It is important for young people to learn and develop as people whilst at work. The skills they learn at work help them in their future careers and also in their life in general.
Younger people first entering the world of work, regardless of job should be constantly open to the idea of learning new skills. Learning new things will open up doors for you as you progress within your career as well as providing job satisfaction and helping you develop as a person.
People can develop different skills at work, such as how to repair a vehicle or create a spreadsheet, but also more personal skills sometimes referred to as “soft” skills. These are skills such as how to communicate with colleagues, how to work as part of a team and how to show empathy for your colleagues. Many would argue these “soft” skills are just as important as job-based skills.
The workplace is the new classroom. The workplace is also where many young people are first exposed to a diverse workforce and different perspectives from those of their parents, teachers, and friends. As a result, they develop into independent people who can problem solve and work off of their own initiatives.
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How To Learn New Skills At Work
We all know that it’s important to learn new skills at work. There are lots of different elements that go into learning, some things are your personal responsibility in order to further yourself and some things fall upon your employer to make sure you have the skills for the job and are engaged enough as an employee to be happy and not leave.
When it comes to learning new skills at work, consider these things.
Practice what you learn
You should practice what you learn as soon as you can. This will help your brain make a connection between what you just learned and something that is already stored in your memory.
Understand how you learn best
We all have our best ways of learning, so using them will help us retain the information better. For example, if you learn best by reading, then look for instructions or articles on a skill you are learning. If you are someone who learns best by doing or seeing something in action, look for videos online or ask a colleague to help show you something.
Be a lifelong learner
One of the most important things for young people to get to grips with is understanding that in order to be successful, you should never stop trying to learn new things. Commit yourself to be open to new learning opportunities when they present themselves.
Be inquisitive
Pay attention to what your colleagues around you are doing. If they are doing something that interests you and is relevant to your job, ask them politely to show you. If it is something that can be learned quickly, you might be able to learn it on the spot or at least get a basic appreciation of it.
Ask about learning opportunities
One of the reasons people leave jobs is because they are unsatisfied with the number of opportunities they have to develop themselves and learn new things. New skills and a variety of tasks/responsibilities within a job role can be a great way to keep it fresh and interesting and stave off boredom. Discuss learning opportunities with your line manager and see what training or educational courses could be available to you.
Suggest learning
If you have identified skills that you feel would be both beneficial to your job and your employer, suggest them to your line manager. If they can see the advantages of you learning this new skill then they might be prepared to pay for you to learn the skill as well as give you the time to do so.
Engage with your colleagues
Having simple conversations with your colleagues when you are new to a business can help understand more about them as a person and more about their job roles and the skills they utilise on a daily basis in order to be successful. Consistent interaction with colleagues will help develop your personal skills.
What Skills Do Young People Need To Learn At Work?
Young people need to know what skills they will need in order to succeed in the workplace. They should also be aware of the skills that are most sought after in today’s job market.
Young people also need a certain level of emotional intelligence and self-awareness in order to succeed in the workplace. They have to be able to understand their own emotions, which will help them understand other people’s emotions as well.
Essential Job Skills
As a new employee of a business, you will be offered the training you need to learn and develop the skills required to do your job role.
A good employer will commit to your learning and development and ensure you have all the tools at your disposal to bring you success in your job.
Young people new to the world of work should embrace these new skills and commit to developing them. Mastering the skills in the first stage of your career is a great way to set yourself up for career success in the future. It shows your employer that you are serious about developing your career and worthy of potential future opportunities to develop and progress.
You should not feel rushed into learning and perfecting skills in a new job and new profession. People learn at different paces, whether you are learning slow or fast, it is the progression and commitment to learning that is most important.
Once you are confident in the skills needed to do your job successfully, you can then begin to research and enquire about additional skills and learning opportunities to help develop you in your chosen profession and to bring additional value to your employer.
Soft Skills
Soft skills are skills that are not related to a specific job or profession. They are often overlooked in the workplace and underestimated. But they can make a huge difference in how we work and how we interact with others.
Soft skills are personal skills that will help in your ability to carry out your job and more importantly, interact with others in a productive manner. These skills can be learned and developed over time through experience and practice.
