How “Soft & Digital Skills” Matter In The Era Of Digital Transformation?

Written by: Marilda Cutrone, Executive Contributor

Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.

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Experts acknowledge that technology is driving massive and profound changes in work models and processes.

People’s behaviour around the Globe is changing at a rapid pace, and the ones who succeed are those who have already taken significant steps to become more digital.

We are experiencing a scenario in which technology creates new challenges as well as new opportunities for people within this digital transformation.

• So, the question is “What are the “soft and digital skills” and how important is it to acquire them?”

Soft Skills are mainly a combination of emotional intelligence, social skills, communication skills, personality, attitude, problem-solving, leadership and personal philosophy (or lifestyle).

Digital Skills are the ability to use digital devices, apps, programs, platforms and networks to access and manage information easily, anytime, and everywhere.

To make it very clear, “the soft & digital skills” are a combination of the two categories and go far beyond the technology itself, as they involve massively the emotional, social and interpersonal spheres.

In short, this is an indicative map of the nine essential “soft and digital skills.”

1. Confidence using different devices: whether it is a computer or a laptop or a smartphone, moving between devices is a great advantage. Also, knowing how to use apps and programs and being able to move between different file formats and communication tools is crucial.

2. Fluency in navigating the internet: know how to distinguish genuine sources from false (or low-poor quality) sources, how to identify useful information and how to optimize your search for quick and accurate information.

3. Understanding what you are allowed to do: the Web is a gold mine, but you can't steal gold nuggets. You need to know how to take information and rewrite it in your own words, how to give credit to the author or source, how to recognize and respect licences, how to comply with GDPR.

4. Fluency in social networks: understand how the different platforms work (algorithm) and adapt your language to each of them (i.e, writing on LinkedIn is different from writing on Instagram); how to express yourself in an authentic and respectful way; how to use the tools available: comments, messages, stats, etc.

5. Building online interpersonal relationships: you need to connect to people virtually and build positive and trustworthy relationships. To do this, you need to understand people's problems and needs and to respect their timing and reactions: written messages can often be misunderstood, so you have to choose the right words and adapt them to the interlocutor. You also need to know how to accompany written messages with videos and other forms of interaction.

6. Awareness of digital trends: digital technologies are constantly changing and keeping up with the changes often requires a great deal of effort, but at least you need to know the key trends in order to make informed decisions, and change of direction.

7. Keeping an open mind: in this scenario, you need to learn by study (programs and courses) and by doing, take it as an “experimental learning,” action takers are more rewarded. You need to change and adapt your strategy and to do this you have to be receptive to new opportunities or different ways of doing things.

8. Knowing your numbers: automations and apps provide us with a lot of data and statistics, of whatever kind and for whatever purpose. And knowing how to interpret these numbers is crucial to use them to your advantage.

9. Ability to connect emotionally. Empathy is the most important soft skill combined with today's technologies and digital skills. The digital dimension prevents us from having a physical and direct contact with people, and for this reason, you must develop as much as possible your ability to understand people, their needs, their feelings, their doubts in order to provide the right solution to their problems.

Data from the World Economic Forum shows that nearly 1.4 million people will lose their jobs due to technological change by 2026 - i.e. in five years' time.

All those who can close the “digital skills gap” will thrive in this new era. That is why it is vital to acquire the “soft and digital skills.”

Education and economy are clearly linked and the key point is to learn with an open mind and transform the new challenge into an opportunity. Failing in doing this will, unfortunately, double the risk to be left behind.

To put it into the positive perspective, thanks to the on-demand and online trainings, resources such as time, location and cost are no longer barriers to learning. It depends mainly on the willingness to do it, or not to do it, as the information are always accessible and usually affordable.

Besides, where the technology and AI take over jobs, humans can focus on more meaningful activities and use the emotional intelligence as their advantage.

Robots cannot show emotion and empathy like humans. Therefore, emotional intelligence and other good soft skills, combined with automation and technology are crucial to be successful. No matter if you are a small business owner, a company or an employee, this is what you need to understand to thrive (both financially and personally).

AI has improved systems, but to do business (and ultimately, to live), we need to communicate effectively now more than ever to make meaningful connections with each other. For this reason, blending soft and digital skills makes sense and is now a must.

To sum up, technology is driving us to change. Resisting change is dangerous for ourselves and pointless.

As in previous industrial revolutions, those who survived were those who could learn, take up the challenge and turn it into an opportunity, and who avoided being left behind.

Similarly, in 2021, we must stop considering 'soft and digital skills' as a passing fad or a social whim, and instead, we need to acquire and develop them for success in work and private life.

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Marilda Cutrone, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine

Marilda walked away from a successful 20-year career as Senior Project Manager. For many years, she felt unfulfilled: she was continuously struggling to juggle her career and family. And eventually found herself drained and depressed. Marilda massively changed her life in 2019 when she realized that developing a new set of skills in the current economy is necessary. And here is why: over $2.5 trillion per year is being spent on retail purchases online and, over the last few months, there's been a 25% increase in online sales. Marilda created her own business – Living My Digital Life – and reached a whole new work-life balance level by leveraging the digital skills. This shift would not have been possible for Marilda if she had not discovered the power of affiliate marketing. She is now the owner of her time and can build her career around the family (not a life arranged around the job as it used to be). Her mission is to empower other women to stand up for themselves and make the same shift. Hence Marilda offers a program that walks you through specific steps to learn the skills you need to create a profitable online business from scratch.