Striving
for success without hard work is like trying to harvest
where you haven't planted.
David
Bly
In
the 50s, Katz wrote a classic article in the Harvard
Business Review titled, "The Skills of the
Administrator." It would have been better if he would have used a better title such as, "Developing Business Skills or perhaps, "What business skills should you development?" He divided needed business skills into
three general areas: human relations, technical, and
conceptual.
Skill Development Area 1: Technical Skills
Most people get their first job based on their technical skills (unless
one happens to be the daughter of the owner, but that is another story).
These types of jobs include traditional jobs such as software programmer,
engineer, hair dresser and machinist to the more exotic ones such as
web master, systems integrator and beauty consultant. In fact, the
U.S. Labor Department's Dictionary of Occupational Job Titles contains
over 28,000 different technical skills.
Technical
skills does not imply high technology since janitors,
telephone operators, and secretaries are included in
this are. It may require a degree or just on-the-job
training. For example, a story is told about a young
man, who was hired to work at a supermarket. He reported
for his first day of work and the store manager greeted
him with a warm handshake and a smile, gave him a broom
and said, "Your first job will be to sweep out the
store." "But I'm a college graduate." the
young man replied indignantly. "Oh, I'm sorry. I
didn't know that," said the manager. "Here,
give me the broom, I'll show you how."
Not
all technical skills are equally in demand. One of the
prime mistakes high school grads and college students
make is not understanding the value society places on
different technical skills. Some appreciate in value
(programmers), while others are in decline (telephone
operators and secretaries).
Technical
skills can also become obsolete. As any one who is in
the software area can attest, their knowledge has a limited
shelf life. This is an increasing problem for many companies.
Its like needing a workforce running with the computing
power of a calculator when one needs a Pentium microprocessor.
Just having a sound set of technical skills is not enough
for those who wish to move up in the organization—they
must also develop other types of skills.
Skill Development Area 2: Human Relations Skills
According
to Robbins in his book Training For Interpersonal
Skills, “Today’s business graduates
have an abundance of technical knowledge. They can do
linear programming, calculate a discounted rate of return,
develop a sophisticated marketing plan, and crunch numbers
on a computer spreadsheet. They’re technically
solid, but most lack the interpersonal and social skills
necessary to deal with people.” While he made this
comment in 1989, it still rings true today.
In
fact, in a 2005 study called, Why New Hires Fail,
it was pointed
out that it's the human
relations skills that gets one
fired. Top
failure areas included: Coachability (26%): Emotional
Intelligence (23%): Motivation (17%):
and Temperament (15%). Lack of technical skills accounted
for 11% of failed new hires.
One
of the greatest source of job satisfaction and dissatisfaction
is the quality of the relationship an employee has with
their boss. If their manager lacks leadership skills,
morale goes into the dumpster and turnover sky rockets.
One rather humorous example comes from Psychology
Today which once reported that, “95 percent
of American men estimate they are in the top 50 percent
of social skills.”
It
has long been known that while top-notch technical skills
allow one to be considered for supervision, it's your
people skills that allow you to keep the job. Too often,
a technical expert gets promoted and then can't get along
with others—creating a lose-lose situation for
the company and that individual.
Since
these are considered to be “soft” skills,
managers rarely want to spend hard dollars. Top management’s
failure to understand the importance of developing leadership
and social skills in the managerial ranks is both penny
wise but pound foolish.
Skill Development Area 3: Conceptual Skills
For
those that see themselves in the executive ranks or desire
to own their own business, another category of skills
must be developed. These conceptual skills deal with
the ability to use mental heuristics and understand paradigms
to solve problems and make decisions. Unfortunately,
many individuals lack the ability to successfully solve
complex problems.
When
the quality movement begin to blossom in America during
the 80s, one of the foundation principles taught to employees
were the Seven Tools of Quality. These were really very
simple techniques such as flow charting and Pareto analysis.
When used routinely throughout the organization, this
basic tool set was enough to allow companies like GE,
Motorola, Toyota and Sony to develop a reputation for
high quality that resulted in better profit margins.
At
the executive level, these conceptual skills come into
play in a different way. Executives must also deal with
a rapidly changing environment fraught with risk and
uncertainty. They must develop marketing, sales and competitive
strategies that are better than their competitors if
they hope to get in front of the rest of the pack.
An
even more subtle conceptual skill involves developing
the ability to find new business opportunities. There’s
an old saying that goes, “No opportunity is ever
wasted. If you miss it, one of your competitors will
find it for you.”
For
example, while many people consider Microsoft’s
Bill Gates to be a techno geek, he is much more than
that. He obviously has a vast knowledge of computer programming
or Windows would not have evolved. But it would have
only been one operating system among many if he lacked
the ability to think strategically.
Conclusion
One
can easily see the paint peeling on a building, but it's
less easy to see obsolete business skills behind the eyes. Typically,
what goes unseen gets neglected.
There
is an old story from the Middle East that illustrates
this point. One day a neighbor happens to walk by and
see his friend Nasrudin looking for something so he asks, "Nasrudin,
what have you lost?" "My key," said Nasrudin. "Exactly
where did you drop the key?" “In my house." "Then
why are you looking here for your key?" "There
is more light here than in my house."
Often
the key to success lies in areas were one is not looking.
It’s important in these days of rapid change, for
individuals and organizations alike to grow the business skills
required to prosper with the future.
Success usually comes to those who are
too busy to be looking for it.
Henry
David Thoreau
