The Top Power Skills All Employees Need in 2022
Let’s get one thing straight: there’s nothing soft about power skills. They may not involve learning lines of code or crunching numbers in spreadsheets, but power skills are the key to future-proofing your company.
Udemy Business data shows us just how in-demand these skills are. We’ve seen triple-digit growth in categories like office productivity, leadership and management, and personal growth over the past year. It’s worth noting that demand in topics like diversity and inclusion, strategic thinking, listening skills, and time management skyrocketed in the past four years. While these topics earned some extra time in the spotlight during the pandemic, we believe their four-year growth indicates a much larger trend.
Within the lens of power skills, leadership development is a clear priority for every organization. From the executive team to middle management to individual contributors, leadership development is imperative for the workforce. As businesses continue to navigate the challenges from the pandemic, strong leadership skills are essential for leading change, spearheading strategy, motivating teams, and fostering belonging.
Communication & teamwork
The growth of remote work in 2020 introduced us to the ups and downs of video conferencing. We all became familiar with the concept of Zoom fatigue, the feeling we experience when our brains get overwhelmed by staring at ourselves on screen all day. Whether in-person, virtual, or hybrid the fundamentals of communication and teamwork skills remain paramount.
Top 5 surging communication & teamwork skills for 2022
- Assertiveness
- Facilitation
- Team building
- Business writing
- Critical thinking
Leadership & management
Leadership and management skills are for everyone — not just employees whose job title includes the word “manager.” Businesses that extend leadership training to all employees, regardless of their managerial aspirations, are 4.2x more likely to outperform those that don’t in terms of revenue growth, operating margin, and return on equity.
Top 5 surging leadership & management skills for 2022
- Diversity & inclusion
- OKR (goal setting)
- Strategic thinking
- Problem solving
- Management coaching
Productivity & collaboration
With many employees continuing to work from home (that includes approximately 70% of US white-collar employees as of May 2021) and with the growth of global teams, productivity and collaboration have never been more critical. To work efficiently and effectively, true collaboration with colleagues — wherever they are in the world — requires presenting ideas clearly. Tools like PowerPoint and Windows operating systems are essential to help employees communicate and share their thoughts. Courses related to “computer skills” share shortcuts and tips for making the most efficient use of computer work.
Top 5 surging productivity & collaboration skills for 2022
- Computer skills
- Time management
- Windows 10
- SharePoint
- PowerPoint
Personal development & wellness
Well-being doesn’t just happen during employees’ off hours. Their personal and professional lives are interwoven. So much so, that employees now expect companies to focus on worker well-being, according to research by Deloitte. For L&D leaders, personal development and wellness mean offering employees opportunities to learn subjects beyond their day-to-day job functions.
Top 5 surging personal development & wellness skills for 2022
- English language (IELTS)
- Interior design
- Music theory
- Piano
- Fitness
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.
