My blog

Tag: Teamwork

  • What employability skills are important to employers?

    Finito World takes a look at what employability skills are the most important and how it can improve your career prospects

     

    Employability skills might seem to be a bit of a mouthful. But the world is becoming more competitive. A phrase which takes as long to say as to make a cup of coffee is becoming increasingly important.

    Why are employability skills so essential? It’s do first of all with the global economy, an inheritance of the settlement after the end of the Second World War. Borders are becoming more porous and businesses more international. The pool of talent competing for jobs has radically increased.

     

    The only way to meet that reality is to up your game. Gone are the days when you could stroll into Dad’s friend’s bank or law firm without an interview. Now is the time of AI interviews, and fierce competition for every role. Even roles which may not seem all that desirable are competitive.

     

    Tips for career employability

     

    So what’s necessary? First of all you need to work on your communication skills. That will be verbal and in-person, and in written communications.

     

    Sir Winston Churchill famously wrote of the importance of short, sharp memoranda that go to the point. The same is true when we are speaking aloud. Anyone starting out on their career would do well to learn to calibrate what they say. You need to put your hand up, but not seek to dominate.

     

    All that entails good listening skills, and that in turn implies teamwork. How well can you read the emotions of others? Are you able to see your way round corners? When it comes to employability skills which employers need, teamwork is important. We need to make sure we fit in.

     

    Most roles also entail some form of problem-solving. The world very rarely runs smoothly. Employers want to know that employees can engage in critical thinking and analyse situations. They need to work to the advantage of the overall organisation.

     

    Why teamwork matters

     

    One must become adept at not thinking primarily about oneself. You must ask yourself each day what you can do to further the good of a particular organisation.

     

    But no employer expects you to get everything right all the time. Setbacks and disappointments are built into business as they are into life. In a changing, rapid world mistakes happen. Employers want to see that employees have resilience and a willingness to learn.

     

    All of us has capacity for growth: career employability is to do with seeking to foster those capacities. You must not turn your back on any notion of self-improvement at the first crisis or letdown.

     

    If you can do that, you’ll be well on the way to developing leadership skills within yourself: employers often say they’re looking for self-starters. You must demonstrate over a reasonable period of time that you are able to arrive at the answer to difficult questions on your own. Then management will start to consider you for a leadership role.

     

    That will take time – and perhaps that will imply patience. But at the same time, it is to do with work ethic. That is an area where young people can really differentiate themselves. The famous West Coast lawyer John Quinn used to take his cohort of new arrivals down to the lake on his estate. He would say: “Swim to the other side!” The first two to enter the water would get jobs at the end of it.

     

    You need to be the first in that lake to succeed: if you don’t someone else will. It was said of the tennis-player Tim Henman that he wasn’t the best tennis player in his class at Reed’s School. But if the coach said: “Go and hit a ball against the ball for ten hours” would go and do it.

     

    Working hard

     

    Fostering that work ethic can lead you to surprising places. Doing things over and over again might seem boring from the outside, but commitment leads to deeper understanding.

     

    But none of this should be at the cost of the bigger picture. When it comes to career employability, you need to realise you’re in a globalised economy. You must also seek to understand the variety of functions which your organisation carries out.

     

    Above all, career employability is about never stopping learning. It is an avenue to a rich and fulfilling career, and therefore to a productive life. You might find that the employability skills important to an employer are also important to you.

     

    To learn how to develop your employability skills go to: https://www.finito.org.uk/

     

     

  • 2022 Highlight: Stuart Thomson – Beware Closed Minds Around You

    Stuart Thomson

    A creative working environment should recognise the abilities and contribution of everyone. Sadly, despite what they may say, not all organisations live up to the high standards they claim to live by.  But don’t give up on them.  Instead, think about how to encourage change.

    Starting a new job is always accompanied by a high level of excitement and expectation.  For those entering the world of work for the first time, there is trepidation but enthusiasm as well and, for most, a real willingness to get involved.

    Most organisations appreciate that input and drive, but some seem less willing to make the most of the opportunities.  Certainly, there can be structures and hierarchies that prevent voices being listened to but, more often than not, it is about the people. 

    Having such a closed mind goes against every leadership book you read or podcast you listen to, but it still happens.  The closed mind might be a result of a fear of being made to look bad, a poor personal relationship or, more simply, intransigence on their part.  An undying belief in ‘the way we’ve always done things’ should not be underestimated.  So those with a closed mind either don’t listen or don’t recognise the contributions that come their way.  They simply end up being dismissive.