A hard skill for a marketing executive, for example, might be devising a new social media campaign. A soft skill would be the ability of the executive to communicate this campaign effectively with coworkers and explain its benefits.
Many employers today are looking for people who have skills in these areas:
- Critical thinking
- Problem-solving
- Communication
- Teamwork
- Leadership
- Creativity
- Organisation
Want to learn more about soft skills? Developgoodhabits.com has assembled this comprehensive list of 135 soft skills to help you in your career.
Emotional Skills
In the modern workplace employers and employees alike are becoming more aware of the importance of emotional skills in the workplace and the importance of showing empathy towards one another as well as managing and supporting one another’s mental health.
Gone are the days when employees were expected to work an extensive amount of hours above their contracted amount in order to deliver more for the business.
Job burnout is something all people should be aware of.
“Job burnout is a special type of work-related stress — a state of physical or emotional exhaustion that also involves a sense of reduced accomplishment and loss of personal identity.”
Taking pride in your work and wanting to succeed are all respectable qualities but maintaining a healthy work-life balance is essential to maintaining a long, healthy and productive career.
How To Be A Better Learner?
In order to be a better learner at work, you need to have the right mindset. You should always be open to new ideas and willing to try new things. You should also be able to take constructive criticism and learn from it.
The best way to become a better learner is by practising your skills on a regular basis. This will help you improve your skills and develop new ones. It is also important that you keep an open mind when learning something new, as this will make it easier for you to learn and retain information.
Here are four tips on how to become a better learner at work.
Learn from your mistakes
Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone. Do not beat yourself up about making mistakes, especially as someone still in their learning stage. What is important is understanding why you made the mistake and how you can go about ensuring that you do not make the same mistake again.
Sometimes the fix can be as simple as taking more time to pay attention when completing a task. Other times the mistake can be a result of a lack of confidence or experience in utilising the skills needed for that task.
In this case, be honest with yourself and seek additional support to help you. This could be a quick demonstration from a colleague on how a task is done or having a conversation with your line manager to get you the training you need.
Take time to reflect on what you have learned
When you are new to the world of work, you will have lots of information thrown at you in a short space of time and your brain will need to be like a sponge, soaking up all of this information.
Take the time to reflect on what you have learned and how you can put it into practice in your job role. Consider reflecting immediately after learning, on your lunch breaks, when relaxing at home after work.
For a lot of people, the early stages of a new job or career are the most stressful. We look at this further in our article The Scary Truth About Changing Jobs And How You Can Overcome It.
Look to make the process as easy as possible by getting to grips with the job-related skills right away and finding success and the joy of achieving in your new job.
Set goals for your learning
A good employer with a genuine interest in your learning and career development will provide you with the learning opportunities to take you as far as you want to go.
With or without this support from your employer, once you have settled in and are established in your job role, consider what skills and possible learning opportunities are out there to help your career grow and slowly move you towards your next career goals.
For most people career progression is not a fast-paced thing. Your goals do not have to be immediate. Operate a pace that is comfortable for you.
Ask to learn more
Always be hungry to learn more. If your employer is not forthcoming with learning opportunities and you are yearning for more, do not be afraid to ask.
If you can suggest learning opportunities that would be mutually beneficial to both you and your employer, they may be willing to support you with this, providing you with the financial and time resources needed.
There are lots of good employers with a history of developing their staff and helping them progress in their careers. But there are also employers out there who aren’t capable of providing you with the opportunities that match your ambitions.
For those with the ambition to learn and progress in their careers, sometimes changing jobs is a necessity to allow us to continue growing as professionals.
What are the Benefits of Learning at Work?
There are many benefits to continuing to learn new skills at work. The first is that you will be able to do your job better and more efficiently, which will make you more valuable as an employee.
With more skills combined with experience on the job, you will be in a stronger position to gain a promotion either with your existing employer or a new one.
Another benefit of learning new skills is that it can help you stay up-to-date with the latest trends in your industry, which can give you an edge over other employees who don’t have these skills.
Finally, learning new skills can help keep your career fresh and interesting by giving you something different to focus on.
