How to build essential skills in your workforce
Soft skills. Job skills. Employability skills. Essential skills. Regardless of the term you choose, employers unanimously agree that they are lacking in our workforce. In this blog, we will refer to them as essential skills.
Essential skills are highly transferrable basic abilities needed in virtually every job. They complement “hard skills,” which refer to a worker’s technical capabilities and occupational knowledge. Many essential skills relate to how workers interact with one another. Employers consistently say they can train a worker the hard skills if the essential skills are present.
Centennial Talent Strategy and Executive Search Executive Vice President Becky Scheeler (left) shared three in-demand essential skills that are easy to teach - communication skills, office etiquette, and collaboration and teamwork. She provided the following tips about developing each into the workplace culture:
Communication skills must include spoken, written, and email formats. The company must develop guidelines for internal and external communication standards. Publishing the guidelines once and then never revisiting them is not enough. Employees need to see examples of effective internal and external communication. Scheeler said it is also important to have stated company norms for the time it takes to respond to emails and phone calls.
Office etiquette is often overlooked and includes simple courtesies such as saying “please” and “thank you.” Rather than barging into a colleague’s office or cubical, ask if they have time to talk first. If they do not, ask when they are available. On the other hand, if you tell someone you are available, stop working and make eye contact during the conversation.
Building collaboration and teamwork within your organization starts with some basic courtesies:
Always praise the team for accomplishments - even small ones.
Never take credit for something someone else did.
Do not talk about other people in the organization.
When something goes wrong, talk to the person(s) involved first before making judgments or talking badly about those involved. “Tattling” is never appropriate in the workplace.
“The manager must be willing to lead by example at all times,” Scheeler said, “and when he or she makes a mistake, they must call it out and state how he or she should have done it.”
She said it is critical to give feedback when someone exhibits excellent behavior and also when someone doesn’t behave in a manner consistent with company expectations. “Silence means acceptance to many people,” Scheeler warned.
Most importantly, managers must discuss company and team values every time they meet. As with communication skills, it is important to give examples of what the value looks like in practice. “Talk about what good looks like and what bad looks like and how it makes you feel when values are and aren’t followed.”
Honing one’s skills is essential for every manager. “One of my all-time favorite books is How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. I had my son read it when he was entering the business world. Many life-long lessons are taught there.”
Next week, we will examine some essential skills that are harder to build in the workplace, specifically adaptability, problem-solving, emotional intelligence, growth mindset, and cultural competency. In the meantime, you can hear more about leadership development from Scheeler and Centennial CEO Mike Sipple, Jr. in their recent podcast.
If your company needs help building essential skills in your workplace – or finding talent with essential skills – NKY Works can help. We can connect you to resources to address your specific workforce challenges. Contact NKY Works at 859.657.WRKS (9757) or NKYWorks@NKADD.org.