Success in Today’s Business Climate
I was asked recently about the key skills and competencies HR professionals need in today’s business climate.
As I thought about my answer, I realized that there are many factors—success factors—that apply not only to HR professionals, but to managers and leaders as well. The ones that stand out as being most important are:
Strategic thinking. Probably the most important success factor is the ability to take an intentional and rational thought process, one that focuses on the analysis of critical factors and variables, when making decisions. For example, in making decisions asking the what and the why behind a situation; looking at the circumstances and constraints around a certain situation and analyzing each on its merits; understanding precedent and past practices—how similar situations were handled—and what may be different now.
Analytical skills. The ability to use and interpret data in order to present positions and make credible decisions is critical today. Data is used throughout the employment relationship, such as in workforce and succession planning. Data is used throughout other business functions, such as sales and marketing to analyze trends and changes in consumer and market conditions.
Communication skills. Working with people requires excellent communication skills including listening skills, speaking and presentation skills, and writing skills. Too often leaders have to contend with the syndrome of “on the mind, out of the mouth.” This isn’t communicating; it’s noisemaking. Leaders have to listen, process, clarify and question before responding—whether that response is written or oral. They also have to organize ideas and data when making presentations or persuasive arguments.
Technology skills. Technology touches every aspect of business, and it is ever changing. Managers and leaders must have an understanding of how technology can be used in the daily aspects of their roles and their department’s role if they want to strive for process excellence. This includes social media, data management, privacy, security and artificial intelligence.
Adaptability to change. Change happens at such a rapid pace and unexpected change, as we learned during the 2020 pandemic, impacts operations. Smart leaders and organizations try to forecast changes that will impact their organizations and industry sectors. Success, however, lies in preparing for the unexpected—such as disaster recovery—and the ability to embrace change and the opportunities it brings.
Ability to manage and work across cultures. Welcome to the global village that we all live in today. In recent decades, the business climate has experienced rapid globalization requiring leaders to shift perspectives and become comfortable doing business around the globe—different nuances in management practices and different cultural norms. Doing business globally, leaders need to understand the essentials of communicating, negotiating and managing across cultures—especially where their organizations have a presence. For all managers, understanding culture and appreciating cultural differences is imperative, especially if they are managing people from other countries and cultures.
We talk more about these success factors in all our books (and previous blogs): strategic thinking and analytical skills—check out The Decisive Manager; communication skills and adaptability to change—check out The Essential Workplace Conflict Handbook; and technology skills and managing across cultures and diversity—The Big Book of HR has information on these topics and more.