Despite the current skills shortage and rising inflation, SMEs are working hard to stay competitive amidst concerns about a potential economic downturn. While challenges may lie ahead, small business leaders remain determined to adapt and thrive in the face of adversity ensuring they have the right power skills.
More than half (52%) of Australian small businesses are concerned about the impact of a recession in the next 12 months, with particular worries around the cost of utilities, interest rates, price margins and profitability.
As we enter a period of slower growth, the key to keeping small businesses afloat and growing is to leverage the talents of their workforce, through embracing upskilling.
The importance of people in an economic downturn
People are one of the biggest assets in an organisation. Their growth and overall satisfaction at work is critical to businesses of all sizes. Keeping the workforce engaged and retained is even more critical when the external business environment is riddled with economic slowdown, rising labour costs, inflation and skill shortage.
PMI’s recent Talent Gap report highlights a need for 2.3 million project management professionals annually by 2030, signalling a significant shortage.
In the face of this shortage, organisations should look at ways to build in greater resilience and upskill workers with skills that that help them add value and deliver business outcomes. ‘Power skills’ also known as ‘soft skills’ like problem-solving, communication, strategic thinking, and collaborative leadership, are applicable to businesses of all sizes. Organisations both big and small, need leaders who can lead with empathy, collaborate and communicate to bring teams together, think strategically to align everyone towards a shared business goal and cultivate a sense of purpose. This in turn helps keep people engaged and can have a positive impact on retaining talent and combating the skill shortage.
Our latest Pulse of the Profession 2023 report, reveals that power skills rank highest among the essential capabilities required by project managers.
Several other organisations have echoed this, including the World Economic Forum with its “Future of Jobs” report highlighting that, by 2025, the top skills required for workers to succeed in the workplace
will include analytical thinking, problem-solving, leadership, and social influence – all of which fall under the category of power skills.
By enhancing these skills, employees can develop better project management abilities, enabling organisations to navigate turbulent times more effectively.
However, it’s important to know that success in a business is the right blend of technical and power skills. Small businesses can look at adopting a project-based approach to break down their initiatives into manageable parts, set realistic goals and timelines, and track progress, enabling them to adapt quickly to changing circumstances. Essentially, the work is aligned against business needs and objectives, not specific job roles – the more this occurs, the more agile teams and organisations will be in the face of uncertainty. This coupled with our power skills can result in better outcomes and higher satisfaction levels.
For small business leaders looking to embed power skills into their organisation’s learning culture, the following strategies can be employed:
- Recognise the link between project success and power skills, and identify which power skills positively impact the everyday dynamics of project management.
- Prioritise the power skills that are most closely aligned with fulfilling business objectives, such as communication, problem-solving, collaborative leadership, and strategic thinking. Encourage project management leaders to model these skills and consistently emphasise their importance.
- Highlight the value of power skills by connecting them to hiring and ongoing performance. Incorporate power skills into employees’ career development plans and track their progress in mastering these skills during performance evaluations.
- Evaluate professional development and training programs to ensure they align with the organisation’s commitment to building employee power skills.
- Consider implementing team-based assessments of power skills as an additional means of reinforcing their importance within the organisation.
As new industries, practices, and technologies emerge, project professionals and their teams across businesses are challenged to pivot quickly and work even more efficiently – all so they can deliver value in our changing world. Therefore, an amalgamation of newer ways of working, power skills and business acumen when built into the organisational culture can redefine what success looks like for Australian SMEs
Piece provided by SoHyun Kang, Interim Regional Managing Director, Asia Pacific, PMI Asia Pacific