Top Skills and Challenges Shaping the Future Workspace: Insights from OIGP Research

2018: OIGP Global Research Study

➢ Which skills employees must have to be competitive today
➢ The most significant people challenges currently facing organizations

Over 1,000 global leaders from the 28 countries in which OIGP operates – almost double the 2017 results – responded to our survey on the Future of Work conducted during the spring of 2018. Half of respondents were from organizations with over 500 employees, representing a range of industries led by Financial Services and Technology followed by Manufacturing, Nonprofits, Hospitals & Healthcare, and Education. Most were from Human Resources or General Management functions.

Most Valued Skills, OIGP Global Research Study, 2018

Leadership agility is by far the most important characteristic employees must have to be competitive today, followed by coordinating with others, mentioned by two thirds of respondents. Creativity and communication skills are ranked similarly in third place. Eagerness to learn and emotional intelligence lost ground compared to 2017. Respondents were asked, “Which 3 skills are most valued in your firm right now?”

Robotics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and social communications are dramatically impacting occupations and jobs. While technology doesn’t necessarily replace most jobs, it changes them. For many jobs, the hard skills that used to be required are replaced by an emphasis on soft skills as illustrated here.

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Most Significant People Challenges, OIGP Global Research Study, 2018

Recruitment is once again the most critical concern of talent managers in 2018 as it was two years ago, with most of them saying that attracting and hiring new talent is their biggest challenge. The same five people challenges have occupied the top spots each year we have conducted this survey; they’ve just traded places. Half of talent managers say that adapting to change challenges their organizations, making it the second most frequently indicated issue.

Once on board, retaining and engaging employees becomes paramount and it appears that managers’ lack of coaching skills coupled with their inability to have career conversations impedes much of their human resources agenda. Up to five answers per respondent were allowed.

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Essential Skills And Their Descriptions

• Leadership agility is the ability to take effective action in complex, rapidly changing conditions
• Coordinating with others is the ability to collaborate, especially in changing environments
• Creativity is defined as turning new, imaginative ideas into reality; using innovative approaches to find solutions
• Communication skills include writing, listening, presenting, and speaking
• Eagerness to learn is being open to learning with solid reading, listening and thinking ability
• Negotiating and influencing others is balancing competing interests in order to find common ground
• Understanding analytics means reading and understanding data, projections, demographics
• Emotional Intelligence is recognizing, understanding your own and others’ emotions
• Global mind-set means managing, marketing, selling and communicating in global markets
• Managing diversity includes generational, ethnic, cultural, sexual orientation, and other diverse characteristics

What Impedes Our Ability To Listen And Learn 

By Gerard Egan:

1. External Factors: Fully ground yourself in the outside world.
2. Response Rehearsal
3. Fact Finding
4. Being Judgmental
5. Problem Solving
6. Imposing Personal View

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If you’re not careful you can follow your passion right into poverty. ~ Srini Rao