Today's dynamic job market places high demands on skills and the ability to develop. Have you thought about how it affects your industry? A good place to start is for you and your employees to get clarity on your competence.
Oavsett vilken förändring din organisation står inför har det aldrig varit viktigare att ha koll på vad ni kan, vilka ni är och vad ni behöver utveckla för att möjliggöra önskad förändring. Är en medarbetare på väg in i en ny roll? Vill du veta vem som passar bäst vid internrekrytering? Ska en i ditt team karriärväxla? Genom att låta medarbetaren inventera sin kompetens skapar du förutsättningar för personen att bli tydlig med vem hen är, vad hen kan och vad hen vill.
Arbetslivet förändras i snabb takt – hybridarbete, robotisering, gig-ekonomi. Dessutom ökad pensionsålder.
– Många jobb som de ser ut idag försvinner och andra tillkommer. Detta ställer nya krav på både arbetsgivare och medarbetare. Att ha klarhet i vår kompetens hjälper oss att hålla oss relevanta på arbetsmarknaden och ger även ökad självkännedom. Det är boostande att inventera vad man faktiskt kan och sedan tydligt kunna beskriva det för andra, säger Sara Fredin, karriärcoach på Falck.
Det är boostande att inventera vad man faktiskt kan och sedan tydligt kunna beskriva det för andra
"Soft skills" are increasingly important
But what is competence? Competence can be described as the ability to perform a task using knowledge and experience. This includes more than what is written on someone's CV. In order to understand all aspects of a person's professional offering, it is important to also include things like life experiences, interests and previous careers. More often than not, employees are sitting on hidden skills that could benefit the business and even lead to a new role or promotion.
Competence can be divided into hard and soft skills. Hard skills includes concrete abilities such as knowledge, experience and skills. Soft skills are instead personality, values and motivators. The trend shows that soft skills are increasingly important for the success of organizations and individuals. There is value in emphasizing soft skills and placing equal importance on soft values in order to understand what a person has to offer.
Expert tips for competence inventory
Here are Career Coach Sara Fredin's four tips for doing a skills inventory for an employee or larger group.
See to all parts of a person's professional offering When taking a skills inventory, it is important to look at all parts of a person's professional offer, even those that are not considered directly relevant to the person's current situation. Perhaps there are recurring tasks during working life that create a common thread. Maybe there is previous knowledge that can be applied in new ways going forward. Inventory is a chance to take out everything you have in your luggage and get an overview to then be able to think about future possibilities.
Don't forget to look ahead When thinking about competence, it is easy to focus on past experiences and current tasks. It is at least as important to ask yourself what you want going forward. By also asking yourself what you want going forward and how you want to develop, you can identify the desired position and enable steps in a new direction.
Start from challenges the person has overcome Competence is not synonymous with knowledge. A good way to understand competence is to start from challenges that the individual has managed.
Use a career coach A career coach can help you map skills and make a successful skills inventory. Falck's career coaches use mapping and reflection exercises, career tests and environmental monitoring to take stock of current soft and hard skills and what you want and need to develop going forward.
Competence inventory is included in all services in Falck's newly launched career and transition service category. Here, employees get tools and expert support to develop within their organization, or - if needed - help to change careers.
