2-minute read and an exercise
You made it past the title, so you must be a little bit curious. This month, we invite some historical luminaries to join the conversation about career advancement.
The face of work is evolving rapidly. Among the factors shaping this evolution are later retirement dates, mid-career changers, and the rapid rise of the gig economy.
These and other factors have created a workforce in which four distinct demographic segments work simultaneously. Each of these segments has a distinct relationship with work, resulting in an overall healthy, yet often frustrating, friction reshaping our relationship with work. In addition, the meteoric rise of AI and automation has created operational efficiencies and ethical questions that redefine job functions.
For those of us working on the ground and managing careers, these macro trends mean that our future marketability depends on advancing our technical skills and relational competencies at the same rate.
Future jobs will rely heavily on technology and AI, which will propel globalization and require expertise in communication and collaboration. According to Gartner, the following six key skills and competencies are needed to succeed today and in the future.
- Business acumen
- Talent management
- Data judgment
- Relationship management
- Strategic consulting
- Agility
These six skills rely heavily on both technical and relational expertise.
Within the context of Gartner’s 9 Future of Work Trends for 2024, these skills and competencies make a lot of sense.
To address these shifts, Human Resources and People teams are working tirelessly to retool hiring practices to focus on skills, competencies, and degrees while attending to managing the pressure, stress, and employee engagement of these emerging trends.
With this introduction, it may appear that employers are largely responsible for creating the opportunities and conditions for building technical skills and relational competencies. However, we individuals are equal partners in shaping our future work and with a little guidance from the past, can take ownership in shaping our career paths.
“Practice what you know, and it will help to make clear what now you do not know.”
Rembrandt van Rijn
Proficiency
Today, with lightning-fast technological advancements, getting good at what you do means embracing the unknown and getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Take a pause and assess your position within your organization. Begin with a personal SWOT exercise to reflect on your approach to work and your function.
Question every aspect of your task and project management.
- Identify areas where you are proficient and those that need attention.
- Analyze the systems you are using. Will different technology streamline your day-to-day tasks?
- Recognize where you can add value. What technical skills can you learn that your team lacks? These will make you more valuable in your current position and the job market.
- Prioritize where your opportunities lie so you can make achievable plans.
“Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.”
Zora Neale Hurston
Curiosity
Using inquiry as the basis for growth helps drive personal learning and advancement, as well as critical relational communication and collaboration competencies.
For value to be created on both sides of the inquiry equation, this cogent HBR article on leadership communication offers the following insights:
- Create the context for your inquiry. What is its intent and purpose?
- Disclosing context helps to build communication trust.
- Integrate learning with execution. Tie learning to results.
- Demonstrate your expertise. Exchanging knowledge adds value to the conversation and increases the likelihood of future inquiries being well received.
- Be decisive. Know when to stop seeking input and make a decision.
- Foster a culture of shared learning. Introduce stand-alone ideation sessions and other collaborative inquiry-based mechanisms.
“It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.”
Molière
Accountability
Accountability is where the learning rubber hits the growth road.
As many of us know from setting yearly goals in the new year, we often fall short because the urgency of work pushes the importance of goal attainment aside. This happens because we don’t fully integrate what we want to do with what we are responsible for doing.
From your personal SWOT exercise above, review your areas of opportunity and outline the tactical steps you will need to take to realize these opportunities.
Adding an accountability partner helps. Where it makes sense, integrate an equal number of technical skills and relational competencies into your yearly measurable performance goals so you and your supervisor can track both intention and progress. If you manage a team, do the same for your team members.
Discuss the path to achieving these goals in one-on-one meetings with your supervisor. But don’t just wait for one-on-one meetings to happen. For yourself, create weekly micro targets to keep your goals moving forward.
Yes, the world of work is changing rapidly. Building your technical skills and relational competencies at the same rate creates value for your current employer while simultaneously positioning yourself for future opportunities.
End Note:
For those looking for a deeper dive into recruiting, read Lindauer Global’s excellent piece on the realities of evaluating and recruiting talent with transferable skills today.
If you know or have a young person starting out in their career, or if you hire them, this book is for you.
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