The changing nature of work where more focus is given on acquiring specific variety of skills, including knowing certain technical tools, life skills, negotiation skills etc., dialogues on how to equip workers on up skilling and re-skilling becomes important. Students often face the problem of entering the work-force not knowing what the essential skill one need to know is. Studies have shown that even after joining workplace, it is difficult to cope up with work for some employees, hence recruiters nowadays provide on job skilling training or orientation programmes for the new-comers. Competency in this context becomes a key requirement, wherein an employer expects workers to bring with them some basic working skills apart from the particular sector specific expertise one has. Apart from professional hands-on training, knowing basic life skills such as collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, growth-mind set etc. becomes crucial to learn.
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Before moving further let us know what is a Skill?
A skill is the learned ability to act with determined results with good execution often within a given amount of time, energy, or both. The 21st century is an era of new dimensions, new openings, endless opportunities, and innovations. So it becomes important to acclimatize with diverse set of skills that can improve productivity and efficiency. The essential skill every employer seeks from the employee are the following:
l Learning
Skills : Every matured worker needs to hone the 4 Cs in life such as Communication,
Collaboration, Creativity and Critical Thinking.
l Digital
Literacy Skills: Getting trained on the uses of modern tools such as, Information,
Media and Technology to enhance the capacity of spreading and acquiring
information from different resources.
l Life
Skills: Self –awareness, interpersonal skills and thinking skills such as
stress management, emotional regulation, positive thinking, self-esteem,
resilience, empathy etc. are some of the life-skills one needs to build
Learning/Innovation Skills:
ü Communication:
Humans are a social being hence is it important for them to know and apply
effectively these nuances of communication. Communication is not only about
expressing one’s thoughts but also refers to be understandable to the
listeners/target people.
ü Collaboration: Humans are are social beings so, it it important for them to collaborate with each other and become supplementary or complimentary to the other person’s abilities.
ü Critical Thinking: Perspective is something that is unique to every individual. People perceive and learn. The more skilled you are the more you can think, you can be aware of different perspectives.
ü Creativity: Creativity certainly means ‘out of the box’ and is correlated with handling situations and innovation.
Digital Literacy Skills: There were time when the only available resource to acquire knowledge, were books. But in the 21st century there are multiple resources to learn, so gathering information and using different resources have become important.
ü Information Literacy: In modern times there are an ample of information available everywhere. One must know how to access, analyse and use these information to learn new things. These abilities to understand data refer to Information Literacy.
ü Media Literacy: This includes the ability to access the methods and analyze media messages as well as create, reflect and take action, using the power of information and communication to make a difference in the world.
ü Self-awareness
— knowing and living with oneself: This theme covers topics that foster the
student’s relationship and under- standing of themselves including their
thoughts, feelings and behaviors.
ü
Interpersonal Skills — knowing and
living with others: The lessons in this theme explore how to establish healthy,
respectful relation- ships; lessons highlight the use of non-violent
communication, assertiveness and dispute resolution.
They also mentioned that regardless of gender there are certain challenges that are associated with modern workplace such as,
l Limited
Growth and Advancement Opportunities
l Lack
of Recognition
l Inadequate
Training and Development
l Unclear Expectations
In addition to the mentioned challenges there are also some specific pitfalls that are unique to women especially in a developing country like India. As Kanika mentioned, ‘I’ve seen women getting terminated for being pregnant or while asking for the maternity leave’. It is the reality of modern workplace, and you will be amazed to know that there are many more challenges that await for the woman joining the workforce such as,
l Stigmas
about women going to work outside the house.
l Studies
have shown even after they join the workforce, these women become victims to
unconscious biases at workplace.
l Due
to the social mind set it is often believed by co-workers that women lack
communication skills as they are emotional, women lack assertiveness and
negotiation skills due to their submissive nature, women lack confidence etc.
which reduce woman’s confidence.
l Maternity
leaves/pregnancies are observed in a negative way and often cause demotion or
even termination.
l Women have to take up responsibilities at home besides work as most of the times they are the primary caregiver to kids and elderly parents.
