|
Sponsored Links
A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills. For example, in the domain of work, some general skills would include time management, teamwork and leadership, self motivation and others, whereas domain-specific skills would be useful only for a certain job. Skill usually requires certain environmental stimuli and situations to assess the level of skill being shown and used. People need a broad range of skills in order to contribute to a modern economy and take their place in the technological society of the twenty-first century. An ASTD study showed that through technology, the workplace is changing, and so are the skills that employees must have to be able to change with it. The study identified 16 basic skills (Carnevale, 1990)[citation needed] that the workplace of the future would need in the employee of the future. Learning is an integral part of everyday life at work. The skill of knowing how to learn is a must for every worker and is the key to acquiring new skills and sharpening the ability to think through problems and to surmount challenges. It opens the door to all other learning and facilitates the acquisition of other skills. What we do know, we learned from watching the "A" students in grade school and high school. The concept of "study smarter - not harder" applies here. Few of us know how to "study smarter" based on our individual learning style. A secondary benefit of learning how to learn is that it empowers the learner to become a self-directed learner capable of identifying a deficiency, finding resource materials, and doing the work based on methods appropriate for his or her learning style. Skill acquisition is the ability to develop a measurable task repeatedly.[1] From the employer's perspective, the skill of knowing how to learn is cost-effective because it can mitigate the cost of retraining efforts. When workers use efficient learning strategies, they absorb and apply training more quickly, saving their employers money and time. When properly prepared, employees can use learning-to-learn techniques to distinguish between essential and nonessential information, discern patterns in information, and pinpoint the actions necessary to improve job performance. Many employers - particularly those dealing with rapid technological change see the learning-to-learn skill as an urgent necessity. Productivity, innovation, and competitiveness all depend on developing the workers' learning capability. Machinery and processes are transferable between companies and countries, but it is the application of human knowledge to technology and systems that provides the competitive edge.
|
Skills Subcategories
Skills Articles
|
|
