Best PoSH policies for organizations during remote working

With the advent of globalization and women empowerment, Indian women have been taking the role of bread winners of a family. The status of women is evolving as they are now encouraged and involved in the mainstream workforce of India. In workplaces, there is a fundamental right to equality for women but the first legislation addressing the sexual harassment at workplaces was enacted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development. The PoSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) Act, 2013 is a principal law designed to protect the interest of women against sexual harassment at workplaces. It is applicable to every workplace in India. 

 

The act mandates all organizations to define sexual harassment policies for their employees. Sexual harassment is any form of discrimination against a person that includes unwanted attention of sexual nature. Today, hybrid work culture has become the new normal for business wherein homes have become an extended workplace. While working from home, technological platforms like Zoom, Skype, and Google Meets are being used by businesses to conduct day-to-day activities. Molestation, stalking, voyeurism and blackmailing have been increasing against female employees on such platforms. Most of the instances of virtual sexual harassment occur over calls, text messages, or social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, or Instagram.  The purpose of PoSH policies is to prevent sexual harassment of women and protect them in all situations whether it is offline or online. 

National Commission for Women (NCW) in India has reported that a 5 times surge in sexual harassment against women in work from home culture. Sexual predators have found new tools and methods to abuse and threaten women. Instances of such workplace harassment include sending pictures without consent, calling women colleagues post-office hours, taking a screenshot without the consent of female employees during a video call, and later circulating it on social media also using unacceptable emoticons during texting or video call.

Virtual offices and employees working remotely are well covered under the PoSH act. It defines a workplace as “any place visited by the employee arising out of or during employment”. Thus, it can be understood that in remote working, employees' own homes would be included within the purview of the workplace. Virtual sexual harassment happens with women and girls via technology on electronic platforms that also attracts the provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000. 

The best policies suggested to the organization for overcoming the challenges of sexual harassment in remote working are as follows:

1. To review the existing policies- As the working arrangements have changed a great deal for the businesses, the organizations must ensure that their PoSH policies are reviewed and updated according to the new normal. It should take into consideration the rise in the use of technologies and increase in remote working. 

2. Setting expectations- The sexual harassment policies of the organization must be clearly conveyed to the employees. These policies should be stated in the joining letters. Seminars can also be conducted to impart mandatory PoSH training for the employees. Every employee should be aware and informed about the etiquettes of work-related communications while working from home. They should also be trained on what is appropriate and what is not during video conferencing.

3. Publicize procedures- PoSH policy must be easily accessible for the employees at any time. It should be available on the company’s website, and be easy to use. The employees should have a clear knowledge of how they can report such heinous acts against them and it must not be ambiguous. They must be aware about the redressal process against such heinous events. Regular information must be shared with employees via emails, so they are well aware of the Changes in PoSH policies and the IC team responsible for those.

4. Response and attend- The biggest problem is not devising and making employees understand the PoSH policies but the delayed response and lack of attention paid to the cases reported. If sexual harassment complaint has been lodged by an employee, the higher authorities must be given attention and the higher authorities must be responsible for looking after the grievance as soon as possible. It must also be handled sensitively as such cases are usually overwhelming. The employees must feel that their concern is taken seriously and actions will be taken.

5. Internal Committee (IC) team should be well trained to encounter such complain in virtual scenarios- Every company should have a safe and harassment-free working environment. If any complaint arises, the IC team should be responsible to investigate the issue without any biases. It should be vigilant to resolve the matter as soon as possible. This is because the complaint against sexual harassment not only corrode the image of the accused and the complainant but also of the organization. 

In order to make the female employees safe and secure, the PoSH policies at the workplace are a must-have for every organization. Even law mandates that every organization must have PoSH policies for prohibition, prevention, and redressal of sexual harassment against women in the organization. They must be encouraged to report the case if something inappropriate and unacceptable incident happen to them at the workplace and similarly, the response to those complaints must be prompt. 

