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Work Skills: 21st century skills

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Contents CS1.1 Why are 21st century skills important?

CS1.2 What are 21st century skills?

CS1.3 21st century skills in practice

CS1.4 Trends in the workplace

CS1.5 How being proactive got Alfred hired

CS1.6 Become a problem solver

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Why are 21st century skills important?

CS1.1

• How many extra jobs is the UK expected to have between 2012-2022?

• Can you name three industries in which we are expected to see a growth in jobs?

• How many emails are sent around the world every day?

• 39% of employers say ‘problem solving’ is an area where they see a skills shortage. What per cent of employers do you think see a skills gap in leadership and creativity?

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What are 21st century skills?

CS1.2

• Problem solving skills are about using a structured process to analyse tricky problems, consider logical solutions, and then evaluate the result. This can be done alone or as a collaboration with other people

• Creativity is the ability to come up with inventive ideas that will help you complete a task or solve a problem in a new or interesting way

• Communication and interpersonal skills are the verbal and physical skills that we use every day to explain what we’re thinking and feeling to other people

• Leadership is the ability to get the best out of a team of people as you collectively work to tackle a task, or reach an objective

• Being proactive means that you think ahead, take the initiative and make things happen, instead of always reacting to what happens around you

• Resilience is the ability to cope with challenges or setbacks and turn them into positive, valuable learning experiences

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21st century skills in practice

CS1.3

Creativity Leadership

CommunicationProblem Solving

Proactivity

Resilience

• What skill have you identified?

• What does having or using this skill mean?

• Why do you think this skill is important in the workplace?

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Trends in the workplace

CS1.4

Think about the following trends and why they make 21st century skills so important in the workplace.

The skills needed for future careers

Trend:As tech advances the more people will have to focus on ‘human’ skills to survive in the workplace

Skills:Leadership, motivation, compassion

A career landscape that looks so different demands a fresh set of skills, many of which are already starting to be embedded. Trends in the world, in the way we live and in the workplace shape the types of skills employers are increasingly needing in the 21st century.

By helping equip your students with these skills now, you’re not only helping future proof their career, you’re also giving them useful skills for their l ife and learning and helping increase their immediate employment prospects.

Your students can find out more information about building skills, l ike those mentioned above, here: barclayslifeskills.com/i-want-an-insight-into-how-the-world-of-work-is-changing/college

LifeSkills can support you develop your students’ 21st century skills, visit: barclayslifeskills.com/teachers/lessons/21st-century-skills

Trend:Individuals that thrive on change will succeed best on a diverse portfolio career path

Skills: Adaptability, proactivity, flexibility, ambition & resilience

Trend:As technology makes the world smaller, employers will look for individuals able to make global connections

Skills:Empathy, adaptability, communication skills, leadership

Source: Ian Pearson, Futurologist and author of You Tomorrow, quoted in ’10 well paid jobs of the future’, Telegraph.co.uk, 25 February 2013

Source: The Bloomberg Job Skills Report, 2015: ‘What Recruiters Really Want’

Employer Skills Survey 2015, Evidence Report 97, UKCES, January 2016Employer Skills Survey 2015, Evidence Report 97, UKCES, January 2016 and Workforce Survey, British Chambers of Commerce, July 2014, http://www.britishchambers.org.uk/press-office/press-releases/bcc-workforce-survey-2014-firms-investing-to-counter-persistent-skills-shortages.html

Many savvy, forward thinking employers look for these and other skills already. But they can't always find them in candidates...

Trend:The data driven workplaces of the future will prize analytical skills

Skills:Problem solving, decision making, strategic thinking, leadership

Strategicthinking

Leadershipskills

Communicationskills

Creativeproblem solving

The least common but most desired workplace skills of the future are:

Skills shortage vacancieshave increased by

since 2013

According to the UKCES Employer Skills Survey, key skills accounting for currentskills shortage vacancies in the UK job market are:

Customer handling skills

Complex problemsolving skills

Persuading andinfluencing others Languages

Leadership andorganisation

Computer literacy

Creativity

Source: Ian Pearson, futurologist and author of You tomorrow, quoted in ‘10 well paid jobs of the future’, Telegraph.co.uk, 25 February 2013

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How being proactive got Alfred hired

CS1.5

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Become a problem solver

CS1.6