The Future of our Digital Workplace
As much as I feel we cannot predict the future - as anyone who made 2020 New Years' resolutions and is currently living through the Covid-19 pandemic will testify to - I do feel we can identify trends and use them as key indicators of what is to come.
So with that in mind and being a dad I thought I drop this article on just what I think the top digital skills any budding jobseeker or want-to-be start-up CEO should have.
Currently, if you look at the workplace and the leaders in the work-force at least 80% of them have some certified digital skill it is no longer a side skill, it has become the mainstream, as much as, if not more than being able to use Excel or Powerpoint was in the 90s. Moving into the mainstream as much as, 50% of most major organizations have dedicated roles for digital these digital skills.
So the question comes to mind: what will be important in the short to mid-term future, come 2030 what digital skills should you have if you want to be gainfully employed or have the skills to launch the next Facebook or Airbnb.
Well here are my top tips not in any specific order of importance but in my humble opinion if you have got these in your tool bag you stand a chance to raise your profile above the noise and hype that surrounds getting a job in 2030.
Social Media Sales & Marketing
Let's kick it off here - today it's as important to be able to sell to people via social media as it is face to face and in some cases even more important, in today's consumer-driven markets social media selling can bring your product, service or solution to market faster than traditional sales tactics. Social media sales can gain a wide audience and that's valuable, the challenge is and always will be staying ahead of the curve, the social platforms are constantly changing and consumer demands/trends too. 24 months ago you would have been at the top of you the ladder with Instagram, Facebook and Twitter under your belt but then along comes TikTok and you are left having to get back up that ladder,
You need to be able to identify the values your consumer is looking for and position your product/ solutions accordingly. This means trust, if you can't create that trust factor between you and your target audience you will be lost in the noise.
A Recent article posted by Linkedin suggested that approx 75% of all buyers would not consider a seller without researching the seller's organization/profile and they just didn't look at your website or blog page approx 80% of them sought on average 5 or more pieces of content to validate your so-called value proposition. So any organization will have to both invest and value its Social Media sales resources if they are to succeed.
"If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell 6 friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends." – Jeff Bezos
All things Mobile
Well, this doesn't take any rocket science to know and see that not only is the mobile device becoming more common but given its current power and capabilities in the times to come it will be the leading way in technology. Currently, over 50% of us prefer to use it over a traditional laptop or desktop and given that the Gen Z community represents approx. 40% of the consumer market today moving forward if you have the skills to develop mobile-based applications and experiences such as seamless payment you will be in demand.
Your startup or prospective employer will have to have a mobile-based customer interaction via an app or other form BUT it will have one. The so-called Mobile First approach is already with us and soon it will become the only approach to have.
With only approx. 59% of the world online we still have over 3 billion users yet to get online and as telecom networks extend and the legacy 2G and 3G networks are replaced but the powerful data drive 4/5G, more and more of humanity will become thirsty for a mobile-driven lifestyle.
Digital Creativity & User Experience Design
So we mentioned above between the online marketplace, social selling trends, and all things mobile if you got the creative skills to deliver in any of these spaces then you are going to be in demand.
The best apps in the world don't fly if the user experience is bad, one bad review and it's all over social media and no one will touch it, the irony is the very platform that can make you a billionaire can also crush you with a rumor. So getting that customer UX right is not only key but ultimately decisive to your success or failure.
Digital Creativity as a whole is going to be important not only the use of such existing platforms as Adobe, Canva, and others but the optimization of them for delivery to a mobile or online, not point creating the next Mona Lisa if it takes 20mins to load no one has the patience or the time.
From still images and graphics to video, we have all seen the continued evolution of Youtube, the demise of Snapchat, and now the intrigue of TikTok, making that video content relevant and optimal on a mobile device is a key skill that is in demand and will remain in demand. As we move from HD to UHD and now as we enter the 5G and 4K the rich video experience will become more important than ever.
The proof if or course as they say in the pudding -Twitter found that the most influential factor in getting retweeted is, yes that's right - whether you include a photo or video. Specifically speaking approx posts with images or graphics were 35% more likely to be retweeted/shared than without. In the case of Facebook engagement, posts with images went up by 2.3 times.
So the moral of the story is clear, innovative creatives will always be in demand.
Cyber Security & Data Protection
With all, I have mentioned above comes not only a lot of positive opportunities BUT it also has created and is creating a new list of negatives some of which we are yet to even imagine. Leakages or private data, hacks of our social media accounts, and thefts/demands based on ransomware. No matter how small or big you are, you cannot hide from these crimes to come just look at the latest ransomware attack on Elon Musk just last week.
Back in 2018 we cybercrime reported approx 80,000 hacks a day, so as we move even more of our lives and lifestyles online and into the cloud, we need protection and security. As I researched this article I found that approx 83% of the world's IT enterprise will be cloud-based by the end of 2020 and someone needs to secure it before someone else breaks into it.
By 2022 the online security industry is expected to grow to over $170 Billion in value, and that means job opportunities for those keen to learn the skills. That said it's not easy, it's not like joining the police force to fight traditional crime, you need to have a set of core skills from spanning, maths, coding, data analysis, and communication but it's definitely lucrative.
Data Analytics
Entering this new rich data-driven world the ability to track, record, and use that data is already important and will grow even more. The so-called digital transformation of our workplace, living space, and lifestyles is more and more apparent and personalizing that experience requires the ability to use data wisely.
Talented individuals that can harness and provide insight from data as we go about our day to day lives will be key to what comes next, the innovations of tomorrow will not be hit and miss but data-driven and trend predicted.
Today we have 4 such data roles and being able to deliver any or all will be a key skill for a future job seeker or entrepreneur :
Predictive analytics - uses the findings of descriptive and diagnostic analytics to detect tendencies, clusters, and exceptions, and to predict future trends.
Prescriptive analytics - requires historical data plus external information, and uses machine learning, business rules, and algorithms to prescribe what action to take.
Diagnostic analytics - requires more detailed data to identify patterns and provide insights into specific problems.
Descriptive analytics - often combined with other analytics, this practice brings together raw data from multiple sources to give valuable insights into the past.
All in all, it's going to be a tough workplace and I don't envy my kids or any future graduates, but I guess my parents had hope and so do I that the generations to come will figure it out and get on with being busy living.
Information credits to:
https://eclincher.com/43-of-the-best-social-media-quotes/
https://www.varonis.com/blog/cybersecurity-statistics/
https://online.champlain.edu/blog/top-cybersecurity-skills-in-high-demand
https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/6-digital-skills-that-will-future-proof-a-workforce