NDIM leads the show, when it comes to HR training and we also run a training programme on Best PoSH Policies for organizations. It is also legally mandatory for the organization to conduct PoSH training for the employees to make them aware of the expectations of the policies. The leaders of the organization must work together to remove factors contributing towards a hostile work environment and create a gender-sensitive safe space for all the employees to work and grow in. Sexual predators do not differentiate between in-office harassment or virtual. Thus, a delay in addressing the issue can only empower such people and the case can go out of hand. Organizations can be more vigilant during remote working and undertake best practices to prevent sexual harassment. 

Become a financial analyst from scratch!

One of the most coveted careers in the financial services industry is that of an analyst. The role of a financial analyst is to identify opportunities, evaluate financial growth outcomes for the business and give recommendations for investment. A financial analyst’s job can be both at junior as well as a senior levels. Most junior financial analysts look after the maintenance of spreadsheets, gathering information as well as financial modeling. The senior analysts, on the other hand, work closely with the company’s management and other team and develop an investment thesis for the financial betterment of the firm. 

The financial service industry is known to be a competitive one and to make a career as a financial analyst in this industry, one must prepare well for the job. 

Who is a financial analyst?

A financial analyst is someone who gives recommendations to businesses based on the analysis carried out with respect to factors like market trends, financial status and the predicted outcomes of some deals carried out. With their findings, they help companies in making financial decisions for their businesses, especially investing decisions. The basic job responsibilities of a financial analyst are:

• Study of financial data

• Investment recommendations

• Analyze business and economic trends

• Put together written reports and organize financial information

• Determine a company’s value by examining financial statements

• Understand the company’s prospects and gain better insight by meeting the company’s officials

A financial analyst evaluates investment opportunities for the company. They are also called security analysts or investment analysts and work primarily in banks, insurance companies, mutual funds, securities funds, and other businesses. 

Skills required to be a financial analyst

• Analytical approach- Financial analysts coordinate a myriad of information while finding out a profitable investment for the company.

• Decision-making skill- Buying, selling, or holding of a security is an example of a decision-making skill required in a financial analyst.

• Mathematical thinking- Estimation of financial security requires the analyst to be mathematically skilled.

• Computer savvy person- Dealing in financial analysis requires using a lot of software for analyzing and forecasting data.

• Communication- Explaining the investment options in the written and verbal form of presentations to the company officials is an important part of the job. Thus, a financial analyst must have a good command of communication skills too.

These skills are helpful for becoming a professional financial analyst.

Educational Requirements

In order to pursue a career as a chartered financial analyst, one must have fulfilled the following educational requirements. 

Step 1: Earn a Bachelor’s degree

The most important step towards achieving the goal of becoming a financial analyst is first and foremost earning a bachelor’s degree. General courses in economics, statistics, and other related fields are relevant to financial analytics but a more targeted degree is ideal for a professional. A degree such as BFIA (Bachelors in Financial and Investment Analysis) is recommended. The other undergraduate degrees one can pursue are B.com (Finance), BBA (Finance), or BEco. The other route is by pursuing CA (Chattered accountants).

Step 2: Earn a Master’s Degree

A bachelor’s degree may be enough to get started the financial analyst career but a master’s degree takes it to a whole new level. Analysts who want to enjoy better opportunities in terms of job positions and salaries could consider pursuing a Master’s degree in finance or a Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) or M.com (Finance).

Step 3: Attaining certifications

Many companies search for financial analysts who have the required skills and educational qualifications along with certification as CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst). A certified Chartered Financial Analyst can find attractive salary packages with even international employment. The CFA Institute in India offers a three-level course in CFA- Level Ⅰ, Level Ⅱ, and Level Ⅲ. A student must clear all three levels to be a certified financial analyst.

Pursuing CFA after completing a master’s degree is advisable because:

• The curriculum prepares the financial experts for a wider range of job roles and responsibilities

• Greater career advancement

• Boost credibility of profile

People who can register for the CFA program are- current MBA students/ MBA graduates, B.Com/M.Com students, CA aspirants, or IT professionals. 

