Due to the current economic climate, with high rates of redundancy and unemployment, it is more important than ever to invest time into enhancing employability skills, as much as possible. This does not require a great deal of imagination, and can be achieved through simple strategies.
Simple Ways to Enhance Employability Skills
Regardless of whether you are an assistant or manager at work, learning how to get ahead in the workplace by improving employability skills can prove to be an effective approach to climbing up the ladder. For those who prefer to step back and let others tackle much of the decisions at work, taking steps to become more involved can make a big difference to your employability and career prospects. In Getting a Better Job, Ashley (2009) highlights key opportunities worth seizing in thew workplace, to include the following:
- attending meetings - discussion/debating/chairing skills
- giving presentations - verbal skills
- taking meeting minutes - writing skills
- writing reports - writing skills
- organizing an event - organizational/budgeting skills
- team membership - teamwork skills
- team management - management/leadership skills
- training a colleague - training/mentoring skills
Enhance Employability Skills - Attend Meetings, Organize Events
A very simple way to enhance a range of key employability skills, involves attending workplace meetings, where the ability to be assertive, communicate well and discuss ideas are crucial, in order to get your point heard and understood. Meetings also provide an excellent opportunity to know more about important decisions being made, take minutes and learn chairing skills. Attending regular meetings on specific issues or events also allows one to build up good working relationships with other employees, thus boosting networking opportunities.
In addition to attending meetings at work, volunteering to be part of an event organization team will also help to improve key employability skills. Areas important for event planning and organizing, include effective communication, time management, ability to cope with constructive (and unhelpful) criticism, budgeting and being able to work as a team. Organizing events also requires the ability to get on with a wide range of people and accept that everyone has different strengths and weaknesses.
As highlighted above, getting ahead at work and improving employability skills, includes attending meetings, giving presentations, teamwork, organizing events and writing reports. Choosing to get more involved within the workplace, will help with negotiation, confidence, assertiveness, communication, organization and self-awareness. It is also important to learn ways in which to effectively manage workplace conflict, office politics, poor morale, demotivated colleagues, and refuse to get drawn into back-biting, gossip and negativity, thus avoiding unhelpful, procrastinating activity.
Source:
Ashley, R. (2009) Getting a Better Job London: Hodder Education
Kate Le Page - Kate Henning-Le Page writes about eating disorders, body image and recovery issues. She specializes in anorexia recovery.
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