Friday, January 6, 2017

L & D Series - Post 5: SKILLS, The 2nd of the 3 Areas for Improvement,

Hi,
Let us look at the 2nd of the 3 areas for improvement, The SKILLS in this post.

Skills are the capacities that enable you to perform, capabilities that could help you excel at a job, traits that empower you to produce results, and qualities that generate outcomes of value. There are different skills for different jobs. One need not possess all the skills, but ought to possess the skills that are required by the job that one is handling. Hence, skills are work-specific. That is the most crucial point to be noted with reference to skill you possess. Is there an alignment and a match between the skills you possess and the skills your job demands from you? There is no point in possessing skills that could be of great value for one job, but not having the skills required by the job you are doing. Your skill sets must be in line with those required by the job you do.

Hence, it is important to identify in the first place what are the skills you are required to possess to perform at your best in the profession you are pursuing. Then, you need to do a self analysis and take stock of your skill sets in order to identify the gaps in your skills sets that you need to fill in through proper training.

Then comes the question about types of skills and what they are. They can be broadly categorised into 1) Soft Skills and 2) Hard Skills. There are many other types of nomenclature used for categorising skills. But let us not get bogged down by the nomenclature. Here is the basic difference between the Soft Skills and Hard Skills. Hard skills are specific, teachable abilities that can be defined and measured, such as typing, writing, math, reading and the ability to use software programs. By contrast, soft skills are less tangible and harder to quantify, such as etiquette, getting along with others, listening and engaging in small talk. You can get more details with examples at the link given below:

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/hard-skills.asp

It is time for me to make an inventory of the skills I possess and prepare a list of the skills I would like to improve further for my career advancement as a trainer, speaker, and an author. I shall also explore the tools, techniques, and programs that would help me polish and sharpen my skills. How about you? Would you also like to do the same for yourself as an individual and also for the people working in your organisation as a responsible leader?



To your continued success,
With love,
Siva

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