Top 10 skills for professionals during and after Covid-19

 Top 10 skills for professionals during and after Covid-19

The arrival of the pandemic caused by Covid-19 tested the adaptability of companies and employee. It turned homes into schools and offices at the same time; changed the dynamics of family interaction, destabilized routines and challenged processes and operations worldwide.

In response to these changes and challenges that the new normal brought with it and the need to anticipate to future events, organizations have prioritized certain skills that were important before the pandemic, but have become essential for professionals in all areas.

These skills are what companies are currently looking for in new hires and they are also seeking to enhance and strengthen in existing employees. So, we set about the task of finding out what are those skills so necessary for professionals during and after Covid-19, and came up with these 10:

1. Adaptability: Before the pandemic it did not seem to be of great importance, due to the rigidity of the structures, however, today being able to adapt to new situations and people very important, in order to learn how to restructure tasks, new information, policies, procedures, among others.

2. Emotional intelligence: This is one of the most sought-after skills within leadership roles. Being able to find the balance between the personal and the professional life, differentiating, evaluating, and responding from one's own emotions and those of others, make people more effective and open to change.

3. Creativity: In addition to being essential to develop new ideas, products and services, creativity plays a fundamental role in solving problems and responding to changing situations and environments.

4. Active learning: In addition to the tools provided by the company and the courses and training required for the employees; it is very valuable for industries that professionals have the will to keep up to date with topics related to their area, and in other areas that are related to their profession, this helps them with the probability of anticipating or responding to changing market conditions.

5. Digital skills: Employees must feel comfortable with the use of digital platforms utilized by the company, in order to optimize and facilitate communication between employees, customers and suppliers.

6. Communication and negotiation: Although before the pandemic these were considered fundamental skills, today they have a greater impact on credibility and image of companies. With the reduction in on-site work, and the great increase in hybrid and remote work modalities, the good communication and negotiation that professionals have with employees, customers, vendors, etc., through different platforms, are extremely necessary to maintain the company's competitiveness.

7. Innovative thinking: In a world in constant change and evolution, finding people capable of reinventing structures and processes has become an essential element to achieve the advantage over the competition.

8. Decision making and leadership: In addition to referencing a brave, risky, and empowered person, having the ability to analyze data and make decisions is becoming progressively more important. A good leader will guide the team in the right way to achieve business growth.

9. Personnel management: The labor market is increasingly competitive. The difference in salary will not be a decisive factor in retaining an employee, if the benefits and the career plan offered by the company are not. Manage your most important asset correctly: People. Offer benefits like flexible hours, family days, training plans, and growth within the company.

10. Virtual collaboration (Teamwork): Remote work and hybrid mode are more and more frequent. Find or create integration spaces that allow you to replace in a certain way those moments of interaction that previously existed within the office in such a way that you create close ties and commitment between the members of your work team.

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 HR role during Covid-19

Reconfigure, readapt, rebuild are just some of the terms and measures that have emerged in the lifestyle of people and organizations worldwide, as a result of the impact caused by COVID-19. This has led companies to reconsider the role of the human resources department as a "support" system, making it a "fundamental" area.

HR managers have shown their ability to adapt and be resourceful when facing complex and challenging environments, in order to guarantee stability and continuity for both businesses and employees. They have had to adapt and create solutions to a revolution that came to change everything and without a warning.

The pandemic not only transformed the way we think, work, and relate to others, but also brought abrupt changes at an accelerated pace, which will forever mark a “before” and “after” for humanity.

The confinement tested the adaptability of employees and the flexibility of companies, making way to hybrid workplaces and remote work modalities; eliminating geographical borders that allows to broaden the spectrum of search for professionals and organizations, which has meant an additional challenge for human resources.

Human Resources has had to redefine everything from companys’ structures, policies, and processes within organizations, in order to make way for a new normal where guidelines and best management practices are focused on the greatest resource: people. This redefinition must guarantee the correct interaction, to ensure that teamwork, the sense of belonging and the commitment to the company last.

These new forms of “remote” work require a series of skills and abilities that must be developed in a joint effort with Human Resources areas, who will oversee how to manage and promote easy and accessible training programs; must go in hand with a simplification of processes and tools promoted by the department, leading workers to save time and organizations to save money.

Although, the role played by HR has been hard work in reaction to the pandemic so far (without neglecting the merits), to achieve stability in the midst of turbulence, from now on it is up decision makers inside companies, to propose, anticipate, simplify, automate and even partially or totally outsource, in order to optimize recruitment, hiring and employee retention practices; to stay updated and to be involved in the constant changes that are part of the new reality.

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Biggest challenges while hiring online

Biggest challenges while hiring online

The fear of contracting the virus even when vaccinated, having to take care of children at home as some schools remain closed or partially opened, the practicality that offers working from home and how it increases productivity and sense of belonging towards the companies and their culture; are aspects that determine why virtual hiring is here to stay and that will take on more strength in this new reality.

The pandemic, social distancing, and connectivity are some of the factors that are significantly changing the competitiveness in the market; making companies modify and adjust their workflow and increasing the demand of innovative and qualified talent capable to overcome these challenges.

Hiring online is a very complex process, despite the ongoing development in tools that facilitate it nowadays. Headhunting companies and human resources departments have had to become more creative and resourceful in order to find the perfect candidate for the right position, facing these "5 main challenges":

1. Very long and unstructured selection processes: If the online recruitment process takes a lot of time to be completed, the company is at risk of losing the perfect candidate for the position. In order to prevent this:

· Establish short selection processes, which allows to make the final decision within a maximum period of 10 days.

· Be clear about the ideal candidate's profile, requirements and benefits of the position, skills, salary range, estimated start date, evaluation criteria, the roles, and responsibilities of each of the members in the selection team.

2. On offer of candidates: The number of applicants for a vacancy is overwhelming; there are so many profiles that it is impossible to take them all into consideration to start the selection process. In this case, prioritize quality over quantity.

It is preferable to post your vacancy on specialized professional platforms, which lets you address the target audience easily, avoiding ads or phishing, and giving you the facility of screening the candidates' curriculums based on skills, experience, knowledge, location, etc.

3. Unskilled profiles: The arrival of the pandemic and the massive cuts in personnel have made workers rethink their salary and professional projection expectations. This has led them to be overqualified or unqualified for the positions for which they are applying.

Be very specific when setting expectations regarding requirements and experience; this way, you will establish an initial filter that will allow candidates to reject the offer if they do not meet the expected requirements.

4. Lack of local talent: If the talent you require is not physically located in the city where the company is, consider opening remote positions that allow you attract the talent you require, leaving aside geographic limitations.

If there is one thing the pandemic has shown, it is that workers’ productivity increased by working from home.

5. Weak brand as an employer: One of the biggest challenges for companies is to position themselves as a solid brand to attract new and better talent. In addition to providing a good candidate experience, the company must promote a strong organizational culture.

This ensures not only a good number of applications to vacancies, but that the best professionals wanting to apply to work on them.

Conclusion:

Although the modality of remote work has been gradually increasing since 2010, the arrival of the pandemic exponentially accelerated the recruitment and incorporation of the remote workforce even more. It is necessary for companies to consider the challenges they face when carrying out remote hiring processes, in order to find not only the best and most qualified talents, but also those talents that are identified and projected into the future with the company. 
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