There are several firms recruiting CFAs. A person with this certification can be hired by-

• Portfolio management firms

• Investment banking

• Equity research

• Wealth management firms

• Corporate financial divisions

• Private equity

• Credit analysis

Financial analysis as a career has much to offer to job seekers. The file is expanding with the increase in hiring demand. Also, increased educational opportunities and skillsets have opened up gates for more people to enter. Along with having a relevant bachelor’s and master’s degree for pursuing a financial analysis career, training is of utmost importance too. For individuals considering this career path, the online certification program for financial analysis of the India Center for Global Excellence may fit very well into the busy work and personal schedule. Learn about it today and start on the path of the career of your dreams. 

#9 Benefits Of 360° Digital Transformation Of Sales And Marketing

Transiting to a digital era is more than a reconsideration in business today. To stay competitive and relevant in this groundbreaking marketplace, companies must begin and progress their transition to the Digital Transformation Of Sales And Marketing. With the ongoing digital disruptors fastening at the heels of many businesses, success will come to the places that guarantee their workforce is skilled in the digital age's best practices. Furthermore, this transformation must be tailored into the company's fabric and championed by the administration to have maximum impact.

The issue for many businesses is that they've already fallen behind. Some believe they are too late to get started. Digital speed is now much faster than those old conventional companies, and that pace is necessary to becoming a fast follower. Here in this post, we will explore various benefits of a 360° Digital Transformation Of Sales And Marketing in a business and its workforce.

#1. Helps In Transforming The Customer Experience

The world's fascination with the upcoming advanced technology, various social media platforms, and apps revolve around a desire for a more comfortable life. People want valuable solutions to their problems. More importantly, they want it fast.

The customer experience generally lies at the ticker of digital. As a result, 360° Digital Transformation Of Sales And Marketing's primary focus is to use cutting-edge technology to improve the customer experience.

The success determinants in customer experience in the 360° Digital Transformation Of Sales And Marketing transformation process are:

• Create and digitize customer journeys

• Boost speed and quickness in insights

• Attain customer selection of digital customer journeys

• Build promptness in delivering digital transformations

Those organizations at the digital revolution's vanguard will gain much more authorization, trust, and respect from patrons.

#2. Helps In Driving The Data-Based Insights

Another advantage of the ongoing 360° Digital Transformation Of Sales And Marketing is the tracing metrics and interpretation of the data gained throughout the digital marketing efforts. Moving to the actual point, utilizing these insights empowers companies to optimize their strategies and methods for even better outcomes.  

In sales and marketing, two things matter the most - the first is the cost, and the other is revenue. It's possible to make extensive changes by combining data-based insights into the firm culture. With these data-driven insights, they can know their clients and feed into business strategy enabling hyper-personalization, uniqueness, real-time feedback, and readiness. 

This comprises businesses using the personal information of customers and other social media metrics that pull together data from many sides of the market and help drive the 360° Digital Transformation Of Sales And Marketing tour. The significance of data in decision-making should not be undervalued. With the right leadership to encourage this approach throughout a business, the road to a higher ROI will become more adaptable. 

#3. Helps In Customer Retention

Customer retention is vital for building your brand as a business leader. There is a higher support than your clients keeping you again? Repeat business that exhibits your service quality, the trust people have in your product, and the desire to return for more.

360° Digital Transformation Of Sales And Marketing makes your brand the one customers revert to using brand awareness initiatives, content tact, and marketing to keep your brand at the front of your customer's perceptions. 

#4. Drive Customer Loyalty

Developing a customer’s lifetime value through 360° Digital Transformation Of Sales And Marketing brews down to a strong customer experience. 

Additionally, a customer is more likely to buy from a competitor if the problem is service-related versus price or product-related.

One of the explicit ways of building brand loyalty by 360° Digital Transformation Of Sales And Marketing is to deliver on everything you have agreed and provided that to the highest of standards while never letting them down. 

