From the way we shop to the way we go to restaurants, life has changed.
And as businesses scramble to adapt to changing regulations and new customer expectations, staff are wondering how to ensure their place in the workforce.
Read on to learn more about five skills you need to succeed in the future of work.
1. Analytical and critical thinking
Whether you manage a large hotel chain or a small coffee shop, you may have been able to easily predict trends. Demand signals like weather, seasons, or even time of day were relatively simple to pin down for sales or scheduling.
Unfortunately, it’s a little more difficult these days.
There’s a need for strong analytical thinkers who can apply logical reasoning to make decisions. Looking to identify performance gaps where you could be over or under scheduling? How are you stacking up against your labor costs? Who’s at risk of noncompliance?
Being able to identify challenges and analytically work through those problems can be the difference between a thriving business — and one that shutters its doors.
Protip: Choose a scheduling tool that not only allows you to integrate your scheduling and payroll systems, but also provides you with streamlined reporting. That will give you a headstart on identifying the best way to make business decisions.
2. Creativity and innovation
No, you don’t need to be a master of Photoshop to be creative. In fact, to be successful in the future of work you shouldn’t focus just on artistic skills. Think outside the box.
Take a cue from Rob Copley, owner of Farmer Copley’s, who pivoted their business model in response to COVID-19. When they had to stop welcoming visitors to the farm and events space, Farmer Copley’s created a drive through click and purchase system to sell their goods online. They also assembled at-home kits to create meals at home.
You might need to learn a new system, or maybe ditch an older system. In either case, your creativity will help you find a solution to push you forward.
3. Emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence is all about tuning into different surroundings and people’s feelings.
Is anyone on your staff nervous about coming into work? Do they need to take public transportation? Are they caring for children, who are currently doing their schooling at home?
Put yourself in their shoes so you can understand where they’re coming from. This is going to be key, not only for your staff, but also when dealing with customers who are hesitant to adhere to your new business requirements (like wearing a mask or social distancing).
You can only control the controllables. But strong emotional intelligence can help you navigate situations and ask clarifying questions to ensure you fully understand any discrepancies.
4. Time management
Over the past few months, work and life have seemingly merged. Your living room is now your office, your child’s school, and when you can, a place to watch hours of Netflix. So to make sure you don’t burn out, and to really rock in the future of work, you’re going to need to prioritize time management.
Protip: This one is all about efficiency. Find a scheduling tool that integrates with your payroll so you can reduce your scheduling and payroll to just minutes.
5. Flexibility and adaptability
What happens with someone on your staff needs to self isolate? Or if they’re on their way to work but need to head home to take care of a child doing their school work from home? Or maybe your local government implemented new regulations. Now what?
To survive in the future of work, you need to be adaptable to anything that’s thrown at you.
Priotip: Allow your staff to swap shifts amongst themselves (with manager approval) to give both you and your team the flexibility needed to work effectively in the new world of work.
The bottom line
These are just a few skills to help secure your place in the future of work.
When requirements change daily, you need to be prepared. See how easy it can be to adapt to a new way of working with a free trial of Deputy.
