New hopes, new direction and profound changes! Heading into 2021, old ways will no longer hold ground for talent growth, retention and revenue growth for enterprises. 2020 has been a year of some of the most unprecedented times. An almost overnight crisis management in how we take care of ourselves, our enterprise employees and growth in business. Companies and Individuals need to reskill and upskill NOW to bridge the gap in this new era of WFH and engaging with remote teams or else they will perish.
Bridging the Leadership and the Soft Skills gap is what I call the Y factor!
“Soft skills are in the spotlight because they’re so hard to find in today’s potential employees”- Bruce Tulgan, a management consultant and author of “Bridging the Soft Skills Gap.”
A Gallup study shows that 75% feel of adults felt worried about the pandemic and its detrimental impact on mental health and wellness. However, 21% can be more productive and more engaged with the right coaching, help and support. This means more paradigm shifts for enterprises – the ability to adapt fast, attitude shifts and being nimble would be key for growth. Empowering People with Reskilling and Upskilling, addressing Employee Engagement and Network gaps, building strong Coaching-Mentoring Connections and powerful insights with AI powered Technologies will be key in the “Future of Work”. It is important to take women along and support them as they form a significant percentage of the workforce.
Role of Women and the Y factor
Women technologists and entrepreneurs can play a critical role in Engineering, Healthcare, Sales and Marketing, Education sectors and more. Women today can be more engaged, productive and grow into leaders by honing in on their Leadership and Soft Skills – their “Y Factor”.
This article shows that in 38 years, what changed in enterprises for women and decreased the wage gap were the Y factor soft skills such as negotiation, persuasion, and critical thinking that advanced their social skills. Companies are moving from top-down hierarchical approach to team-based structures, and as a result, individual evaluations are increasingly based on social skills, or how well someone works in a team, says Dale Cyphert, an associate professor of management at the University of Northern Iowa.
A calling to all Women and Men allies – Develop your Y factor, and Grow your Soft Skills
Earlier this year, I shared in my speakers session at a VMware organized event, a very important topic for working women. The topic and link contents are here – “Rising against all Odds, Climbing the Corporate Ladder” at Women Transforming Technology WT2, 2020 (11:20 minute mark). It highlights their Y factor – their key soft skills in rising above and beyond from a myriad of adverse situations. Several powerful women from all walks of life and at different phases of their professional lives and careers shared how they faced obstacles in their careers, yet they succeeded despite all odds. How they have become an inspiration to others, they didn’t let obstacles stand in their way of becoming who they wanted to become. They responded to a survey that highlighted the soft skills that made a profound difference to them: 1) Self Management and being Authentic, 2) Leading by example, being Accountable, 3) Problem Solving , 4) Getting Support and Collaborating, 5) Risk Taking
Key Takeaways and Recommendations
Here are 5 recommended ways you can be in control of your own destiny. Carve out a future that you always desired. Set yourself to achieve your goals by organizing your professional and personal fronts with these key takeaways.
- Build a Network – Inside and outside your organization. Taking help from mentors and allies for soft skill training broadens your influence. The perspectives one receives from numerous people within and outside your network will push you in the right direction. Develop you Support System – We are the sum of who we surround ourselves with. We can not do this alone. It takes a village. Learn more – The Art of Networking
- Take Control – don’t wait for your organization’s HR and Manager to help you get coached on soft skills. Have a growth mindset and be curious. Take charge of your own situation and drive your own career growth. Learn more – 4 Ways You Can Take Charge of Your Career Growth
- Soft Skills are not easy to learn – learn by practice and feedback through your network. Practice can be self learning and self taught lessons through your own experiences. Engage your team, your peers, your colleagues, your managers and friends to seek feedback. Conduct 1:1s or do virtual chats to constantly seek timely feedback. Do role plays and learn. Learn More: Soft Skills aka Power Skills
- Leverage Online Learning and Coaching Platforms – LinkedIn Learning, Smarthabit. Seek out Life Coaches. Sometimes they are your own friends that allow you to see your worth and continue to grow in your professional and personal life.
- Leverage newer AI enabled platforms like Numly to build your soft skills and network: http://numly.com. Numly is at the helm of addressing the shifting enterprise needs today – an era of remote digitization, shifting business models, need for employee engagement, reskilling and upskilling and distance learning. It will lead the way for “Future of Work”. NumlyEngage – a very promising product that is at a cusp of providing an easy to use Coaching -mentorship program, 16PF personality assessment , Research based 185+ Soft Skill repository for growing leaders. A powerful set of AI powered Analytics, bots and insights to nurture your incremental actions towards skill improvement and engagement with shifting business needs.
In conclusion, feel empowered to develop YOUR Y FACTOR Soft Skills heading into 2021 with New Hopes, New direction with these key takeaways! Companies and Individuals can now effectively reskill and upskill to bridge the gap in this new era of WFH and engaging with remote teams and nurture themselves and their businesses.
