The Future of Work: Top 7 Skills for an Invaluable Employee

The future of work is being shaped by two powerful forces: the growing adoption of artificial intelligence in the workplace; and the expansion of the workplace. Digitalization and globalization have sparked radical shifts in how we live and work; and the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis has therefore, accelerated these beyond anything we could have imagined.

These changes raise essential questions about the precarity of our jobs; the support available if we are unable to work or retire; as well as the skills for current and future job; Likewise, the quality of those jobs, and what voice we have in shaping these outcomes.

Here are top 7 skills you will need to be an invaluable employee

Innovation and creativity

You must remain creative and innovative because technology is at the forefront of every industry. Hence, there is a saying “thinking outside the box” is a great skill to have; and this continues throughout your entire career. When you can see projects in a new way, you will be able to be creative. 

Creativity is the most in-demand soft skill of the future. This is due to technology replacing many of the mundane, process-related work; that does not require much thought or creativity to perform.

Growth mindset

Secondly, one must poses the growth mindset; and this you must achieve by being agile and able to pivot easily in the changing work environment. Therefore, having a growth mindset involves continually being on the lookout for the latest trends and innovations that can help you be, and perform, better.

Leadership

An invaluable employee should possess traits commonly associated with leadership such as; being inspiring and helping others become the best version of themselves. Therefore, it is essential for every invaluable employee to take on the armor of leadership. Because it will be required of you to take on leadership roles on project teams; or subsequently work with other employees to tackle issues and develop solutions.

Interpersonal and communication

The ability to change information and meaning between people is a vital skill. This means people should hone their ability to communicate effectively with other human beings; so that they can say the right things; using the right tone of voice and body language, to pass their messages across.

Analytical (critical) thinking

The first step in critical thinking is to analyze the flow of information from various resources. A critical thinker can suggest innovative solutions and ideas, solve complex problems using reasoning and logic and evaluate arguments. After observing; someone who is a strong analytical thinker will rely on logical reasoning rather than emotion; collect the pros/cons of a situation and be open-minded to the best possible solution. People with strong analytic thinking will be needed to navigate the human/machine division of labor.

Emotional intelligence (EQ)

Emotional intelligence is the ability of someone to be aware of; control, and express their own emotions as well as being cognizant of the emotions of others. You exhibit high emotional intelligence if you have empathy, integrity and work well with others. A machine can easily replace a human’s ability to connect with another human being; so those who have high EQs will be in high demand.

Decision making

Human decision-making will become more complex in the future workplace. While machines and data can process information and provide insights that would be impossible for humans to gather; ultimately, a human will need to make the decision; recognizing the broader implications the decision might have on other areas of business; personnel and the effect on other more human sensibilities such as morale. As technology takes away more menial and mundane tasks, it will leave humans to do more higher-level decision-making.

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