Aug. 4, 2017 "The work force still depends on soft skills": Today I found this article by Scott Stirrett in the Globe and Mail:
In the wake of changes brought on by automation, the attributes Canadians require to have successful careers are rapidly changing
We are living in a fourth Industrial Revolution – millions of jobs in sectors as diverse as transportation, manufacturing and retail have the potential of being automated. A recent report by the Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship indicated that nearly 42 per cent of jobs are at risk.
In the wake of these changes, the skills that Canadians require to have successful careers are rapidly changing and Canadian workers will need to adapt to stay ahead of the curve.
Increasingly, attributes such as critical thinking, communication and emotional intelligence, all of which are often described as soft skills, are critical for career success.
Increasingly, attributes such as critical thinking, communication and emotional intelligence, all of which are often described as soft skills, are critical for career success.
Consequently, Canadians needs to focus on developing not just technical skills (coding, engineering, data science and others), but also essential soft – or what I will refer to later as human – skills. What exactly are “soft” skills?
Unfortunately, the term soft skills is increasingly a buzzword and can often mean quite different things to different people.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, soft skills are “personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people.” What is frustrating about applying the adjective soft to these kind of attributes is that it implies that they are unimportant, and a “nice to have” rather than a “need to have.” What is a better name for soft skills?
In place of the term “soft skills,” I prefer Seth Godin’s phrase “human skills,” as it provides an appropriately broad umbrella def- inition for describing a wide subset of characteristics relevant to working with others, thinking critically and being self-aware.
As part of this classification, Mr. Godin breaks human skills into five categories, which include “self-control, productivity, wisdom, perception and influence.” These categories encompass our ability to interact collaboratively with others, as well to think strategically and regulate emotions. Why are human skills becoming even more important?
Gone are the days where many workers perform the same repetitive task over and over. In an age of automation, the jobs that will remain will more often than not require critical thinking and collaboration skills.
Technology can automate repetitive tasks, but it is much harder for artificial intelligence to compete against humans in roles that require social finesse and emotional intelligence, such as selling and managing people.
Technology can automate repetitive tasks, but it is much harder for artificial intelligence to compete against humans in roles that require social finesse and emotional intelligence, such as selling and managing people.
In 2016, the World Economic Forum published an extensive report called The Future of Jobs. One of the report’s main findings is that “social skills – such as persuasion, emotional intelligence and teaching others – will be in higher demand across industries.”
According to a survey of major employers by the Business Council of Canada, Canadian firms do not face a “comprehensive skills shortage,” although there are some gaps in specific technical areas. Instead, the survey indicates that hiring managers identify soft skills as “most in-demand.”
To succeed in the 21st century, Canadians have to marry highcalibre technical and human proficiencies. For instance, the best coders need to not just be excellent at software programming, they also need to be able to work together in teams.
If an employee is toxic to a workplace culture, then that individual will likely have a far more negative than positive impact, regardless of that individual’s intelligence or technical proficiency.
If an employee is toxic to a workplace culture, then that individual will likely have a far more negative than positive impact, regardless of that individual’s intelligence or technical proficiency.
Therefore, while technical abilities are important to thriving in a 21st-century economy, there needs to also be a national focus on developing essential human skills in all Canadians.
How do we develop a Canadian work force that has both the human skills and the technical skills needed to thrive in a world that is rapidly changing?
How do we develop a Canadian work force that has both the human skills and the technical skills needed to thrive in a world that is rapidly changing?
More academic institutions should consider incorporating course work relevant to the development of human skills, such as emotional intelligence and public speaking. This should extend across all disciplines, including the humanities, business and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).
More emphasis should be placed on supporting work-integrated learning, which provides students with real-world learning opportunities, allowing Canadians to gain a better understanding of themselves as well as others.
More emphasis should be placed on supporting work-integrated learning, which provides students with real-world learning opportunities, allowing Canadians to gain a better understanding of themselves as well as others.
In my role at Venture for Canada, an organization that recruits and trains Canadian youth to work at Canadian startups, we see firsthand the transformative impact that real-world work experience has on developing essential skills among young Canadians.
Understanding people, including ourselves, is one of the most challenging aspects of life. As our world becomes even more complex and the structure of work evolves significantly, Canadians must focus more than ever on sharpening these human talents.
