essential skills for the workplace

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Essential Skills for the 21st Century

Workplace – steps to reaching the top

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Presented by: Earl OkezieMD/CEO, WordmartNigeria

080-33-196-190, [email protected]

Agenda

As it was in the beginning, isn’t so now

Why workplace skills? Essential skills for the

21st century workplace Where do I go from here?

- Self audit- Set goals- Constant reviews

Why Workplace Skills?

Provides foundation for learning all other skills

Provides a cornerstone for life-long learning

Your education, training and career options are limited without these essential workplace skills

Provides essential keys to a brighter future

“It takes more to be successful in the workplace and in overall society”.

Workplace Skills Before Now

Reading Writing Arithmetic Brawn

Very perfect for the industrial age

“it takes more to be successful in the workplace and in overall society”.

Essential skills for the 21st Century Workplace

Reading Document use Numeracy/computational thinking

skills Effective oral & written

Communication skills Critical thinking/problem solving skills Working with others Digital technology/computer literacy Continuous learning


Reading Skills

Ability to read, understand and interpret work-related documents:

Reports, financial statements

e-mails, memos manuals, product

information, tables, charts,

diagrams, schedules and maps

Document Use

Finding and using the information you need or putting information in where it’s needed -

Documents – reports, user manuals, financial statements, proposals

Memos, letters, forms Charts, tables, graphs,

technical drawings Books, journals,

newsletters

Numeracy/Computational thinking

Ability to use numbers and think mathematically:

To measure Calculate To estimate To analyse To work with money To draw up/interpret

budgets

Effective oral/written communication Skills

“Communication skills are extremely important. Unfortunately, both written and oral skills are often ignored in engineering schools, so today we have many engineers with excellent ideas and a strong case to make, but they don’t know how to make that case. If you can’t make the case, no matter how good the science and technology may be, you’re not going to see your ideas reach fruition.”- George Heilmeier, corporate executive of Bellcore, in Educating Tomorrow’s Engineers,” ASEE Prism, May/June 1995, p. 12.

Critical thinking/Problem solving skills

Critical thinking – ability to look at a situation, take it apart, and put it back together in a new way

Problem solving – ability to look at a problem from different perspectives, and come up with a unique and workable solution

Critical thinking skills

Working with People

Are you a team player? Do you work for the good of the

team? Are you able to carry others

along? Are you a good listener? Are you an effective

communicator? Can you transfer/share

information/knowledge? Do you hoard information? How do you handle criticism? Do you respect other peoples’

opinions/views?

Computer Literacy/Digital Technology -1

“Computer literacy, the ability to use computers to perform a variety of tasks, is becoming fundamental to the learning process. The "information age" perhaps best describes the twentieth century; the next century has been described as the "information processing" age. A wide variety of computer skills are useful and, in some cases required, as an essential part of college learning and employment for most individuals...” – University of Minnesota

Computer Literacy/Digital Technology -2

Do you know how to operate a computer?

Can you evaluate your ability to use e-mail and Internet to communicate and locate information?

Can you evaluate your word processing ability?

Can you assess your ability to create a worksheet using spreadsheet software?

Can you assess your skills for creating and manipulating a database?

Can you evaluate your skills for creating and manipulating graphic files?

How can you apply general technology knowledge and skills?

Continuous Learning

“Never become so much of an expert that you stop gaining expertise. View life as a continuous learning experience.’ - Anonymous

“If you work on always getting better and staying on top of new technologies and information you will do great no matter what level of education you complete or where your degree comes from. So definitely get in your fancy book Learnin’, but also keep your eyes open to all types of learning opportunities. ” – Justin Himebaugh


Where Do I Go From Here?

Conduct a self-audit of your workplace skills set to enable you uncover gaps

Determine the critical gaps you need to cover in order of priority

Ask yourself what you need to do to cover these gaps

Set goals and targets for acquiring these skills

Constantly Review your goals and targets to ascertain levels of progress.

“To succeed in today’s workplace, young people need more than basic reading and math skills. They need substantial content knowledge and information technology skills; advanced thinking skills, flexibility to adapt to change; and interpersonal skills to succeed in multi-cultural, cross-functional teams.”

- J. Willard Marriott, Jr., Chairman and CEO, Marriott International, Inc.

Questions ?

Thank You