Employability Skills 5.0 driving career success in the post-Covid world
Among the many dramatic changes ushered in by the Covid-19 pandemic is how companies hire and manage talent. Mere professional knowledge doesn’t guarantee career progress today. Employability Skills (ES) 5.0 do!
Whereas the ES 4.0 were aligned to the Artificial Intelligence-driven Industrial Revolution 4.0, the latest ES 5.0 encompass the skills needed for ‘job readiness’ in the drastically transformed post-Covid scenario.
With accelerated digitisation across industries and the urgency to reinvent operations overnight, organisations have realised that they no longer need managers but intrapreneurs with must-have employability skills.
Students and professionals should aim at acquiring these in their journey from class to career and beyond.
Here are the six quotients that will catapult you to your dream job and a happy life:
1. Emotional Quotient
This encompasses understanding yourself, being aware of your emotions, anger management, coping with stress and anxiety, intrinsic motivation and empathy.
Strategies: Attend talks on self-realisation and positive psychology, develop a to-do list for self-improvement, allocate daily ‘me-time’ for introspection, maintain a journal of your thoughts, feelings and experiences as a reflective tool.
2. Social Quotient
This includes good intrapersonal and interpersonal skills (understanding self and others), compassionate leadership, kindness, empathy, resilience, flexibility, appreciating diversity, collaboration and a sustainable lifestyle.
Strategies: Participate in collaborative work, group activities, public speaking, sports, exchange programmes (national and international), community service and internships. Develop effective communication skills for optimal impact.
3. Intelligence Quotient
This comprises cognitive intelligence (higher order thinking skills), flexibility, critical and analytical thinking, problem-solving, ideation, data literacy and lifelong learning.
Strategies: Focus on understanding the core concepts of all subjects and their applications; imbibe inquiry, discovery, discussion and analysis-based learning; make interdisciplinary subject choices; participate in projects and research-oriented assignments; do analytical, logical and numerical reasoning exercises. A course in analytics will be very useful.
4. Creative Quotient
Unprecedented situations demand out-of-the-box solutions. Originality, creativity, design thinking and the ability to innovate are much desired skills in the post-Covid world.
Strategies: Engage in creative and exploratory activities. Courses and projects on design thinking, story-telling, as well as development of presentation skills using art, graphics, etc. will be valuable.
5. Tech Quotient
The exponential increase in digitisation over the past months has necessitated tech literacy. Every employee, today, needs to be comfortable using technologies that his/her role requires in its new avatar. Effective use of e-tools for delivering services, marketing & branding activities, and monitoring and control is essential for digital leadership.
Strategies: Digital literacy for impactful use of e-platforms, computational thinking (approaching a problem in a systematic manner and creating a solution that can be carried out by a computer), and proficiency in the application of information and communication technologies are highly recommended. Moreover, a course in digital marketing will enhance your career prospects.
6. Spiritual Quotient
The Covid pandemic highlighted how being spiritually-centred can help you weather such unprecedented storms. Little wonder then that organisations are increasingly valuing a high spiritual quotient in their employees. Deep connect with one’s inner self, wisdom, mindfulness, which also lead to ethical behaviour and intuitive intelligence, are highly appreciated in today’s workforce.
Strategies: Some useful approaches are reading spiritual and motivational literature, practising mindfulness, meditation and yoga, and reflecting on questions like Who am I? Where am I? Where do I wish to be? How do I get there?
In a fast-changing world, upgrading your employability skills is the best launchpad for your career success and well-being in life!
