The 5 essential skills your employees should have

With 2021 nearly here, you may be looking for new ways to set yourself up for as much success in your chosen field. Often, that’s easier said than done, but one area many managers overlook is the importance of building the skill base of their entire staff.

Employee training is critical to undergirding business operations in many ways both obvious and invisible. If you’re looking for new ways to branch out, consider investing in the following essential skills for training purposes:

1) Communication

This is the lifeblood of any good business processes because everyone from the receptionist to the CEO to convey ideas to coworkers, managers, visitors, clients, customers and more — and they have to do it every single day. Smarp noted that there are, generally, four different kinds of communication in business: upward, downward, lateral (all of which are internal) and also external.

You and every other employee have to be able to make sure your communications are professional, clear, concise and effectively tailored to the intended audience.

Communication is the foundation of every business relationship.

2) Problem solving

In business, even when things seem to be running smoothly, even the smallest problem can derail success if you don’t solve it quickly, according to the Centre for Management & Organisation Effectiveness. As such, you need to be able to quickly assess what the issue is and determine the best way to overcome it, all on an ongoing basis while juggling other tasks or projects.

To start, you may need to have an overarching plan for addressing any issue, but of course, each one is likely to be unique and therefore require a highly specific solution. Teaching employees how to do both — all while keeping their cool — can go a long way.

3) Resilience

Part and parcel with the ability to solve problems as they arise is the ability to accept the fact that not all complications have solutions, and the need to be able to bounce back with some lessons learned and a renewed enthusiasm for the next big thing. The COVID-19 pandemic certainly demonstrated that even when businesses are highly successful, they can’t rest on their laurels and project smooth sailing.

BetterUp pointed out that resilience requires agility, maturity, and a team spirit, among other things. Work stress is a given, in many ways, and how each employee handles it will determine everyone’s success.

4) Emotional intelligence

Being able to keep one’s feelings under control under pressure is obviously important to getting through the ups and downs of business life. However, emotional intelligence goes beyond that: It also means being able to identify how others are feeling and react appropriately. When people have a well of emotional intelligence they can tap, they tend to perform better at work, while those who do not are far more likely to struggle, according to The HR Director. Fortunately, this is a skill that can be built up over time.

5) Leadership

Even the people in your organisation who aren’t managers can be leaders. In fact, the CEO Institute noted that they should be. Leadership skills certainly include all four of the other capabilities we’ve discussed on this list, but they require the ability to incorporate all these skills with out prompting or guidance. When everyone thinks like a leader, that self-starting attitude fuels everyone’s effort.

With all of the above in mind, you can partner with ICML to make sure all your employees are armed with the skills they need to help themselves in their careers, and your companies as a whole. We offer courses designed to build skills around emotional intelligence, creative problem solving, management and communication, all of which can serve you and your workers well for many years to come. Get in touch with us today to learn more.