Indispensable Competences of the Future

The world is changing so rapidly and radically that it is even spoken of as a change of era, rather than an era of change. Technological innovations such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and big data are the main drivers of all these changes.

Due to automation and robotisation, a lot of low-skilled work will disappear in the coming years. But work that requires higher education is also changing due to technological developments. Because computers and algorithms take over the simple tasks from us, work not only gets a more emphatic technological component, but the work we do ourselves is also becoming increasingly complex. As a result, increasingly higher demands are placed on employees and you will need to have different competences in the future than now. These so-called ’21st century skills’ refer to the capacities and learning characteristics that are necessary to be and remain successful in this century.

For example, the need for “higher” cognitive skills, such as problem solving and creativity, will increase. Interpersonal skills are also becoming increasingly important; as computers and machines do more and more work for us, the social and emotional skills of employees become all the more important. Didier Fouarge, Professor of Dynamics of Skills Allocation at the School of Business and Economics of Maastricht University, observes in his research Changes in work and skills (2017) that employment is already growing most strongly in professions in which a combination of problem-solving and interpersonal skills is important. The importance of these skills is only expected to increase. According to the world’s leading organisational consultancy McKinsey, the demand for skills such as entrepreneurship and initiative is growing the fastest. And these skills are precisely those many employees lack.

You will therefore have to continuously develop yourself to remain relevant in the labour market. Further training and lifelong learning, which increasingly involves less substantive knowledge, are, as Fouarge noted earlier, a pure necessity to keep yourself sustainably employable.

UMIO has developed various management courses in which 21st century skills are central such as:

• Effective Leadership
• Change Management
• Digital Transformation
• Innovating Leadership
• Team Effectiveness

Do you want to know with which specific learning path you can work on your competences in a targeted manner? Then contact us. We are happy to help you.

Also view the overview of all programmes for professionals, offered by UMIO.