Power Skills of 2022

         If I had to choose the most powerful competencies of our time, I would undoubtedly choose the following four:

– managerial competence – yes! Always and invariably! And more so with each passing year, because when the reality around us is constantly changing, we need strong leaders to be able to keep up with it,

– new technologies and web 3.0 – whether we like it or not, the world is moving in this direction, so we can learn it or sulk and pretend it is not happening,

– information research – the ability to find information, verify it, and assess its credibility,

– the ability to adapt quickly to change – I personally believe that the old, stable, and peaceful times are over and the marker of the new times will be change…

To confirm my conclusions, I dug through the Internet for you and pulled up some reports on the competencies of the future, check below what I found:

          According to Udemy, the world’s largest platform with online courses, has prepared a report entitled ‘2022 Workplace Learning Trends Report’. Using data from many prestigious sources e.g. MCKinsley Global research or Stanford News, they developed lists of 5 Power Skills – the strongest (in any market) and most desired (by employers) competencies of today, I present them to you from the perspective of three areas:

Communication and Teamwork:

1. Assertiveness,
2. Facilitation,
3. Team building,
4. Copywriting,
5. Critical thinking.

Leadership and management:

1. Diversity and inclusion,
2. OKR,
3. Strategic thinking,
4. Problem-solving,
5. Managerial coaching.

Productivity and collaboration:

1. Computer literacy,
2. Time management,
3. Windows 10,
4. Share Point,
5. PowerPoint.

In the report, you will also read about Tactical Skills and Technical Skills. What intrigued me the most in this report was the approach to Power Skills as competencies in which machines cannot replace people. Among these competencies, you will also find soft skills, which can currently be put on a par with hard skills, and will soon replace them. Why? Because most hard skills will be replaced by machines, systems, and technology.

              In the report ‘Future of Jobs. Report 2020’ prepared by the World Economic Forum in October 2020, we can find an overview of world economies, a broad spectrum of the labor market, and forecasts for the future. As well as a summary of the TOP 15 skills for 2025, among them:

1. Analytical thinking and innovation,
2. Active learning and learning strategies, 
3. Complex problem-solving,
4. Critical thinking and analysis, 
5. Creativity, originality, initiative, 
6. Leadership and social influence, 
7. Technology use, monitoring, and control,
8. Technology design and programming,
9. Resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility, 
10. Reasoning, problem-solving and ideation, 
11. Emotional intelligence,
12. Troubleshooting and user experience, 
13. Service orientation, 
14. Systems analysis and evaluation, 
15. Persuasion and negotiation.

A very interesting report, rich in information – 163 pages! I was most intrigued by the diagrams illustrating the shares of humans and machines in performing particular tasks in 2020 and the forecast for 2025.

          The third report that I looked at was the ‘2022 Power Skills Survey. Asia and Pacific’ produced by A People Matters & Pearson Research. This is the result of a survey that involved 180 companies from across the APAC region. The report addresses changes in employer demand for competencies after the COVID-19 pandemic. From Section B on just Power Skills, we find the strongest five:

• Leadership and Managing Others,
• Collaboration,
• Adaptability and Continuous Learning,
• Digital skills,
• Critical thinking and decision-making skills.

The report is interesting and pleasantly presented, enriched by contributions from CEOs of companies in the APAC region. The comparison of pre-pandemic and post-pandemic needs is intriguing.

              I wonder what the skills market will look like in 2025 and to what extent today’s forecasts will be relevant to reality.

Best, Dorota Sędek

Photo by GR Stocks on Unsplash

Sources:

https://business.udemy.com/2022-workplace-learning-trends-report/

https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-future-of-jobs-report-2020

https://www.pearson.com/asia/industry/human-resources/2022-power-skills-report.html