#5. Helps In Encouraging To Build Collaboration Across Various Departments

Most people cringe at the change. Even the whole organization's thought of making an extensive 360° Digital Transformation Of Sales And Marketing can be an intimidating sight for a workforce from administration level to the freshers. All methods and procedures, down to the core composition and organization culture, necessitate being addressed.

Nevertheless, in that, there is a chance for unity during the workforce. To maximize the possibilities of a thriving switch, there needs to be effective communication. Motivating the employees can tear down age canyons and cultural divides to fasten in discussion while learning mutually. 

#6. Increases Swiftness & Change

Agility is the ability to improve and develop quickly, especially regarding digital processes continuously in any business. This inclination for change is held in high esteem across many companies. Many companies rank agility among the top attentiveness when it comes to 360° Digital Transformation Of Sales And Marketing drives. The agile development and constant changing of the digital panorama bequeath no time for businesses to rest on their garlands.

Even the companies that are already on the top should be ready for the change and transition. There will always be a new contest, new techniques, and of course, recent trends. With all this, the customer will need more, desiring it faster and better than before. 

#7. Helps In Updating The Skillsets & Knowledge

As agile technology extends to go sky-high, the need for these specific jobs will grow. To name a few skills that are coming into their own, the future of digital business is looking to be laboriously built upon the following skill sets:

• AI

• Augmented Reality

• Cloud Computing

• Machine Learning

• Data Exploration/Analytics

• Growth Hacking

#8. Promotes A Digital Culture

Central to this resilient and versatile nature is a robust digital workplace. It allows the workforce to remain fruitful and involved in the 360° Digital Transformation Of Sales And Marketing without feeling bewildered or detached from the process. Only having agile technology in place is not sufficient. If a business succeeds in the future, the organization must adopt and apply a company culture that encompasses the change.

Many professionals don't feel equipped for change. A company culture that immerses the workforce in a digital learning environment is a significant benefit, helping them upskill for years ahead and climb up the ladder to become digital-savvy employees.

#9. Streamlines The Overall Process and Operations

Placing money aside, the most significant universal advantage that technology has given businesses is that it has made it easier to connect with other people. This solidification of the company processes and operations allows the business to connect with their target customer base while satisfying their requirements.  

Wrap-up

In summing-up, the future of 360° Digital Transformation Of Sales And Marketing is no longer a speck on the horizon. The constraining requirement to execute it in subsequent times can no longer be ignored. The constraining need to implement it in the following times can no longer be ignored unquestionably if it is interested in success. The digital age isn't brand-new, but it is inconsistent. We are amid the digital evolutionism, where the companies fully encompass and invest in their Digital Transformation that will flourish.

How Emotional Intelligence Is Important for Managerial Effectiveness And Well Being

Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage emotions. The skills used in emotional intelligence include self-awareness, self-regulation, inspiration, compassion, and social skills. Recently, it has become a bit of a buzzword in HR offices across the world, but experts believe it's time for emotional intelligence to be taken seriously. Embracing complexities of human emotion in the workplace may have pragmatic effects, such as improved communication between workers and a healthier workplace. The point is that all day - every day, we are human beings, not just when we leave the workplace.

How Does Emotional Intelligence Help?

With so many fields of psychology, there is a rigorous discussion on how brains function, but Daniel Goleman, a world-renowned behavioral scientist, said that "the part of the brain that serves emotional and social intelligence is the last brain circuit to become anatomically mature, and because of neuroplasticity, the brain is influenced by repetitive experience" Goleman went on to state that this should be taught to children in a comprehensive way." This has been studied in more than 100 schools and there has been a decrease in anti-social activity, an improvement in social behavior, and an increase in academic scores," says Daniel Goleman.

It’s evident then that emotional intelligence is beneficial – both in and out of the workplace.

Addressing Our Emotions

The unfortunate trend that has swept our culture is the failure to adequately understand and address individual feelings. This pattern has extended to other aspects of life, including the workplace. Although feelings are often left behind when you start work, this has devastating consequences not just on companies but also on workers ( from assistant to CEO). We're emotional beings, after all. Businesses are evolving, though, and are starting to provide extensive and individual work arrangements and new programmes (for example, some insurance plans provide mental health coverage) to ensure that people are cared for at work.

