Are you keeping watch over changes in your workplace? If not, you risk losing valuable employees and customers to the competition.
So says Vivian Giang, a Business Insider reporter and contributor to Open Forum. She offers valuable information based on the insights of Dan Schawbel, founder of Millennial Branding and author of Promote Yourself: The New Rules for Career Success.
Here are Schwabel’s top tips when considering new hires.
Hire Candidates With Future In-Demand Skills
“Most employers hire for skills when they need them, but to be truly successful, you need to pay attention to the skills of the future,” Giang says. '
In today’s rapidly evolving workplace, today’s highly sought after skills might be in less demand tomorrow.
The best thing you can do for your company is to stay flexible and pay attention to what’s going on around you.
Also, ask these two questions on a regular basis:
- What skills are more in demand now than before?
- What skills do I use less frequently than I did in the past?
Hire for Soft Skills
Most businesses require employees with certain “hard” technical skills, but increasingly, employers “have started demanding that colleges pay more attention to developing students’ ‘soft skills,’ including critical thinking and problem-solving.”
These days, a qualified candidate should have abilities beyond the technical skills they were hired for.
As Giang notes, “It’s important to consider the candidate’s ability to communicate, lead others and integrate into a company’s culture.”
If there’s no cultural fit, “candidates will have a harder time making things work.”
Author Schawbel is even blunter in his assessment. “People with hard skills are a dime a dozen,” he says. “A high-school kid can probably learn most of the hard skills that would be required to do just about any job, but it’s doubtful that he or she would have the emotional maturity and people skills to make it in a Fortune 200 company.”
Young Employees are Hungry to Learn and Grow
Top employers understand they must provide clear opportunities for advancement if they want to attract and retain the best young candidates. Otherwise, Schawbel writes, “young workers are going to move on to an employer that values them more.”
So how do you accomplish this? Don't let internal politics dictate promotions. “Provide young workers with a short-term career roadmap,” letting them know when they can expect a promotion “and what their salary will be once they accomplish specific goals.”
You can increase the chances of success by offering access to workshops, conferences, and webinars.
This way, your best workers can develop new skills, “including leadership skills and skills that are relevant to the future economy.”
Offer Constructive Criticism
Criticism that focuses solely on the negative aspects of an employee’s performance won’t yield favorable results.
Offer constructive criticism by starting on a pleasant note, Schawbel says. “Find something to compliment the person on,” he says. “Then move on to the main event and return to something positive before finishing the discussion.”
What are you doing to stay on top of trends affecting your workplace?
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