    If you are faced with such a situation then do not downgrade your expectations. 

    The initial knee-jerk reaction is to look for a new job.  That is certainly one option but not one that guarantees success.  It is a cliché to say that the grass is not always greener but that definitely applies to the work environment.  All roles and employers have their challenges.

    Instead, your best option, and one that may help you in the longer-term, is to stay and fight to be heard.  If you can be successful, then opening up the organisation will not only be hugely rewarding personally but will enable you to make an impression which can only help in your career. Whatever the challenge is, consider your strategy and what it should include:

    • Are there any champions you can look to work with?  You don’t have to do this alone.
    • Try to work with and not against people, so recognise their opposition but try to address it.
    • Always be clear on the benefits and try to use real life examples or information rather than relying on instinct.
    • Are there internal teams that can help, such as HR?
    • Do you understand the structure of the organisation so that you know who to talk to?

    Remember, there is nothing wrong with applying some pressure and many will thank you for it.  Many employers often know when there are closed minds and are looking for ways to change.  You are providing the constructive encouragement they need. 

    Communication is critical.  Issues often arise and closed minds take root when the communication is poor.  Instead of organisations being able to deal with problems they don’t because the right people are not made aware.

    The input could be for a piece of client work, internal practices or focused on something more structural.  The same lessons and thought processes should apply, regardless.

    So do not give up and simply look to move on.  Rather, make every effort to help open the closed minds.

     

  • Stuart Thomson: New Teams, New Opportunities

    Stuart Thomson: New Teams, New Opportunities

    Stuart Thomson

    When a team around you changes, it can feel threatening.  New people coming in can change established dynamics and ways of working.  But instead of worrying, the emphasis should be on grasping the opportunity.

    Worries can often be heightened when the change takes place in more senior leadership positions, especially those directly managing you.  But instead of worrying about yourself and what the change may mean for you, a more constructive approach is to shift from the inward to the outward.  An outward approach considers why the change has happened and what you might, to be frank, be able to gain from it.

    The recent Government reshuffle provided a very practical example of the need to understand why teams may need to change; it can have a number of drivers.

    Change or adaptation? – the core drivers of an organisation could be changed but often it facilitates a refocusing on them, a coming back to basic principles.  For Government, a reshuffle can help refocus on those policies that help get it elected in the first place. Boris Johnson’s government has had to deal with COVID-19 so this latest reshuffle meant it could ‘get back’ to what it really wants to deliver, such as ‘levelling up’.

    Unpopular positions can be conveniently jettisoned – new team members, especially leaders, can look again at the way an issue is dealt with and make their own mind up. In brutal terms, a new person could have the ability to make wholesale changes.  So for Government, a reshuffle means it could dump reforms least liked by their voters. A reshuffle enables the unpopular aspects of policy to be removed just as unpopular ministers can be removed.

    Space for new thinking? – on a much more positive note, a change can open up the space for new ideas. Any new team member wants to make a positive impact and preferably sooner rather than later.

    So, a new appointment should be seen as an opportunity for engagement which should be grasped.  Rather than waiting to be told what the new arrangements mean, look to proactively engage. 

    Adopting a positive attitude recognises that a different learning experience has opened up, that new ways of working could be available and the opportunity now exists for learning from different experiences.

    In the recent reshuffle, Nadhim Zahawi MP was appointed as the new Secretary of State for Education.  There is no doubt that he has many immediate issues to deal with, not least those caused by Covid-19.

    But if we found ourselves working with him, or any other new leader, what should our approach be?

    • Do your homework – find out what you can about them so you make your approach to them relevant.  In the case of the new Minister, he was recently featured in Finito World.  This type of background is extremely useful.
    • Immediate engagement – try to get in first, before others.  Lots of people should want to engage.  The more tailored the engagement, based on your homework, the more likely it is to stand out and be effective.
    • Have something well considered to say – based on your research, knowledge of your role and experience, be constructive rather than taking just problems to them.  Solutions are always going to be received more warmly than just another moan.
    • Be prepared to ask them questions – the engagement should be about listening to them but that does not mean you can’t shape the discussion.  Ask about what their priorities are, what they expect from those around them and it can also be fascinating to find out what their bugbears are so you can avoid them!

    Adopting a positive outlook with proactive engagement will put you in the best position to make the most of what might otherwise be a daunting prospect.

    The writer is the Head of Public Affairs at BDB Pitmans