This includes hiring psychologists for human resources teams: getting to understand your workforce as best as possible, and offering useful training has direct results on employee/employer relationships.

What Are Elements Of Emotional Intelligence?

Let’s dive deeper into the 5 elements of Emotional Intelligence:

1. Self-awareness is about recognising yourself: discovering your shortcomings, abilities, motivators, beliefs, and effects on others – the power of good instincts, ultimately. If you're a boss, you would know how challenging close deadlines are. A self-aware and emotionally knowledgeable boss can schedule their time well and get the job done well in advance of any deadlines so as to avoid any consequences on their emotional  or physical well-being.

2. Now, self-management is the capacity to harness and redirect destructive emotions and moods. Think of trustworthiness, honesty, and the comfort of transition. It's not encouraging your emotions to cripple you, but rather to conjure up your good emotions and match your emotions with your passions. For example, if a team fails to make a presentation, the leader must suppress the temptation to shout. Instead, they should consider potential explanations for disappointment, explain the implications to the members of their team, and discuss alternatives together.

3. Motivation is enjoying achievement for its own sake. A passion for the work you do, optimism, and energy to improve are the key hallmarks of an emotionally intelligent and motivated person.

4. Empathy is understanding the mental makeup of other individuals. It's about remembering other people's emotions, particularly when making decisions. Any of the trademarks of empathy include experience in recruiting and maintaining top talent, willingness to develop others, and openness to cross-cultural discrepancies. 

5. Finally, social skill is building a relationship with others to move them in the desired direction. Think “influence”, here.

How Do You Become More Emotionally Intelligent?

It's apparent that we're all emotionally intelligent, but we need to take some time to self-assess and reflect on our emotions. As for everything, preparation is required, but even minor measures will make a huge difference. As you work out your biceps or some other muscle on a daily basis, you need to practice your skills to strengthen them.

It is true that when we look at the leaders of some of the most profitable organizations that most of all these leaders have and show high levels of all the core components of emotional intelligence. It's important to bear in mind that there are a variety of skills. Overall, women tend to be more emotionally sensitive on average: to feel what someone feels at the moment, to manage relationships with individuals and classes. Even Goleman's perspective on the relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership is that there are disparities between men and women in this field, but as individuals develop, they acquire expertise in the area they require.

Has Emotional Intelligence Made A Difference In The Workplace?

We make emotionally charged choices every day. We assume that Plan A is stronger than Plan B, and often we make decisions based on our thoughts or intestinal feelings. When we understand the cause and source of these feelings, particularly when we work in a team, we are more attuned to each other. With globalization, emotional intelligence is more important than ever as teams are cross-cultural and multinational, raising the intensity of emotional experiences and how they are communicated. Essentially, on-the-job emotional intelligence is about learning, expressing, and controlling healthy relationships, and problem-solving under pressure.

Benefits Of Emotional Intelligence At Work

Gary Yukl, a leading expert in leadership agrees and goes on to conclude, "Self-awareness makes it possible to consider one's own desires and probable responses as those events arise, thus encouraging the assessment of potential options."

In order for emotional intelligence to be successful, you have to start with yourself. You can't distill or strengthen the well-being, improvement, and sense of self of someone without first knowing how you function on an emotional basis. What separates leaders is typically their level of interpersonal maturity, and it is those qualities that help to create a more productive workplace.

 

How to Manage Your Time rather than Cribbing about how less it is!

It is a dichotomy that New Generation Technology has been developed to serve the need of humans but still most of us end our day with so many pending tasks for the next day. Ideally, New Generation Technology should help us manage our work efficiently and leave us with more free time. Yet, when I look around, I realize that everyone has less time in a day, everyone is working more but is still not able to finish the tasks at hand.