The sooner we embrace uniting human skills with the technical, the sooner all Canadians will be empowered to prosper in our rapidly changing 21st-century economy.
"The death of HR is just part of its resurrection": Today I found this article by Janet Wood in the Globe and Mail:
Janet Wood is global human resources lead at SAP, Toronto.
I suspect my career path reflects the changing nature of human resources as much as anyone’s. Having spent the best part of three decades in sales and management, I was picked for a global HR leadership role at SAP precisely because of my lack of conventional HR experience.
There was, of course, a method to SAP CEO Bill McDermott’s madness. He wanted to bring a fresh kind of business perspective to the role. Someone who had seen what it takes to succeed in business, the challenges leaders and employees face, and the reality of HR’s impact on morale, employee development, productivity and workplace culture.
My story fits neatly within the wider trend of HR moving away from its traditional practices. In its place is a new kind of emotionally intelligent HR, made possible by digital technology and a strong desire to impact the success of the business, which informs the C-Suite while giving employees more tools and resources they value.
For many years there was a perception that most working in the field were primarily administering corporate policies and regulations to deal with personal employee concerns and workplace encounters.
It helps to be sympathetic about why this happened. As corporations grew, HR became an increasingly difficult job. Juggling the sizable tasks of maintaining a harmonious company culture, helping employees develop their skills and careers, making sure they were happy and tracking their performance levels was a less daunting prospect when there were set rules to guide them.
In recent years, we have seen breakthroughs in technology that have made dealing with much of the nitty-gritty of these responsibilities easier and less time-intensive. Software spanning recruiting, onboarding, talent management and performance management have given traditional HR professionals room to breathe, making some wonder about HR’s role in the organization.
Futurists have prophesied the death of HR for some time. The combination of low-cost, hyper-effective hiring tools, consumer-grade training software, big data analysis that transforms evaluations, and the workplace expectations of millennials has them questioning the need for the discipline. A colleague summed up the sentiment pithily when he declared “the future of HR is no HR.”
Others, myself included, believe we should be treating the supposed death of HR simply as part of its resurrection. One way to think about this is that while HR was once required to use rules and regulations to navigate the sometimes-difficult business of human emotions and avoiding lawsuits, it now has the goal of encouraging human interaction to flourish.
The rise of digital-first workplaces has made work a more impersonal and less engaging experience for many employees. Furthermore, ever-improving automation technology has swaths of people wondering when, not if, their jobs will be made obsolete.
Thus, the new HR finds itself not only at the centre of the debate about improving employee engagement, but also the call to forge new opportunities for those at risk of being replaced by robots.
Thus, the new HR finds itself not only at the centre of the debate about improving employee engagement, but also the call to forge new opportunities for those at risk of being replaced by robots.
Economist Daniel Culbertson recently identified HR as one of the most future-proof professions, predicting that technology could actually lead to more jobs in the field. His reason? HR can be a hotbed for renewed human-to-human interaction and decision-making that must go beyond data.
If the HR discipline does grow, the responsibility of retraining displaced workers will fall on its shoulders. HR workers will be expected to offer more strategic direction in the boardroom, using big data analytics to spot opportunities to create roles with new value across the business. Success will come from being one step ahead of change and instilling continuous learning in the company culture.
Emotional intelligence will become the measure by which HR workers are judged. C-Suites will look to them to understand how to engage and communicate with employees, as well as how to build and nurture positive, productive workplace cultures in the digital age.
When HR teams show executives they’re in tune with the business, its employees and the reality on the front-lines, they’ll truly become known as trusted advisers.
When HR teams show executives they’re in tune with the business, its employees and the reality on the front-lines, they’ll truly become known as trusted advisers.
The technology that has traditional HR professionals worrying about the relevance of their jobs is exactly what they need to embrace to give them time and space to grow into this new era. The old school of HR is fading into the background as software invisibly connects the dots on routine processes.
Coming to the fore is an HR more tightly connected to the overall corporate strategy and focused on handling employee issues and development with curiosity and empathy.
Coming to the fore is an HR more tightly connected to the overall corporate strategy and focused on handling employee issues and development with curiosity and empathy.
Forward-thinking HR professionals know this and embrace the opportunity to impact the success of employees and their organization. They see a future in which the function is truly about humans, while at the same time playing a larger role in shaping the destiny of the business.
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