What
can be done to address these challenges?
According to the experts, women need to self –train or seek external support in-order to develop these skills and confidence. They also pointed out some important insights both from a working women’s perspective and a recruiter’s perspective that can help to manage the challenges and enable the women to become successful.
An
individual can,
l Avail
career ready skills development and training opportunities to stay current in
the field
l Invest
in leadership development, communication and negotiation skill building
programs
l Take
ownership of professional and personal life, become role models for fellow
women
l Seek
out mentors and sponsors who can offer guidance, support, and advocacy in their
career
l Build
connection with like minded women and address the common challenges together
l Asses
own expectations and plan out a career accordingly.
l Find
strategies to integrate the work and personal life effectively.
They also recognized that organisations need to be intentional about creating an environment where women feel valued and respected. They suggested that the organisations should take into consideration the following points:
l Promote diversity and inclusion at the workplace
l Provide
equal pay and benefits to all employees
l Offer
on-job skill building
l Ensure
zero tolerance for harassment and discrimination at the workplace
l Support
policies and legislation that promote gender equality at workplace
l Ensure
equal representation and visibility
l Support maternity rights and be empathetic toward the female workers
Availing skill development programs:
For
skill development and upgradation, networking and access to adequate
information and opportunity becomes very important. With the changing scenario
around competency, newer ways to acquire knowledge have also emerged. As Pritha
Dutt mentioned 'With the changing technology more resources are in our fists'.
There are several skill building opportunities for young entrepreneurs especially for women who are in the workforce and want scale up their abilities. Social media, networking websites and inter-personal networking can be used to hone up certain skills and access mentoring. MeraBizNet, Women4Economy, NSDC, SkillIndia are some of the websites that share information about mentoring and skill building opportunities in an array of sectors.
Here are some of the course details available on the web:
Leadership
courses :
Leadership
elevation programs consists of all the required skills training, such as,
Communication skills (active listening & empathetic communication) Critical
Thinking (conflict resolution & strategy management), Creativity (decision
making & problem solving) and Collaboration skills(management and
delegation). Across the internet there are many such training programs by
certified trainers.
Courses on Udemy
ü Business,
Management & Leadership Fundamentals
ü Service
Management and Complaint Handling
ü Leadership in
Startups: Upside Down at 150 People
ü Innovation
Leadership in Tourism Sector Organization
Courses
on Coursera
ü Strategic Leadership: Impact, Change, and Decision-Making Specialization -
ü Certificate in
Strategic Leadership
ü Leadership and organizational behavior
Communication
courses:
Communication is one of the fundamental skill that one must posses. Several courses on communication facilitated by certified experts are available both online and in-person.
Courses on Udemy
ü Effective
communications skills for business
ü Free
communication skill tips for great emails and meetings
ü Strategies to
Reduce Workplace Communication Breakdowns
Courses on Alison.com
ü Customer Care
Skills and Telephone Etiquette
ü Group
Communication, Teamwork and Leadership
ü Master the Art of
Interactions and Impacts in User Experience Design
Courses on Coursera.org
ü Effective
Communication: Writing, Design, and Presentation
Specialization
ü Influencer
Marketing Strategy
ü Storytelling and influencing: Communicate with impact
To
conclude, it can be said that skill development is the cornerstone of enhancing
productivity in the modern workplace. In today's fast-paced and ever-evolving
professional landscape, the ability to adapt and acquire new skills is not
merely an option but a necessity. Skill development is a continuous journey, that
involves setting clear goals, seeking out opportunities for learning, and
embracing challenges as opportunities for growth. It's about being proactive,
seeking feedback, and staying committed to improvement. Moreover,
synchronisation between individual skill development and organisational
assistance can ensure professional progress of individual and with the support
of an enabling workplace, women can stay ahead of the curve and achieve goals.
Thank you so much for listing a very helpful content!
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