Skills such as leadership, teamwork, and time management are essential qualities that organizations seek in their employees to face changes in the labor landscape successfully.
In the past, many companies prioritized technical training, also known as hard skills. However, organizations have come to understand the importance of developing soft skills in their teams over time. Soft skills are inherent human qualities that enable individuals to make better decisions, be more adaptable and innovative, communicate effectively with others, and solve problems more efficiently.
These skills have become so relevant and valued in the professional world that they are now recognized as power skills, replacing the outdated term of soft skills. This article will explain all you need to know about power skills and which skills are most important for your team in the workplace.
What are power skills?
It is necessary to recognize how the pandemic, remote work, and digitalization have brought about significant changes in today’s workplace to understand the definition of power skills. Skills such as communication, teamwork, and adaptability, which machines cannot replicate, are more necessary than ever for teams to recognize problems and find solutions through communication and collaboration.
Soft skills are necessary for organizations and are crucial for success. But, calling qualities such as emotional intelligence or self-management “soft” does not do justice to these skills. That is why they were recently baptized as “power skills” by Dartmouth University President Philip Hanlon.
Therefore, power skills are the best way to recognize these critical and essential skills that our professionals must possess to lead effectively, increase productivity and achieve a better work environment.
What is the importance of power skills in the workplace?
Power skills are interpersonal skills that some professionals have naturally, but they can also be developed through training. Learning and Development (L&D) managers recognize that developing these skills in their employees will help them succeed in the changing future of work.
These skills enable professionals to work, manage and lead teams while considering the human side of the job. Companies are looking to improve their competitiveness and adapt to change: in this sense, power skills are essential for employees to collaborate, work together and communicate effectively, even adapting to hybrid or remote work models.
#10 key power skills to ensure the success of your organization
Now that we know what power skills are and their importance in the workplace, it is time to promote them. Luckily for us, multiple options on the market will allow you to develop them in your organization. But, among them all, which ones are the most in-demand for your employees develoment?
1. Emotional intelligence
Humans deal with many emotions daily, such as joy, surprise, calm, anger, and nervousness. Each of them influences our daily lives, even in the workplace, and learning to manage them efficiently is essential, especially when faced with high-pressure situations.
Emotional intelligence is the necessary skill to achieve this. It consists of having the ability to recognize our feelings and those of other people, to know how to manage them properly and make the most of them. Through emotional intelligence, we can overcome beliefs, habits, or attitudes that limit us, increase satisfaction and improve self-esteem. These emotional competencies are valuable when working in a team and resolving conflicts intelligently. In addition, emotional intelligence at work increases productivity by up to 20%, makes us more likely to lead a good life, and improves colleague relationships.
2. Assertive communication
Knowing how to communicate assertively with others is essential in any aspect of life, especially in the workplace. Through communication, it is possible to establish a dialogue with respect, and calm, without hurting the feelings of others and without failing to express our own.
Assertiveness is the gift of knowing how to communicate, which means that assertive communication means being clear and specific, defending our points of view, and expressing our opinions with respect and empathy. This is an essential skill for any job, allowing us to clarify situations, defend points of view, assume responsibilities, and learn to ask for and receive feedback on our work or that of others.
3. Adaptability
In the workplace, adaptability is a professional skill that allows us to adapt to a job or organization, understanding and internalizing new procedures, rules, and work methods quickly and easily. It is one of the power skills most valued by organizations since workers with this quality can perform tasks that fit their professional profile and others that do not match 100%.
Companies with employees capable of adapting remain current and competitive in the market because they quickly adapt to transformations. The high demand for this skill today is due to the constant changes, digitalization, and evolution of work, which merit professionals willing to adapt and respond positively to new situations.
4. Creativity
Today’s world is demanding and constantly changing. Therefore, those companies that can provide innovative solutions to any challenge are more successful than others. And how do you get to these solutions? It is clear: with creativity!
Companies need the most creative professionals capable of providing solutions and ideas with a touch of originality and ingenuity that makes a difference in the market. The ability of your professionals to be creative is directly related to their ability to innovate. This quality will be reflected in all the company’s actions and guarantee its long-term success.
5. Collaboration
As social animals, human beings are designed to live in society. In particular, through collaboration, we managed to survive in the early days of humankind and then evolve continuously into today’s communities. It is not surprising that collaboration is one of the factors that contribute to the success of companies.
Collaborative work allows us to achieve a common goal much faster because it gives space to the exchange of ideas, promotes self-analysis, and helps to solve problems using not just one perspective but several. Companies value employees who can work in teams, delegating or making decisions, because they know they are vital to the company’s success.
6. Leadership
Leadership is the ability to lead teams and projects. Leaders are those people who set a strategy to achieve a common goal. Surely you have heard of Steve Jobs, Henry Ford, or Mark Zuckerberg: we call them all leaders. All three have in common ambition, the ability to think globally, and the ability to transmit confidence to their teams.
Leadership skills also have to do with other power skills that we have seen above because true leaders know how to listen and be heard and are decisive, proactive, and creative. They also know how to deal with their own and other people’s emotions and are adaptable.
7. Time management
Making good use of time allows us to progress and achieve goals faster. That is why people who can manage it efficiently will be more productive, positively impacting their daily work, their colleagues, and the company.
Professionals with this ability achieve their goals in an agile manner, deliver their projects on time, and can overcome unforeseen events. Moreover, their organizations highly value professionals with this skill, as they help increase productivity, profitability, and competitiveness.
8. Problem-Solving
All organizations are looking for professionals who possess the ability to solve problems. This skill involves seeking the best solution or reaching satisfactory agreements between the parties, knowing how to place oneself in the appropriate contexts, and choosing the best route to solve obstacles or difficulties at work.
The ability to solve problems implies knowing how to clarify misunderstandings, analyze the causes of conflicts, generate alternatives, evaluate the advantages and disadvantages, and take advantage of problematic situations by turning them into opportunities.
9. Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is a power skill that involves asking questions, considering context, and trying to understand situations to make better decisions. It is an essential skill in a world of external influences and information overload. With it, professionals can question, reason, and evaluate situations without external opinions or biases preventing them from reaching their own conclusions.
Through critical thinking, it is possible to discover that only some things are what it seems and that many things done out of habit are sometimes not the best way to do them.
10. Empathy
Empathy is the last power skill on our list, but one of the most important. Being empathetic implies understanding, sharing, and experiencing emotions or feelings that are not one’s own. A simple phrase to understand empathy is “putting ourselves in the other person’s shoes” so that we can know what they feel and why they make certain decisions.
Empathy is crucial in maintaining relationships with customers, suppliers, peers, supervisors, and subordinates. Empathetic professionals connect with the needs of others, are collaborative and conscientious, and generate a positive work environment – no wonder they are so highly valued by companies!
Boost the development of power skills in your team with isEazy Skills
Companies need to prepare for the future and remain competitive in today’s market. That is why it is essential to develop the power skills of their professionals and encourage their growth. Do you want an e-learning solution to achieve this?
Meet isEazy Skills, a complete catalog of courses in power skills and digital skills, created with the learning-by-doing methodology and adapted to the new learning formulas to boost your team’s talent.
Motivate your employees and collaborators with a catalog of interactive and dynamic e-learning courses to capture their attention and help them retain information better. IsEazy Skills improves training results and offers employees an immersive and complete learning experience.h
