Skills for improved performance

February 6, 2014 by Ife Adedapo

   

 

Businesses often fail because certain skills are lacking in the owners and employees. IFE ADEDAPO writes on how to identify, build and use these skills efficiently

Business owners often complain about the rate of employee turnover in their companies. The employees, mostly graduates, after working for a few months are laid off and the job search continues. However, experts have identified employee incompetence and lack of appropriate skills to perform and become efficient at one’s work as the major cause of the problem. Maintaining a job for a long time is no easy task because it requires hard work, tenacity and dedication. For you to keep your job, you must identify the useful skills that you possess, practise and make a lasting impact with them.

You often wonder why a friend you know very well excelled in his business and you didn’t or a colleague who was employed at the same time as you got promoted. Do you want to win the heart of more clients or do you want to attain that managerial post you have always been eyeing?

Experts have identified the skills that are crucial to your increased client-base, promotion and consequently your income.

Creativity skills

Experts say young graduates or experienced employees with creative ideas that will bring about the development of the company are attractive to employers. No matter how small your business is, you need people with outstanding creativity to build it. As an employee, you need to use your innovative ideas to attract clients to the company when appointed, to organise events, solve problems and much more as your role in the company entails. Part-time jobs and internship programmes can be an opportunity to practise and showcase your creative skills. The experience gained in these previous jobs will give you a platform to display a benchmark of your successes to your employer.

Leadership skills

Experts say your ability to direct and coordinate members of your team to achieve the best is important for you to be considered for that job. Setting good examples and making decisions on where to focus on and delegation of responsibilities are some of the duties of a good leader. However, employers may be on the lookout for leadership potential; therefore, you might need to impress him with the leadership positions you occupied previously. Good leaders should be emotionally stable, should be able to tolerate frustration and stress. Be assertive in their thinking and attitude. Always aim for excellent performance in their duties. They need to prove their ability to motivate others and lead them in the right direction. As a leader, you need to develop your personality to suit that leadership position you are aiming at. You will need an example of a time when your personal involvement has directly enhanced the way a group of people have worked, and positively influenced the outcome. Simply being the person in charge of a group of people is not enough; you need evidence that your presence had an impact.

Communication skills

The ability to communicate effectively is important for the success of your relationship with people, for education and work. Show confidence knowing that you can make worthwhile contributions to any conversation. Start building communication skills by taking time each day to be aware of your opinions and feelings so that you can adequately convey them to others. Individuals who hesitate to speak because they do not feel their input would be worthwhile need not fear. Whether you are speaking or listening, looking into the eyes of the person with whom you are conversing can make the interaction more successful. Your conversation with people should be engaging and should not give room for distraction; keep your audience involved from the beginning to the end. Use gestures constantly when talking to reinforce your main points; this will make your presentation more interesting.

Problem solving skills

Experts say interpersonal relationships and businesses fall apart because of poor problem solving skills. This could be because such problems were not discovered at the right time or they were not handled appropriately. Complex problems are made up of smaller problems that are more intricate. Experts say if you are able to break down complex issues and find solutions to them, then you will be indispensable. Managers love a person’s ability to break down complex issues and provide answers to them at the right time. The first step to solving any problem is found in one’s ability to identify and understand the problem at hand. Look for possible solutions to such problems. The Managing Director of Oleath Enterprise, Mrs. Bolanle Adelakun, says, “I started working for my boss as a secretary but I always gave advice on problems affecting the business, which worked and from there he kept promoting me until I became the manager.”

Decision making skills

Expert says you should be able to make crucial decisions without waiting for other people’s ideas and recommendations. Although decisions can be made using either intuition or reasoning, a combination of the two will yield better results. You need to test your instinct constantly and determine how often you make decisions in the right way and direction. Also, examine the ideas you have from an analytic standpoint anytime you encounter an obstacle in your decision making process. Make decisions from a selection of fixed choices. Always be aware that these options are actually potential solutions in themselves.

Networking skills

Experts say networking is the key to success. The social skills you possess will make networking easy. Once you meet someone in a professional line, strike up a conversation and interact well. Do not be distracted in your conversation and make a lasting impression. Devise ways by which the new relationship can flourish. Try to be casual and not pushy, remember that you are trying to form a new business relationship. Follow up on your contact a few days after because you have to make the relationship vibrant. The Sales Manager of Bidec Enterprise, Mr. Adedotun Amao, says networking entails perceiving opportunities and identifying business benefits. Networking these days is easier and faster with the advent of social media. The key to effective networking is giving advice, offering information and rendering services. He says, “I make use of all the available social media; twitter and facebook, to keep in touch with my followers, leveraging on this, I offer my consultancy services.”