Skills and the importance of continuous improvement. We live in a rapidly changing world, in which new technologies, professions and challenges are constantly emerging. To keep up and be successful in your work and life, it is important to continuous improve yourself and learn new skills. But how do you do that? And which skills are most relevant for the future?
In this blog post, we’ll give you some tips and methods to develop and track your skills. We’ll also show you how to use ESCO, the multilingual classification of European skills, competences, qualifications and occupations1, to understand the skills you need for your field or position.
What are skills?
Skills are practical activities or tasks that you are good at or can perform and are usually developed through practice, experience and feedback. Skills can be both hard and soft. Hard skills are specific and measurable knowledge or techniques that you need for a particular profession or field, such as programming, welding or accounting. Soft skills are more general and personal traits that help you communicate effectively, collaborate, and solve problems, such as creativity, leadership, or empathy.
Why are skills important?
Skills are important because they determine how well you can function in your work and life. By having the right skills, you can perform better, get more satisfaction from your work and create more opportunities for yourself and others. Moreover, skills are essential to adapt to the changing demands of the labour market and society. By constantly developing and keeping up with your skills, you will remain relevant, flexible and resilient.
How do you develop skills?
There are different ways to develop your skills, depending on your learning style, objectives and available resources. Here are a few examples of methods you can use:
Apply during your work
This is a good way to develop new skills while working. You learn from your colleagues, managers or customers by receiving or giving feedback, coaching or mentoring. You can also take the initiative to take on new tasks, start projects or solve problems.
Training and workshops
You can also develop skills by attending classroom training, courses or workshops. This can be done, for example, via your employer, a training institute or an online platform. You will learn from experts, teachers or trainers who offer you theory, practical examples and exercises.
E-learning
If you prefer to learn independently at your own pace and time, you can use e-learning. This is a form of online learning where you have access to interactive modules, videos, podcasts or articles that you can follow via a computer, tablet or smartphone.
Another way to learn online is by viewing MooC’s or YouTube videos. These are live or recorded presentations, lectures or demonstrations on a particular topic or skill. You can also ask questions or respond via a chat function or comment field.
Blogs and books
If you like to read, you can also learn a lot from blogs and books. These are written resources that give you information, tips, advice or inspiration about a certain topic or skill. You can find blogs and books through search engines, social media, or online platforms.
How do you keep track of your skills?
Developing skills is one thing, but keeping track of your skills is just as important. After all, you don’t want your skills to become outdated, forgotten or redundant. To keep your skills up to date, use the following tips:
Create a personal development plan
This is an overview of your learning objectives, actions, resources and evaluation methods. A personal development plan helps you to structure, monitor and improve your learning process. CareerTracker helps you with super handy software that brings structure to your plans.
Do self-assessment
This is a process where you assess your own skills based on criteria, norms, or expectations. A self-assessment helps you identify your strengths and weaknesses, measure your progress, and adjust your learning goals. CareerTracker helps you with automatically created reflections.
Ask for feedback
This is a form of information you get from others about your skills. Feedback can be positive or negative, formal or informal, solicited or unsolicited. Feedback helps you to improve your performance, discover your blind spots and increase your motivation.
Stay informed
This means that you stay up to date with the latest developments, trends and innovations in your field or position. You can do this by following news, blogs, podcasts, webinars or courses. Stay informed helps you to stay relevant, curious and eager to learn.
Remain relevant!
Due to the fact everything changes with a rapid pace the title of this blogpost: Skills and the importance of continuous improvement isn’t an exaggeration but a real necessity. We just can’t emphasize enough the importance of continuous improvement of skills.
CareerTracker Blog
Through our blog we regularly publish new articles about innovations and developments that have an impact on the professional and organization: check out our blogpage.
In this blog we will discuss the new employee of Generation Z, this is a generation that seeks balance in work and private life and that wants to contribute to a purpose.
As a result, the labor market is changing because long-term employment contracts are becoming less and less common as we have described in this article.
About CareerTracker
With the CareerTracker platform you are able to secure the right focus and skillset within the teams. By reflecting and securing feedback, the professional feels valued and involved, so that unwanted departure of talent can be prevented. This ensures that the daily operation can be secured in the organization.
If you have any questions after reading this blog, you can reach us 0338876104 or via info@careertracker.nl.
You can watch our informative company video via this link.
Customer review of Didacticum
We experience the cooperation with CareerTracker as very pleasant.
It is a new way of working for us, so good communication is important here.
You help both the field managers and the consultants with examples, tips & tricks and to safeguard our new HR cycle.
The feedback we provide is immediately picked up, followed up and you also keep us continuously informed of the progress.
At Didacticum, everyone is at the wheel of their own career and partly due to the use of CareerTracker, our colleagues are able to do this optimally.
Zeljko Bondzulic, Field Manager Didacticum