I really wonder if this technology is there to help us or is it providing nutrition to our hunger to achieve more, which is depriving us of ever deficient time? Is it possible that our desire to finish more has increased due to upgraded technology? Can’t really answer this question without enough research, however the reality remains the same that almost every person I meet is grappling with the issue of shortage of TIME, always under pressure of leaving tasks unaccomplished.
We need to find the right answers to the biggest problem homo sapiens are facing in today’s era.







Let us mull over some of the possible ways to manage time to lead a fulfilling life:

1. Do Not Miss the Big picture – You need to have non – negotiables in your life which you will not give up in spite of how long the list is of your pending tasks. For example: Find time to exercise daily, put daily effort to upgrade your skill/s that ought to help you do your thing / job/ task at hand, find time to unwind every week by doing simple things such as going for a movie or on a date or a simple meet up with an old friend or meeting your parents etc. DO NOT negotiate with your non- negotiables.

2. Get comfortable with an Uncomfortable Zone – Build a vision to sleep less. I have personally observed and experienced that 5 hours sleep gives me sufficient energy for a long day. Therefore, you need to trust me when I say that 5 to 6 hours sleep is enough for everyone until you are being instructed to sleep more due to medical reasons. You may like to sleep extra on weekends. If you can find even two extra hours in the morning, you will be able to finish lot of pending tasks.

3. Do you have Grit & Determination? - As per the 2018 study by MIT’s Department of Brain & Cognitive Science, habits may form familiar neural pathways which makes it more difficult to break the pattern of behavior. Our brain retains a memory of the habit context, and this habit can be triggered if the habit cues come back. For example, if you want to reduce weight, just the sight of a yummy chocolate can reset all good intentions.

Therefore, you need to have a very strong resolve to change past habits which stop you from achieving your full potential. So, whether you want to wake up early and squeeze in a couple of productive hours, or want to work those extra hours in the evening from 7pm to 10 pm or want to hustle more for passive  income during weekends, you need to have a very strong grit and determination to break patterns and develop new ones. Determination will help you in taking tough decisions to remove unnecessary tasks/habits from your daily routine. It will free your time from the shackles of mundane tasks.

4. To-Do List – Innocuous yet immensely POWERFUL!

a) It sounds simple but I have seen people failing to follow their To-Do list within a week

b) Most of us may not know how to make a To-Do List therefore point a) happens.

Let’s understand the right process of making a To-Do List. You need to make two excel sheets. 1stExcel Sheet would have all the pending tasks as per the priorities assigned to them.

2ndExcel Sheet would have hour-wise/ day wise weekly plan. You need to assign which tasks will go to which day of the week.

Every day, you will work on both sheets and edit the assigned tasks as per the current progress. By working with two sheets, you will be able to control your pending To-Do List. The challenge with one single sheet is that it gets too long, scary and unending and with 2 the moment you complete the tasks of a day / hour simply delete them and start afresh daily with a list which is definitely going to get shorter because you are accomplishing by the hour.

5. Identify your Time Wasters – Lot of us may not realize the reality that we don’t have sufficient time even when we are always conscious about how we spend our time daily. The fact of the matter is our inability to identify time wasters. Time wasters are those activities which do not add any value to one’s current or long-term vision yet we end up doing them anyways.

For example, when you speak to your friends/colleagues during working hours, you may feel you are taking a short break or unwinding yourself during a heavy day. How-ever it breaks your high-level concentration from an important piece of work you might be doing. Same work might take extra time due to lack of concentrated efforts. Lot of organizations collect personal mobiles during working hours from their employees. It might sound weird in Indian context but when you realize the benefit, you would be compelled to give it a serious thought. Even schools are doing it as they want undivided, undistracted attention of their pupils for better learning. Only if one could pick one’s personal calls beyond office hours, it would definitely help in saving up your time and help in finishing more tasks.

6. Power of Consultation – This is actually my all-time favorite. You might often dismiss the power of having a deep professional conversation with your mentor/ friend about the issues you are facing with respect to time. All of us experience limited time and if you don’t find time to discuss how to use it effectively then I’d be curious to know what else could be more important in your life than time itself?

