Soft skills - guide for employers

To begin with, pay attention to the content of news related to the labor market or even the general development of business on a global level. In general, they all have a common thread - problems in finding an adequate quantity, but also the quality of employees. Almost all industries suffer from a deficit of talent and resources needed for development. The seriousness of the situation is growing drastically, especially in the technology sector, where the need and competition of companies is even greater and more pronounced.

Why is that so?

Today, every company, whether due to digitization or the consequences of the Covid-19 lockdown, is a tech company that organizes at least part of its business through digital tools and resources. The aforementioned pandemic has accelerated efforts to adopt and deploy new technologies to help businesses get off the ground and stay afloat over the past nearly two years.

According to Manpower's Stack It Up report, technical skills are in demand. Technology-related jobs account for more than 50% of the top 20 job occupations such as data analysts, AI and machine learning specialists, 5G and Big data specialists, digital marketing and strategies, digital transformation consultants, application and software developers, and charge analysts for networks and information security.

While the search for qualified talent within these occupations is an uphill battle, the acquisition of talent with the appropriate soft skills set is another, equally relevant issue.

It is not enough just to have the appropriate technical skills.

As technology develops, primarily driven by the 5G revolution and the rapid increase in the trend of mobile and flexible work, the demand for cyber security and cloud engineering also grows, which changes the future profile of the most sought-after talents.

Professional technical qualifications are in demand in companies of various sectors, from financial and professional services, healthcare, retail and e-commerce, public sector, logistics to advanced industrial production and a long list of other sectors. And when we further combine this with the growing need for human, soft skills, skills to effectively perform technical roles, it is clear that the demand for talent will continue to skyrocket. At the same time, the demand for skills such as analytical thinking and a tendency to innovate, the ability to actively learn, the ability to solve complex problems, creativity, leadership quality and social influence, resistance/tolerance to stress and flexibility, emotional intelligence, and the power of persuasion and negotiation skills dominates today.

A lot of current market participants, companies that are transforming their business, do not have the skills necessary to implement a digital transformation strategy and exploit the potential of technological growth precisely because of the lack of qualified workforce. What to do about it?

Build, buy, borrow and overcome obstacles

Changing workforce dynamics and accelerating adoption of various new technologies are forcing organizations in all industries to reshape their workforce and rethink the skill mix they need. Companies want to be employers of choice for candidates, to gain an advantage and ensure a permanent competitive advantage on the labor market.

To achieve this, companies must develop sophisticated, competitive strategies to build, buy, borrow and bridge workforce barriers to secure the specialized talent they need and all the in-demand skills they need. What is needed to build, educate, buy, borrow and bridge?

It follows below:

BUILD - Invest in employee learning and skill development to develop the required technology pool

BUY - Explore the external market and import labor to find the best technical talent that cannot be built in-house in the required time frame

BORROW - Cultivate technical talent from outside your organization, including part-time, contract and temporary workers to complement needed skills

BRIDGE - Help people continue to progress and learn to take on new technology roles and acquire new technical and soft skills inside or outside the organization