At any given time across the workplace, chances are high most people will fail to make the most of their careers based on one key factor: communication.
Finding one single job where communication is not important is difficult to imagine. Regardless of your degree or experience, your ability to build relationships and interact with others determines your career steps.
As social media skills become a daily routine for interacting and conducting business, they still lack the human interaction that managers seek in employees.
It can be overwhelming with the onslaught of information to decipher what skills you really need to develop when growing your career. Most of the time you are left on your own to guess what skills are most attractive to hiring decision-makers.
Being stuck in your job creates a sense of being lost and uncertain of what to do next. That’s exactly what happened to Dan Schawbel when he began working in a corporate environment. “It makes a big difference when someone tells you what’s expected and how to make yourself a valuable employee,” he said.
Schawbel is known for his expertise in addressing the needs of a millennial workforce. The questions he struggled with in growing his career are addressed in his new book, “Promote Yourself.” While the title may allude to career advancement, the book is really a handbook of how to navigate the challenges in growing your career through a multi-generational workplace.
The knowledge of how to get along with others and participate on teams is paramount to your success in spite of living in an instant communication age. What might be surprising to you is where interpersonal skills rank with managers, a fact you need to know in order to grow your career.
According to the findings of a study entitled, “Gen Y Workplace Expectations”, conducted by Schawbel, in partnership with American Express both managers and employees are on the same page when it comes to workplace success. In addition, Lightspeed Research collected responses from 1,000 Gen Y employees and 1,000 managers across companies of all sizes, in various industries examining the criteria that managers look for when promoting employees. Both managers and Gen Y employees agree that soft skills are important, followed by hard skills and digital tech-savvy skills.
The survey results that are most helpful to you identify the skills managers look for in promoting employees. The top three most important skills that attract managers are the ability to prioritize work (87 percent), a positive attitude (86 percent) and teamwork skills (86 percent). All three areas carry the theme of communication skills, your ability to get along with others and prioritizing work.
In discussing the three top skills with Schawbel, he describes what makes them important to managers starting with your ability to prioritize. This makes sense because today’s work environment is built upon your ability to multitask.
Having a positive attitude ranks second. Being enthusiastic and excited about your work is contagious. It not only leads to a better working environment, it helps you stand out from the crowd. Choosing to find purpose in your work makes what you do more fulfilling. There is a distinct attitude difference when your work is meaningful versus being looked upon as just a paycheck.
164637848Teamwork will always remain an important key skill; no matter where you work, the ability to get along with others is vital to any business. The skill in contributing and participating in a team setting is necessary. Managers want interpersonal skills and those who have them will be promoted faster than those who don’t.
Taking ownership of your career and making the necessary changes that will help you succeed is critical in getting to the next steps. While some of the changes might be uncomfortable at first, in the long run, your career will benefit in areas such as networking with older employees, volunteering or participating in events outside of work and making use projects to develop relationships across departments, to name a few.
What skills would you rank as the top three that attract managers?
