The skills economy is here, and your custom skills framework is ready to become your primary guiding principle.
87% of employers believe their workforce has skill gaps. We have a term for those gaps (either perceived or actual): the skills deficit. “When has an employer ever been satisfied with their employees?” you may be saying. The hitch is, the skills deficit is measurable.
Tech advancement frequently leaves the existing workforce on their toes, trying to predict the next newest thing and get ahead of it. The fear of being replaced by AI looms in most workplaces, and 91% of employees agree that their skills are not (yet) on par, and they want to learn.
Businesses looking for an edge are looking to hire and nurture skilled workers who don’t just come with experience and proven track records, but also adaptability and a willingness to learn because technology moves fast.
Job seekers are also noticing that recruiters no longer want generic resumes; they want real, tangible work results, and that usually comes with skills. While this is good news for talent and hard work, this is tough news for those who don’t have an upskilling plan for themselves or their businesses (yet).
If that currently sounds like you, don’t worry because PowerToFly has thought about it and we’ve got a skills framework that just might come in handy! That’s right, a custom skills framework is the link between taking your skills from level one to 100.
It’s the same for employers and employees. Job seekers need to be more deliberate and intentional in their continued education. You’ll want skills that best compliment you and the market. The right skills are key to better opportunities, promotions, pay, and better business. However, “skills” is a prettttty broad umbrella for too many things that could qualify as useful attributes for professional success.
So, at PowerToFly, we set out to unpack skills in a way that is easy to understand and implement, and found out that skills can be categorized into three buckets:
Business skills
Business skills are not to be confused with skills that are relevant to a job. Rather these are the overarching skills that make every business run more productively and efficiently. Think organizational skills like time management, project management, critical thinking, problem solving, delegation, team supervision, and leadership, just to name a few!
Needless to say, business skills are essential to your skills framework. They give your organization a structure that accommodates its various employees, teams, and their job functions and unifies it all to build a business that’s uniform and harmonious. An important aspect to note here is that each business and, by extension, its business skills, absolutely still change over time. For instance, back in the 90s, being able to send emails became a business skill. In the early 2000s, Microsoft Suite became an essential business skill. Today, in 2024, KPI development and technological agility are key business skills rapidly becoming useful across verticals.
People skills
Professional success also depends on social intelligence. It takes people to run a business, and hence, people skills enjoy a special category in our skills framework. Communication, empathy, acceptance, flexibility, composure during arguments (because differences are natural and should be welcomed!) and even a sense of humor — these are just a few examples of people skills that will help you succeed at any job. Remember, talent and hard work can be polished with time. But if a person isn’t easy to work with, or lacks strong ethics, not many businesses would want to invest in polishing them.
Technical skills
As the name suggests, these skills involve "tech”! However, the tech you need for a job can look different for each job, or even each industry. For instance, even in tech-oriented jobs, one role may require you to be more proficient in data science, while the other may require SEO abilities or experience using accounting software. The main goal here is to be as hands-on with the tools relevant to the job you seek as possible. What exactly are those tools, and how can you learn them? Skillcrush is a good place to start and find all the relevant courses and information you need for everything tech. From coding to UI design to AI, find the answers right at Skillcrush.
While these three pillars should be your guiding principles for the creation of a skills framework, remember there is no universal set of skills that applies to every organization or individual. To each their own, so you need a custom skills framework that works for you and your business.
How do I use a skills framework?
Start with a simple skills audit. At PowerToFly, we have created the SkillMeter, apersonal skills audit to give you an overview of your strengths, improvement areas, skills you need for the dream job you want, and the skills most likely to pay dividends in the future if you work on them now.
Don’t worry, the SkillMeter goes beyond a basic assessment, and this quick audit will also give you a neat skills framework custom-made for you.
We advise that you conduct a skills audit every quarter. Why?
The tricky thing about skills is they evolve. That’s actually good news for you because as long as you are striving to stay up-to-date, you’ll have an advantage! If skills didn’t evolve or go out-of-fashion, the old players would dominate forever, and it’s this evolution that makes room for new businesses, fresh talents, and more growth in the market.
At PowerToFly, we encourage evolution and constant upskilling. PowerUp, our community of learners and experts, is committed to professional excellence. Courses on leadership, DEIB, and more to help the visionaries of tomorrow grow and succeed with skills that make the difference. And for all things tech, there’s Skillcrush!
Are you a recruiter looking to find the right match? Our AI-powered recruiting software, PowerPro can help. We match businesses with the right candidate through our intuitive AI tool, developed to prioritize the skills you need in your crew.
So, if you want to build the workforce that can run the long mile, this way to success!
