Internal Auditing -Body ,Mind and Beyond - META SKILLS =- Series -20

 

Soft Skills and Beyond: The Rise of Meta-Skills 

 

In recent years, the significance of soft skills in the modern workplace has been repeatedly emphasized. There is no denying that soft skills such as communication, teamwork, interpersonal relationships, conflict resolution and analytical thinking, among others, are crucial. 

Yet, these aren’t enough to meet the ever-evolving challenges of the new-age world. It is important to understand the massive economic implications of skilling gaps and the resulting unemployment. 

Pearson’s latest report, ‘Lost in transition: Fixing the “learn-to-earn” skills gap’ reveals that economies lose billions in revenues due to skilling gaps, making it imperative for India to transition from degree-based learning to skills-based employment.  

Decoding Meta-skills and Their Significance 

Increasingly prized today, meta-skills denote higher-order skills aimed at enhancing employees’ ability to imbibe new knowledge and apply this quickly. Examples include learning a new language, an ability to pinpoint pain points in the business and resolve complex problems plus the capability to transfer skills between diverse domains.  

The other critical meta-skills include the ability to learn, comprehend and adapt speedily to the changing enterprise environment, self-awareness and resilience. Additionally, the ability to unlearn and relearn is indispensable for enterprises seeking to build a future-ready workforce.  

Key Meta-skills 

Given this backdrop, the rationale for developing meta-skills as part of employees’ core skills and deep learning could not have greater validation. Alongside upskilling and reskilling, meta-skills can be most effective in plugging the skills gap that employees face across levels in varied industries. Herein, two skills need some elaboration – self-awareness and resilience.  

There is one that is supreme among the many meta-skills: the ability to learn. Knowing how to learn is what enables everything else to begin to form, and our capacity to learn also helps improve other meta-skills. Any of these may be called soft skills, but they are not just only soft skills on the whole. AI and automation will reduce demand for experts and make you stronger in the automated world by learning these skills.

Many meta-skills exist, but to stay competitive on the modern world, feeling, seeing, imagining, creating and learning is possibly most important.

·        Feeling is the talent of intuition, empathy, and emotional intelligence.

·        Seeing is the skill of seeing the big picture, of thinking holistically, of thinking in complete systems.

·        Dreaming is the skill of applied imagination, making you a great scientist or artist, or play any role in which a premium is placed on innovation.

·        Making is the skillset of design and design thinking – playing role that depends on craft.

·        Learning is the skill of self-teaching that lets you increase the power of your other four talents.

Strategic Approach to Becoming Future-ready 

However, the development of meta-skills necessitates a strategic approach based on a vibrant blend of continuous training, real-world applications and sustained support. Companies must also assess whether their meta-skills training programmes are effective and the skills deployed efficiently in real-world scenarios. 

By monitoring the degree of employee engagement, companies can evaluate the success of meta-skills programmes as improved skills result in greater job satisfaction and lower attrition rates. An analysis of the relevant metrics will help in this assessment as well as in making requisite revisions to the skilling programs.  

Recommendations to Fill the Skills Gap 

According to the Pearson ‘Lost in Transition’ report, addressing the evolving skills gap necessitates a multi-faceted approach. Besides acquiring relevant degrees, a crucial skill for employability is ‘Learning to Learn’, which denotes the ability to adapt, absorb and apply new knowledge continuously. This essential skill ensures employees can navigate job disruptions triggered by AI and automation.  

Furthermore, it is crucial to reinvent and expand the industry-academia collaboration such that the curricula are designed in line with industry needs. Countries such as Singapore have successfully integrated ‘learning-to-learn’ strategies into their education system, setting a benchmark for other nations to follow. 

We also have to focus on providing financial support models for career transitions. Countries like South Korea have ‘Work-First, Study-Later’ schemes, enabling employees to gain experience before pursuing higher education via financial support. India can adopt a similar model to incentivize continuous learning. 

There should be a comprehensive approach to workforce development, leveraging AI-driven learning tools, digital learning wallets, and work-integrated learning models. This approach can encompass strategic government policies that incentivize lifelong learning through cutting-edge AI-based training modules, encourage employers to transition towards competency-based hiring practices, and systematically track individual skill progression to facilitate more seamless professional transitions.