CAREER SPECIAL...Do you have the right skills?

Do you have the right skills?

With each passing year, the corporate world is undergoing tremendous transformation. And in an endeavour to stay abreast of the changes, key skills that one should hone are profiled 


Today, getting a job and working successfully call for a lot more than just effort. Employees are expected to handle various tasks and possess multiple skill-sets. These variations in the standard prerequisites of the employer are a reflection of the constant change, which is endured. It is believed that people with specialist skills will become redundant and that multi-tasking will become the order of the day, thus expecting everyone to do more! According to Ashish Arora, founder and MD, HR Anexi in 2012, it is vital to hone multiple special skills. Employees need to acquire skills like business understanding/acumen, data analysis/processing, flexibility, ability to build support for ideas, execution, etc. "It is important to  upgrade your skills and have a continuous improvement plan for yourself. Looking for opportunities to enroll in programmes, self-reading, working as a part of project teams that are outside their comfort domains, pursuing short-term certifications, etc are ways through which one can become multiskilled," says Arora.
The skill-sets one should enhance are:
Learn to unlearn:
According to Hari T N, managing director, global head of HR, Amba Research, the most important skill that employees need to hone is the ability to learn and unlearn. "One can develop the ability to learn and unlearn by doing three things consistently: a) ask a lot of questions – don't behave like the ‘know-it-all' expert who is busy providing answers and embarrassed of asking questions; b) listen – for many people, an evolved form of listening is waiting patiently for the other person to finish and c) revisit your assumptions and beliefs every once in a while and evaluate whether they need to be revised," suggests Hari.
Adaptability:
Chaitali Mukherjee, country manager, Right Management says, "Being able to mould yourself and your style of work to adapt to the ever-changing situations/environment or acquiring new skills to handle different or new responsibilities is crucial. The need  also extends to different cultures and work environments."
Technology:
"The line between technology and domain will start to blur due to an increasing range of applications. The relationship between domain and technology is ever-evolving and has now become interlinked. Learnability and the ability to apply one's learning is critical; everyone technical or otherwise must invest in themselves in terms of their ability to observe, learn and apply," concludes Kasivisweswaran.

- Priya C Nair tasc120124