56 Foundational Skills You Need to be Successful in the 21st Century of Work From McKinsey Global Research

Overview by Michael J Griffin

4 minutes read

The past 18 months have accelerated many changes in the work environment that will affect you for years to come. Are you equipping yourself to be successful in this rapidly changing world of work? Are you ready to have a meaningful career supported by the skills required for the 21st century of the global workplace? Does your organization have a plan in place to develop a 21st-century workforce?

McKinsey has just released a very insightful report that outlines a set of 56 foundational skills, no matter what sector,  you need to develop for career success based on these three criteria:

• Add value beyond what can be done by automated systems & intelligent machines

• Operate in a digital environment

• Continually adapt to new ways of working and new occupations.

McKinsey surveyed 18,000 people across 15 countries to collect these findings. The 56 skills are found in 4 distinct categories:

• Cognitive Skills

• Self-leadership Skills

• Interpersonal Skills

• Digital Skills

Below are the four Quadrants that contain 13 skill groupings encompassing the 56 foundational skills for successful career growth and advancement. 

56 Foundational Skills to Thrive in the 21st Century of Work

ELAvate excels in training people in many of the non-digital foundational skills in 3 out of the four quadrants. Those found in black and bolded in each of the quadrants are those skills ELAvate has a good track record of building competence in people. All of our past training builds on a different mix of these foundational skills that creates a customized program of competence across our ELAvate process of:

Assess → Train → Reinforce → Coach → Measure → Fine Tune

We are currently conducting an organizational change project for a global organization that has a presence in 190 countries. This change initiative has robust elements of our ELAvate process to maximize positive attitudes to change and create real skill improvement. Interestingly, the skills and attitudes taught in this customized change project involve a mix of the foundational skills McKinsey has identified:

• Structured problem solving

• Creativity and innovation

• Active listening

• Asking the right questions

• Seeking relevant information

• Crafting an inspiring vision

• Developing relationships – all skills

• Transfer knowledge across cultures

• Fostering inclusiveness

• Motivating different personalities

• Resolving conflicts

• Collaboration

• Coaching

• Empowering

• Understanding own emotions and triggers

• Understanding own strengths

• Integrity

• Achievement orientation

• Coping with uncertainty

• Self-development

The message for your organization is ELAvate has the experience to support your growth to equip and inspire your leaders and teams to be successful in the 21st-century world of work. Please contact me for a no-obligation discussion on how we can collaborate with you and your organization to be 21st-century skill-ready! Michael.griffin@elavateglobal.com

If you wish to read the full McKinsey research article on these 56 foundational skills, click here.

Have a great 2021 becoming a successful leader for the 21st century of work!

Michael J Griffin
ELAvate Founder
John Maxwell Team Coach