Mastering business skills for today, tomorrow, and beyond

Having great business skills has always been essential to ensuring your success and growth, regardless of whether you're an experienced manager supervising a large team or an entrepreneur starting a new venture. But…what are business skills…precisely?

Business skills are one of our favorite things to talk about at PowerToFly since they are essential in all industries and skill levels! They cover a broad range of skills that enable people to lead teams, manage projects, comprehend market dynamics, and support strategic expansion.

So let’s get into the nitty gritty of what business skills are, why they're important, and which particular skills can help you advance in your career. And since we’re also about helping you land that dream gig, we’ll also share how you can enhance these skills and position yourself as a competitive candidate in any business environment.

What ARE business skills?

Here’s the top-down definition: business skills are the competencies that professionals employ to support an organization's operational and strategic goals. These skills encompass a blend of interpersonal, technical, and analytical abilities that are needed for managing projects, people, and processes efficiently. Business skills are highly transferable, which means they can be used in a variety of positions and industries, such as marketing, finance, and operations, unlike some niche technical (or ‘hard’) skills which can have specific use-cases.

Professionals who are great with these skills probably manage teams toward organizational objectives, solve problems, innovate, and communicate well.

Why are business skills so important?

You’ve read it a billion times – the rapid pace of technological change and globalization has made business skills essential for navigating an increasingly complex business landscape. These are the skills that empower individuals to contribute to organizational success in various capacities. According to the 2021 Workplace Learning Report by LinkedIn, 64% of hiring managers perceive that business skills like analytical thinking, leadership, and communication are more important than ever. Professionals who can establish themselves as competent, adaptive, and versatile leaders, easily handling difficulties and fostering creativity in any type of company environment can get you a step ahead in the hiring game.

Top 10 business skills to include on your resume

Even if you’re early in your career, you’ve probably already acquired a wide range of business skills, and you probably also know that some are generally more relevant and in-demand than others. To provide some clarity, we’re going to talk about some of the top ten skills and how you can use them to boost your resume and stand out in a crowd.

1. Communication skills

Communication is the foundation of any business operation. Effective communication skills are absolutely vital, whether you're leading a team meeting, presenting to stakeholders, or simply drafting an email. Alignment through clear communication lowers the possibility of mistakes and misunderstandings, and having great communication skills can absolutely give you a leg up in the business world.

Resume tip: Include examples of how you facilitated meetings, resolved conflicts, or presented projects in your work experience section.

2. Leadership

Turns out that leadership skills aren’t just for people with ‘leader’ in their job title. Leadership isn’t just about managing a team; it’s how you can encourage, direct, and inspire others to achieve common goals. Being empathetic, determined, and capable of navigating through uncertainty and change are all qualities of great leaders.

Resume tip: Emphasize your leadership experience in managing or working with a team or leading a project, and how you helped your team achieve great results – bonus points for specific metrics or success KPIs!

3. Analytical thinking

Effective data assessment, trend analysis, and decision-making are essential for corporate success, and this kind of thinking is a given in just about every single job that exists. Professionals that possess analytical thinking skills are able to decipher complex data and create evidence-based strategic decisions, which guarantees a data-driven approach to company problems.

Resume tip: Give (specific, if you can!) examples of how you have applied insights to make strategic decisions or improve business operations to showcase your data analysis skills.

4. Project management

Project management covers nearly all the steps from inception to completion, and even if your role isn’t primarily in projects, project management is a mandatory business skill. Project management entails planning, arranging resources, and ensuring that activities are performed on schedule and within budget.

Resume tip: Include project management certifications, such as PMP, or highlight your experience in leading projects to successful completion.

5. Financial acumen

We know, we know, but it’s still pretty important that you comprehend the fundamentals of business finance, even if you do not work in finance. Your ability to interpret profit margins, budgets, and financial statements will enable you to make decisions that will improve the bottom line of the business. If you’re looking for a c-suite title someday, this is basically mandatory.

Resume tip: In your resume, highlight your experience forecasting income, managing budgets, and participating in cost-cutting projects.

