Skill is having the knowledge and understanding something to a large extent and it is very important to gather as much skill as possible so as to make working in an environment easy and fun filled.
National skills development policies and systems strive to meet present and future labour market needs for skills and to improve productivity and competitiveness in the sectors which are critical for the achievement of national employment and development goals.
Skills policies and systems encompass technical and vocational training, workplace learning, informal learning, learning opportunities in the informal and rural economies and education and training for lifelong learning.
Skills development is the process of identifying your skill gaps and developing and honing these skills. It is important because your skills determine your ability to execute your plans with success.
Imagine a carpenter trying to build a house. He has raw materials but lacks good woodworking tools. He has, however, a flimsy hammer and a small screwdriver. Without the right tools, like a hand saw, he can’t turn these raw materials into house building pieces.
It’s the same with goal achievement. In goal achievement, your skills are your tools. The house is your goal. Just as you need the right tools to build a house, you need the right skills to build your goal. Without the right skills, you will only frustrate yourself, waste your time, and spend a lot of time dealing with rudimentary issues caused by the lack of knowledge or lack of skills, as opposed to progressing in your goal. While difficulty and struggle is part and parcel of any goal pursuit, without the right skills, you find yourself struggling more than necessary. Worse still, this struggle is unconstructive and doesn’t help you move forward.
Firstly, people are often impressed by what others have accomplished without realizing what they went through to get there. We see their accolades and victories and make gross assumptions about what it takes to succeed. Then we become disappointed when we attempt the goal, only to find out that it’s not as easy as it seems.
In developing your skills, I’d like you to consider 2 groups of skills:
Hard skills: Skills relating to any specific task; they are usually easily quantifiable. They tend to be knowledge-based, such as proficiency in a subject, certification, and technical skills. Fluency in Spanish, skills in XYZ software, graphic design, and programming are all hard skills.
Soft skills: Skills relating to personality and tend to be transferable, such as communication, leadership, time management, stress management, decision making, adaptability, ability to deal with adversity, and networking.
It’s obvious why hard skills are important. You need domain-level knowledge to thrive in a goal. To be a successful YouTuber, you should at least have some video editing skills. To be a good blogger, you should have good writing skills and a good command of the language. To be a good software engineer, you need to know the programme.
That’s not to say you focus on soft skills over knowledge. Both hard and soft skills are important. When you succeed based on only soft skills but with no hard skills, you lack the foundation to create new wins. It’s a matter of time before people call you out on what you have done. When you have only hard but no soft skills, you lack the savviness to hustle and showcase your talent to a bigger crowd out there. Both skills are equally important and complementary to each other.
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