In a post-pandemic world, workplaces look very different from those we knew before 2020. Shifts to remote work, the adoption of online communication platforms, increased use of technology, automation, and the disruption of traditional business models, have collectively influenced work cultures worldwide. These shifts nudged more professionals to pursue online certificate courses designed to help them thrive in a swiftly evolving work environment.
Raise your game
While mainstream degree programs help you build domain knowledge and technical skills, they often don’t factor in critical skills such as communication, listening, problem-solving, and critical thinking. These are just a few examples of the full spectrum of essential cognitive, social, and behavioral skills professionals need to thrive in competitive work environments.
Today, specialized online certificate courses are available to help professionals bridge the gaps and help them build skills that enhance one’s potential for career success. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a fresher entering the corporate world, a mid-level manager, or a senior leader, everyone can benefit from building and internalizing these skills, which have come to be known as “thrive” skills.
Impact of building thrive skills
When businesses went remote around the world in 2020, the number of professionals investing in building superior communication and personal branding skills also grew. These skills empowered them to showcase their work better and stay relevant among their peers and industry. Today, personal branding has emerged as a mainstream skill on the bucket list of ambitious professionals looking to grow their equity at work.
Another great example is the thrust on building stellar decision-making skills. In an accelerated internet economy, professionals are pushed to make decisions with speed and good judgment.
By pursuing a decision-making course, one can develop a more scientific approach to making key decisions such as choosing a job, a city to live in, and one’s business or a life partner. A single decision can impact one’s life for the next 10 to 15 years and making an informed decision can reduce stress and enhance the quality of one’s life and career.
Popular thrive skills
Professionals today face a range of emerging challenges, and one’s career trajectory may be unpredictable. Remote work has given way to more diversity at workplaces. There is more cross-country and cultural collaboration. One must be equipped to engage with large or extremely lean teams while accomplishing outcomes at an accelerated pace. Sometimes one is required to work with outsourced teams. The pandemic also saw millions of professionals catapulted into leadership roles without any official promotion. These real-time shifts have nudged professionals to prioritize building certain skills over others. For instance, online certificate courses that help professionals ace collaboration, communication, critical thinking, leadership, management, and problem-solving skills, are in demand. Professionals also understand the importance of personality development. These thrive skills empower them to express their personality more effectively and powerfully.
Benefits of online certificate courses
The flexibility to learn on the go and from one’s smartphone is a key advantage of online certificate courses. Professionals can design their learning schedules to align seamlessly with work and life calendars. This arrangement enables them to continue pursuing their jobs and running their businesses alongside.
Another benefit is that online certificate courses have the potential to deliver a highly engaging learning experience. Content comprises a mix of videos, real-time live sessions with experts, and interactive content. Another benefit is that geography is not a limitation. Hence, you can register from any location while also being able to engage with industry facilitators who are handpicked and possibly based in diverse geographies.
Choosing the right learning platform
Thrive skills are best nurtured under the guidance of credible experts. Hence, it is very important to pursue online certificate courses offered by a credible, thoughtfully curated platform. Understand the legacy and culture of the platform of your choice, review the content of the program and the delivery mode. Also, evaluate the credentials of the faculty associated with the courses.
For instance, if you are planning to pursue a decision-making course, then the experts delivering the course must have a proven track record of career success. They must understand the science and psychology of decision-making and be able to support you in leveraging this transformative skill in your career and life.
While all these features make online certificate courses very engaging, one of the biggest perks, and an often underestimated one, is the benefit of peer communities. Learning alongside a community of peers with a similar growth mindset can be highly motivating. It gives you the opportunity to build conversations, exchange ideas, and grow as a community. This is also a great opportunity to expand your professional network.
The spectrum of online certificate courses
Today, there are over 21 core thrive skills that professionals and entrepreneurs leverage every day for career and business success. These include business writing skills, creative thinking, empathy, interviewing, networking, prioritization, reading, reasoning, report writing, building resilience, and solution building. Most of these skills are universal in nature, and they can benefit professionals from different walks of life, as well as at various career stages. Some skills such as conflict management are especially relevant when one manages teams or is working at the intersection of multiple stakeholders. Choose courses based on your career stage and path. However, it’s interesting to note that all professionals tend to leverage all skills at some point in their lives. Your ability to grow professionally and as an individual is governed by your skill level.
The Takeaway
Today, the skill development of employees is a top agenda of Human Resource teams around the world. However, a wise man once said – change is inevitable, growth is optional. Waiting for your company to invest in training that brings your skills up to speed is not a practical option. A better approach is to be proactive and create your own roadmap to grow essential skills. Online certificate courses, such as a decision-making course, offer a flexible, high-value, affordable opportunity to learn on the go, along with a community of passionate learners. By building these skills early on, you design your own foundation for career and life success, and you get to do it in an engaging way.
