Adaptive Skills Needed for Every Workplace

In addition to having the technical skills necessary to do a job (which could be, for example – and depending on the position –  forklift experience, the ability to count, proficiency with MS Office, accounting skills, etc.), employers also are looking for critical and adaptive skills.

Critical skills are skills such as:

  • Having the ability to work hard
  • Honesty
  • Arriving to work on time every day
  • Following instructions from a supervisor
  • Getting along with co-workers

Adaptive skills are skills that you can “adapt” as your own if you don’t currently possess them. Examples of adaptive skills are:

  • Being adaptable as circumstances or duties change
  • Having ambition
  • Having patience
  • Being dependable
  • Problem solver
  • Having a sense of humor
  • Honesty
  • Self-motivation
  • Sincerity
    Having persistence
  • Taking responsibility
  • Taking pride in a job well done
  • Enthusiasm
  • Is willing to learn new things
  • Asks questions

Being aware of your strengths and weaknesses regarding these adaptive skills is critical to success in any workplace today. Whether you work on the floor in a distribution center or you’re the CFO of high-tech company in Redlands, you need to grow the adaptive skills in which you are weak.

Some people are fortunate in that they are naturally adaptable. They enjoy change and the unanticipated and thrive on routines that aren’t the same every day. Yet if you’re the type that makes a to-do list and feels high stress when interrupted from getting that to-do list done, than adapting to change doesn’t come naturally. Now, the fact that you’re organized and plan ahead is a very good thing, but you’re going to need to strengthen your “I can take it as it comes” muscles.

Whatever your “nature” may be, to be a success on the job today – to even actually get hired today – you’re going to have to show your manager and/or a recruiter how you:

  • Adapt to change and changes in your work routine.
  • How you can shift your priorities as the demands of your job dictate.
  • How you are able to recover from setbacks while keeping a positive attitude.
  • How you take responsibility for your actions, even when “things happen” over which you have no control.
  • Are willing – if not excited – to learn new skills, procedures/processes, etc.
  • Solve problems on your own as they come up and, for larger problems, how you come to your supervisor about a problem and have suggestions for solving it.

For those of you who know where you need to improve when it comes to adaptive skills, what have you done specifically to do so? Did you take a class, a seminar, read a book, ask your manager for help? And, as you’ve improved, have you noticed a subsequent improvement in your annual reviews? A promotion (happily so!) perhaps?

If you’re looking for a Redlands employment agency, contact the recruiters at Arrow Staffing. Our more than 40 years of recruiting workers for Inland Empire companies means we have great relationships with some of the IE’s top employers. Contact us today.

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