Job skills chain moving on up – are you?

Imagine you were working twenty years ago in your company. Not necessarily in the same job you are in now, but in the same company. Look around at the jobs being done in this time. See what was valued for work.

Paper everywhere. Building reports by waiting for a mainframe report. Financial reporting done weeks after the end of the time period. And green eye shades are not so long gone from this time. Machines and software are simplistic at best. Pong is the coolest game in town and square television sets rule.

We always smile at what was thought to be difficult then. The naiveté of the time.

Are your current job skills better than twenty years ago?

Remember, we thought what was done then was simple and naïve. If our job skills haven’t changed…it means our job skills are also simple and naïve. It is easy to fall out of current job skills. We can be in the same position for five years and enjoying our work and team. But five years in today’s fast-paced environment moves your job skills to something simpler – and of less value.

Job skills bring value to your employer – and you

The deal when we stop learning about our work is this: you no longer offer as much value to your employer. As conditions change in the work environment, employers need workers who are flexible and willing to learn new skills to match the competitive changes.

When you don’t offer as much value to your employer, you won’t earn as much money as someone who is keeping current with the right job skills. Not only will your earnings not keep pace, but you also increase the probability of being targeted for a layoff. Those that offer less value to the company are not needed in tough times.

Without your job skills, you don’t even start to match up with the needs of hiring managers in your company or a different one. And down the value chain you go.

What are some of the ways you have kept your job skills current?