At least once in two months, take out time and discuss about your time management with your Mentor/ Teacher/ Guru. Just having a discussion will help you understand the problem deeply. Obviously when you get an outside-in view of your situation from your mentor, you will be able to find solutions beyond your imagination. You will be able to plan your life better when you realize the power of utilizing effective time.

7. Live 3 Mini Days in a Day  – I recently learnt the power of having 3-mini-days in one single day. After implementing it personally, I have started seeing the benefit of these 3-mini-days concept.

 So let us see how does one divide our day into 3-mini-days:

1stDay – 6 am to 10 am.

2ndDay – 10am to 4 pm.

3rdDay – 4pm to 10 pm.

Segregate your daily tasks into these 3-mini-days and you will be surprised to experience that the number of finished tasks is much more than the tasks finished in one day. You need to try it to believe it.

In the end, my friends, I would like to close by quoting a simple yet meaningful quote by Belle De Jour about time which goes as “Your Time is Limited. Some opportunities Never Repeat Themselves.”

Love & Respect

Nikhil Singh

NDIM

India Centre for Global Excellence

International Skills Centre India

Think HR India

Source - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-manage-your-time-rather-than-cribbing-less-nikhil-singh/

New Generation Skills - Guide to survival in the future

You may have heard of Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection or “survival of the fittest”. Even Science states that one needs to continuously evolve and change themselves in order to survive. Only those people will survive in the uncertain future who posses these skills and change themselves according to the changes.

In order to make a nation successful, we need to ensure that we are teaching the right things and training our students with right skill sets. These subjects and skills are very useful to our students when they enter adulthood. The value system, habits and rituals then become the backbone for a successful economy, which leads to a successful nation. Therefore, what we teach at school and college becomes the most important decision for the nation.

To understand the need, FICCI & NASSACOM jointly commissioned a study namely ‘Future of Skills and Jobs in India’. The report states that in the future there will be jobs, which do not exist today. Approximately 9% of the manpower will be deployed in such jobs.

By 2022, 37% of the workforce needs to have a completely different skill set than the one we possess today. Globalization, Internet technologies and Artificial Intelligence will eventually create a demand, which can not be fulfilled by the curriculums which are being taught at Schools and Colleges today or even at the post graduation level. Industries are currently facing a huge gap in finding the right trainers to make their students future ready.

Because our regular and work lives are swept by waves of change, what can we do to prepare our successors and ourselves for this as an individual who is working in the corporate world or a student studying in a school/college? These are the skills that you would require:

1. Desire to Learn – With such an uncertain future, a person who has a genuine love for learning will survive. You need to develop a learning mindset, which means having a continuous hunger to learn new skills in your area.

2. Love for Goal Achievement – People are often successful when they set and achieve goals. We need to learn multiple skills and upgrade them continuously.

3. Capability to understand the problem – Problems can only be solved when we understand the issue completely. Therefore, we would require capabilities to cut the complex problem into small pieces, which can help us in taking suitable decisions.

4. Digital Literacy – If a person is considered to be digitally literate, that person will possess a range of digital skills, application abilities, skills and knowledge of the basic principles of the device they are using. The individual will have the ability to engage in various online communities and networks, adhere to the behavior protocols of that community, and will be able to find, capture, and evaluate any information.

5. Ability to collaborate – This skill is essential because the changes would be so fast and major that not every one will become an expert in everything. You will need help to get your work done by utilizing skills that others possess.

6. Evaluate the accuracy of information – With such large amount of information generated everyday, we may not be able to retain it accurately. We would have to find the accurate information and use critical analysis while assessing the new information.

7. Accepting Mindset – All of us are global citizens even though we have different cultures, habits and rituals. Only those of us would survive in the future who would welcome every individual with open arms and an open mindset. We would need to accept everyone as who they are.

The time has come when no one can afford to “rest on one’s laurels” but continuously evolve themselves using these skills.

The person who dares to change and learns to embrace it will win.

Nikhil Singh

Life Skill Resources

Think HR India

Source - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/new-generation-skills-guide-survival-future-nikhil-singh/