6. Negotiation

Going hand-in-hand with great communication, negotiation skills are important in securing business deals, resolving conflicts, and managing relationships with clients and stakeholders. Effective negotiation guarantees that you can strike deals that are profitable for all parties involved while keeping a positive working relationship.

Resume tip: Emphasize instances where you were able to resolve a conflict or negotiate a deal that produced a favorable business outcome.

7. Time Management

Time management is a must in the corporate environment. Being able to guarantee that tasks are finished effectively and deadlines are followed, or that you can adjust on the fly is super valuable in the workforce. Professionals who can focus, delegate, and manage their time successfully will probably thrive in fast-paced work environments.

Resume tip: Demonstrate how you successfully balanced multiple projects or how you implemented strategies that improved team productivity.

8. Adaptability

Every article these days seems to start with “The business landscape is continuously changing,” but it’s true, and therefore adaptability is key. Whether it's embracing new technologies or responding to changing market demands, the ability to pivot and remain adaptable is one that will serve you well the entirety of your career.

Resume tip: Give examples of how you welcomed change (or helped change along) in previous positions, like implementing new software or adjusting to organizational restructuring.

9. Customer relationship management

Every organization needs to build and keep client relationships. Customer relationship management (CRM) skills enable you to cultivate long-term relationships, improve customer satisfaction, and assure client retention. Note: CRM is also used to describe customer relationship management software, which is technically a ‘hard’ skill, but the two work perfectly together!

Resume tip: Demonstrate your ability to develop and manage connections with major clients, as well as how you helped to increase customer satisfaction or client retention rates.

10. Critical thinking

Finally, critical thinking is a fundamental business talent that entails understanding events objectively, weighing possibilities, and making rational conclusions. Critical thinkers can negotiate difficult business problems and devise innovative solutions.

Resume tip: Include instances of how you used critical thinking to address challenges, such as improving a process or devising a strategy to overcome a business difficulty.

How to develop business skills

Whether you're just starting out or seeking a promotion to a senior position, strengthening your business skills is a great idea, and we’ve got some resources to help you kickstart the process.

• Training and certification programs: Many organizations, including PowerToFly, provide training programs that are expressly tailored to improve business skills. These programs offer practical insights and hands-on experience in fields such as project management, finance, and leadership.
• Mentorship: Gaining knowledge from seasoned experts in your industry is a great way of developing your business skills. Look for mentors who can guide you through challenging work situations, or hopefully offer valuable insights and different experiences.
• Online courses and workshops: The internet holds a wide range of online courses covering fundamental business skills at a variety of price ranges. Wondering where to start? Professionals can evaluate their areas of strength and focus on areas for progress through customized skill-building programs by using resource such as PowerToFly's SkillMeter.

Showcasing business skills on your resume

Including business skills to your resume will help you stand out from the competition, but how you talk about them matters. Here's how to properly exhibit your business skills:

• Use specific examples: Giving specific examples of how you used abilities like "leadership" and "time management" in past positions rather than just listing generic capabilities is a much clearer demonstration of practice and mastery. For example, “Led a cross-functional team to successfully launch a product that increased revenue by 20%.”
• Tailor your resume: Make sure your resume is tailored to the particular business skills listed in the job description, clearly showing that you possess the expertise and skills they are seeking.
• Highlight key accomplishments: Like specific examples, people generally respond better to concrete numbers. When illustrating your efficacy in using business skills, make use of facts or quantifiable results. For example, “Negotiated a client contract that resulted in a 15% increase in sales.”

Business skills for today and tomorrow

Business skills help professionals to effectively communicate, lead teams, manage projects, and make strategic decisions that accelerate organizational growth. When you focus on developing and showing off your business skills, you will not only improve your resume but also increase your value as a complete professional.

PowerToFly has been helping professionals develop their business skills and achieve their career goals for over ten years. Are you ready to analyze your own business skills? Check out our SkillMeter tool to conduct a personal skills audit and identify areas for improvement. Remember that investing in your business skills now will pay off later in your career!