Wall Street Journal, 17th Nov 2012
Even as employers remain cautious next year about every dollar
spent on employees, they'll also want workers to show greater skills and
results.
For employees who want to get ahead, basic competency won't be
enough.
To win a promotion or land a job next year, experts say there
are four must-have job skills:
1. Clear communications
Whatever their level, communication is key for workers to
advance.
"This is really the ability to clearly articulate your
point of view and the ability to create a connection through
communication," says Holly Paul, U.S. recruiting leader at
PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accounting and consulting firm based in New York.
As office conversations increasingly move online, some workers are losing or never developing the ability to give a presentation, for example. Others may be unable to write coherently for longer than, say, 140 characters.For job seekers in particular, clear communication can provide a snapshot of their work style to employers. "I can walk away from a five-minute conversation and feel their enthusiasm and have a good understanding of what's important to them," Ms. Paul says.
"Technology in some ways has taken away our ability to
write well. People are in such a hurry that they are multitasking," and
they skip basics such as spelling and proofing, says Paul McDonald, senior
executive director of Robert Half
International, a Menlo Park, Calif., staffing firm.
2. Personal branding
Human-resources executives scour blogs, Twitter and professional
networking sites such as LinkedIn when researching candidates, and it's
important that they like what they find.
"That's
your brand, that's how you represent yourself," says Peter Handal, CEO of
Dale Carnegie Training, a Hauppauge, N.Y., provider of workplace-training
services. "If you post something that comes back to haunt you, people will
see that".
Workers
also should make sure their personal brand is attractive and reflects well on
employers. "More and more employers are looking for employees to tweet on
their behalf, to blog on their behalf, to build an audience and write
compelling, snappy posts," says Meredith Haberfeld, an executive and
career coach in New York.
Ms.
Haberfeld has a client whose employee recently posted on her personal Facebook page
about eating Chinese food and smoking "reefer."
"I saw it on Facebook. Her supervisors saw it," Ms.
Haberfeld says.
3. Flexibility
The ability to quickly respond to an employer's changing needs
will be important next year as organizations try to respond nimbly to customers.
"A lot of companies want us to work with their employees
about how to get out of their comfort zone, how to adapt," says Mr.
Handal. "Somebody's job today may not be the same as next year."
The
ability to learn new skills is of top importance, says George Boué,
human-resources vice president for Stiles, a real-estate services company in
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "We want to know that if we roll out a new program
or new tools that the folks we have on board are going to be open to
learning," he says.
4. Productivity improvement
In
2013, workers should find new ways to increase productivity, experts say.
Executives are looking for a 20% improvement in employee performance next year
from current levels, according to a recent survey by the Corporate Executive
Board, an Arlington, Va., business research and advisory firm.
"When you are at your job, do you volunteer for projects?
Are you looking for creative ways to help your organization," Mr. McDonald
says. "The way to really differentiate yourself is to be proactive."
Companies
that are considering adding workers in coming years want current employees to
operate in growth mode now. "My clients are looking for employees that
have a great ability to understand what is wanted and needed, rather than
needing to be told," Ms. Haberfeld says.
Even hiring managers need to work on certain skills as organizations
consider expanding next year. "The ability to spot talent and hire people
has fallen out of use over the last several years," says Ben Dattner, an
organizational psychologist in New York. "As the economy turns around,
companies will have to work harder to retain talented employees. Companies have
trimmed the fat, and now they have to build the muscle."