With record levels of unemployment and competition amongst job seekers, we wanted to find out what skills and attributes make people marketable and stand out from the crowd in the current economic environment.
We put this question to HR professionals in a mini poll on our website in May and June 2009. We also asked a similar question in our Employee Outlook survey (July 2009) so that we could compare and contrast the different perspectives and priorities of the two groups.
The 112 HR professionals who took part in our online mini poll were asked to identify, from a list of options, which one skill or attribute potential applicants most need to demonstrate in the current economic environment. The 3,336 employees from our Employee Outlook survey were asked to identify the top three skills/ attributes potential applicants most need to demonstrate in the current economic environment.
HR professionals
The HR group identified transferable/flexible skills as the key attribute applicants should be demonstrating in the current climate.
- Transferable/ flexible skills (45%)
The second and third most popular were:
Overall, HR professionals considered flexibility in terms of skills and organisational fit as more important for potential applicants to demonstrate than more traditional achievements such as qualifications and technical and professional knowledge.
Business acumen was also chosen by almost a fifth of the sample, which is unsurprising given that many organisations will be doing all they can to generate new revenue and business solutions and reduce costs in this uncertain climate.
Employees
The employee group identified the following top three skills/qualities which potential applicants should be demonstrating in the current climate:
- Transferable/ flexible skills (47%)
- Fit with culture/ values of organisation (47%)
- Interpersonal skills (35%)
The joint favourites were flexible skills and fit with the organisation’s culture. In contrast with the HR group, interpersonal skills were also felt to be important in the current climate.
Respondents employed in the voluntary sector and in education and health were more likely to cite transferable/flexible skills and fit with culture/values of the organisation. Public and voluntary sector employees were also more likely to identify interpersonal skills than their private sector counterparts.
Overall, skills such as business acumen and innovation were seen as less important than having the appropriate qualifications for the job and having good customer service skills.
Conclusions
Overall, flexible skills and fit with the culture and values of the organisation are considered vital for current applicants, by both groups. It is interesting to see that such a flexible mindset is considered more important than more traditional achievements such as qualifications and technical/professional knowledge.
The main differences are that the HR group prioritise business acumen in the current climate, while the employee group believe this to be relatively unimportant. The employees on the other hand rate interpersonal skills and customer service skills higher than the HR group.
In addition to a flexible skill and mindset, business acumen, interpersonal skills and customer service skills are all very important in helping people stand out from the crowd in today’s turbulent economic climate.
Reference
McCartney, C and Willmott, B (July 2009) Employee Outlook, CIPD