Top 7 Digital Skills to Master The Future of Work

Digital is reshaping the future of work and changing the nature of jobs that need to be done. We all must anticipate and prepare for this future of work in order to stay relevant and valuable.

And that starts by acquiring the right skills. But which are going to be the most in-demand most valuable digital skills of the future?

What should you invest your time in learning? Here's seven of the top digital skills for the future workforce, plus our team's favourite resources and favourite courses to help you learn.

Top digital skill of the future number one: Artificial Intelligence

We live in an increasingly artificially intelligent world so leverage it before it leverages you.

Now that's not meant to sound all doom and gloom. But in a world full of AI, it's really important that we understand the tech.

According to a report from LinkedIn, AI skills are amongst the fastest-growing skills on the platform, with a 190% increase in AI skills on LinkedIn from 2015 to 2017.

The good news you don't need to deep dive into Python or become a hardcore coder to empower yourself to leverage AI. So where should you go for your Fix of AI knowledge? For an in-depth read into AI check out Artificial Intelligence a Modern Approach.

Top digital skill of the future number two: UX Design

UX designers lay the highways and put up the signposts of our digital world. Great UX design requires meticulous research into user personas, user goals and customer journey mapping.

This ensures products meet customer needs in the most satisfying and enjoyable way. If a product has a great UX design, you probably won't even notice it. But you sure will if a product or programme feels cumbersome or confusing. Therefore, businesses are increasingly recognising the importance of great UX design not just for the user experience itself, but actually for its ability to improve brand equity and ultimately profitability. Therefore there's a growing demand and organisations are paying well.

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Top digital skill of the future number three: Digital Marketing

According to a report from McKinley, nearly 60% of marketing hires will be digital and demand for digital marketing talent sits at 59% while active supply sits at 19%.

The most in-demand marketing skills of the future are of course digital and mastering them can lead to an abundance of career opportunities. Why? These marketing skills capitalise on new digital technologies to help sell products and build brands, and all businesses crave this expertise.

However, digital marketing is very broad, and there's a tonne of specialisations. Think PPC, social media, search engine optimization, data analysis, conversion rate optimisation, marketing automation, we could go on. If you want to be in the top 1% of digital marketing talent, it's important to become T-shaped.

The T shaped marketer is the ultimate all-rounder, they possess a broad width of knowledge that's complemented by a deep level of understanding in several expert areas. You could also look at some other videos on our YouTube channel and perhaps follow some of the Growth Tribe trainers on LinkedIn.

Top digital skill of the future number four: Analytical Reasoning

In a world full of data, businesses require people that can make sense of it and turn it into actionable and smart decisions. Analytical reasoning is the ability to inspect information and discern patterns and trends that lead to actionable decisions and demand for this is about to blow up. Why? Well, data science is actually suffering from a last-mile problem.

Businesses are really struggling with this, there's a gap between a business's tech expertise and that operational expertise. Organisations need to develop what we call analytics translators. Analytics translators bridge the gap between an organisation's technical expertise and that operational expertise. They help to convey business goals to data professionals while ensuring data solutions provide insights that the businesses can use to inform decision making.

Top digital skill of the future number five: Design Thinking

According to CIO design thinking is becoming a key pillar in digital transformation. In fact, Microsoft calls it a key skill of the future. All the world's leading brands are rapidly adopting the design thinking approach. What is it? And why is it a top digital skill?

Well, in a digital world, it's sometimes really easy to overlook the one thing that really matters...us.

Humans are the endpoint of any product or service, digital or not. Design Thinking is an iterative process in which we try to understand the user which leads to better product services and internal processes.

So how about some books to read with a focus on human behaviour and the systems that drive the way we think? We recommend Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.

Top digital skill of the future number six: Cloud Computing

Our world is moving into the clouds. And as it does, businesses are looking more and more for the people that have the skills to take them there. In basic terms, cloud computing is about storing and accessing data over the internet, rather than on your local hard drive or computer. This means businesses, especially large enterprises, really need the expertise, especially in cloud security.

A report from OpsRamp found 94% of IT organisations are actually struggling to find the right talent to build dynamic, flexible and cost-effective cloud services. In fact, the report is called: From a Cloud-Native Skills Gap to a Full Blown Crisis. This means that if you can master cloud computing skills, you're going to be in real high demand.

Top digital skill of the future number seven: Digital Project Management

The world is digitising rapidly. So this means more of the work that we do and more of the projects that we run a digital businesses need project managers specialised in delivering digital projects.

So this means to become one, you're going to need a firm grasp of digital technologies, software engineering teams, digital marketing teams, e-commerce businesses all demand digital project managers who make sure shit gets done in a digital world. Check out Inspired - How to Create Tech Products Customers Love by Marty Kagan. While it has more of a focus on product development, and product marketing, all good digital project managers should think of the end-user. It's definitely worth checking this out.