Can Your Employees Survive and Thrive in the 21st Century?
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With 21st century technology rapidly evolving, we are under immense pressure to keep up with the times. To do that, we need to constantly make the right calls. But do we have the critical thinking ability to make those important and informed decisions?
By critical thinking ability, we mean our capability to analyze and understand situations, separate facts from opinions, and arrive at the most correct and logical conclusions.
It’s an important skill not only for competent employees, but also for future leaders.
CRITICAL THINKING IN TODAY'S WORKPLACE
Today's working environments have become more and more complex. Our businesses are now able to engage with customers on social media, do business on instant messaging apps, and learn about what’s trending locally and globally with a solitary swipe.
We also have access to oceans of data like never before, as well as expert opinions from all over the world, and real time updates on potentially make-or-break events, all at our fingertips.
This means we now have the power to make better and more meaningful business decisions... but only if we can process and utilize the data properly.
Which is exactly what critical thinking is all about. As a meta-cognitive skill, critical thinking gives us the ability to use knowledge, facts, and data to effectively solve workplace problems, potentially spelling the difference between chaos and a job well done.
WHAT CRITICAL THINKING BRINGS TO THE TABLE
In a survey conducted among 400 human resource professionals, critical thinking is considered the most important skill for workers in the 21st century (Chartrand, Ishikawa, & Flander, 2013).
Bolstering that belief are several studies that have indicated that critical thinking improves our job performance, enabling us to evaluate facts without emotional bias, leading to a reduced bias in decision-making.
Critical thinking abilities are also seen as transferable throughout the talent pipeline—meaning they can be applied to a variety of occupations and positions, rather than being job-specific.
It’s important for today's employers to understand that identifying, then cultivating their employees' critical thinking abilities can be just as crucial as training their employees for hard skills.
This is crucial, given that a 2017 report from the Institute For The Future (ITFT) and Dell Technologies foresees that 85% of jobs that will exist in the year 2030 haven’t even been invented yet.
So as our working environment continually shifts, we will need to shift and adapt with it. In fact, the 2018 “Future of Jobs” report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) stated that by 2022, we will need an additional 101 days of learning “just to keep pace with the many expected changes in the workplace”.
It’s important for today's employers to understand that identifying, then cultivating their employees' critical thinking abilities can be just as crucial as training their employees for hard skills.
SPOTTING THE CRITICAL THINKER
Given how essential critical thinking is in today's workplace, how do we spot these critical thinkers as early as possible?
One way to do so is by using the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal III (WG-III), which measures critical thinking, an individual's ability to:
- Analyze, interpret, and draw logical conclusions from written information
- Recognize the difference between assumptions and facts
- Evaluate the strength of arguments
- Draw correct inferences
The WG-III is also a good predictor of a candidate or employee's potential job performance and research has demonstrated a correlation between WG-III test scores and creative thinking ability.
For more information on WG-III, click here.