will be asked to access data and determine how to proceed. This requires some technical skills.
At a more fundamental level, everyone must be able to understand the potential impact of new technology on their industry, business and work.
10. Embrace Changes
Because of the speed of change in future workplaces, people must be nimble and able to embrace and celebrate change. Not only do our brains need to be flexible, but we also need to be able to adapt because we are required to adjust to shifts in the workplace, expectations, and expertise.
An important skill during the industrial revolution 4.0 is the ability to see change not as a burden, but as an opportunity to grow and innovate.
10 Soft Skills for Future Work
Researchers from the University of Memphis once revealed that collaborative problem solving will be the most important skill in the coming decades.
“Collaborative problem solving becomes an important skill in the world of work and community because there are many problems that must be faced in the modern world that require teamwork,” said the results of the study.
Soft skills become important because technology has taken over many jobs with technical skills. Many studies argue, investing in more humanistic skills such as leadership, creativity, emotional intelligence, and critical thinking becomes important because it can help reduce work lost due to automation.
If training in this type of skill can be doubled, then the number of jobs at risk of being crushed by automation will decrease from 10 percent to 4 percent.
Here are 10 skills that are considered important in the future:
- Conflict management
- Time management
- Stress management
- Communication skills
- Building a good company culture
- Customer service
- Emotional intelligence
- Productivity
- Storytelling ability
- Able to manage changes.
Experienced Recruiter with a demonstrated history of working in the media production industry. Strong human resources professional with a Bachelor’s degree focused in Psychology from Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana.