The Tactical Skills All Employees Need in 2022
The Great Resignation of the workforce is not merely clickbait. Nearly nine in 10 (88%) executives say their company is experiencing higher turnover than usual. Buoyed by the growing acceptance of distributed workforces and a paradigm shift on work/life happiness, employees are making career changes they might not have imagined before the pandemic.
As job vacancies rise, leaders can’t afford to lose the team members powering their companies’ financial decisions, marketing strategy, product design, and customer experience. Offering always-on learning channels is a win-win. Your company keeps the needle steady on talent retention, and employees develop a career path within your organization.
Just as all employees need power skills development, every employee should be encouraged to develop the tactical skills that will help them excel in the day-to-day functions of their role. The following topic categories aren’t specific to employees with these terms in their job titles. Business intelligence skills are essential for HR teams, just as design and finance best practices may be crucial for marketing teams. Explore these trending tactical business topics and take time to analyze which ones make sense for your employees to add to their personal learning plans.
Business intelligence
Just as basic computer skills went from being highly specialized to universally required, data literacy has become the current language of business. But understanding data and its applications is an area where many companies are currently falling short. Only 21% of employees are confident in their data skills. Investing in business intelligence (BI) software for employees is worthless if not accompanied by training on the best ways to leverage these tools.
In the last year, we’ve seen consumption of courses related to Tableau and data visualization software increase as organizations grow their employees’ data literacy. Securing certifications in tools like Tableau validates employees’ knowledge in the subject while offering career advancement opportunities.
Top 5 growing business intelligence skills for 2022
- Excel analytics
- Tableau Desktop Specialist certification
- Tableau Desktop Certified Associate certification
- Business analytics
- Statistics
Design & UX
The first impression that customers have of your app, product, or website is long-lasting. If your brand’s design lacks a cohesive visual story or your product’s user experience (UX) isn’t intuitive, the most skilled tech and marketing teams in the world can’t help you retain users. Today’s design teams work across disciplines in user research, marketing, accessibility, and information architecture to create experiences that keep customers coming back.
Top 5 growing design & UX skills for 2022
- Graphic design
- Product design
- Adobe Premiere
- Web design
- Mobile app design
Finance & accounting
From understanding the ramifications of your company’s IPO to learning about the uses of cryptocurrency, workforce financial literacy goes far beyond the finance team. From 2020 to 2021, personal finance topics like cryptocurrency, Solidity (a programming language for blockchain platforms), and day trading saw significant consumption growth on Udemy Business.
Top 5 growing finance & accounting skills for 2022
- Cryptocurrency
- Algorithmic trading
- Day trading
- Bookkeeping
- Solidity
HR & talent development
“Previously tasked with compensation, compliance, and benefits,” says Cara Brennan Allamano, SVP of People, Places, and Learning at Udemy, “today’s HR functions are charged with supporting every aspect of the success and well-being of a company’s greatest asset: its employees.” While HR professionals are expanding their expertise, Udemy Business consumption shows they continue to prioritize key skills like manager training and employee performance management.
Top 5 growing HR & talent development skills for 2022
- Online course creation
- Human resources
- Manager training
- Instructional design
- Employee performance management
Marketing
While marketing skillsets have focused on the digital world for decades now, consumption trends of marketing topics on Udemy Business over the last four years provide an interesting snapshot of what’s happening in digital marketing. The EU’s GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) marked a shift in how brands use consumer data. As consumers gain greater control over their digital data footprint, marketing teams are recalibrating their strategies and finding new ways to tie the results seen in marketing analytics to customer behavior.
Top 5 growing marketing skills for 2022
- Marketing analytics
- Marketing strategy
- Content marketing
- Google Analytics Individual Qualification (IQ)
- Facebook ads
Project management
The increasing complexity of work projects — plus the challenges of working remotely — mean project management is an in-demand skill. Interest in efficiency-boosting tactics like Scrum and Agile has grown dramatically over four years. And it’s not only technical teams that benefit from project management skills. Project management and operations knowledge is valuable across any industry, from construction to health care to marketing.
Top 5 growing project management skills for 2022
- PSPO (Professional Scrum Product Owner) certification
- PSM (Professional Scrum Master) certification
- Quality management
- PMI (Project Management Institute) certification
- PMP (Project Management Professional) certification
Sales & customer experience
Sales and customer success teams evolved quickly in the last year to effectively manage customer relationships that became remote-first. This shift provided breathing room for employees accustomed to in-person conversations to develop skills that helped them understand their customers more. Persuasion and negotiation are vital skills for influencing someone to buy a product. These skills are always in demand and need regular refinement.
Top 5 growing sales & customer experience skills for 2022
- Persuasion
- Negotiation
- B2B sales
- Customer success management
- Sales skills
Explore the skills that will lead your organization into the future
Wondering which skills your employees should be prioritizing in 2022 and beyond? We’ve combed through the data of Udemy Business learners to identify the trending skills and topics. Download the 2022 Workplace Learning Trends Report to explore the skills that will define the future of work.
