SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
SKILL DEVELOPMENT means a process which enables trainees and the working age people gain access to dexterity, knowledge and ability, career ethics and good working attitude by skill training, establishing standards and other relating activities.
Skill development is generally used to refer to the productive capabilities acquired through all levels of learning and training, occuring in formal, informal and on-the-job settings.
In other words, it refers to systematic and sustained efforts towards improving one’s ability to perform job-related activities.
SKILLS are the expertise or talent needed in order to do a job or task. A well developed skill can make us masters in a particular field and it can be learned too.
Now we have categories of skills. There are many skills that are useful and necessary in your day-to-day life. These skills can help you conquer some common challenges that can occur when you’re learning to be independent and self-reliant. We have the soft skills and the hard skills.
Soft skills are an essential part of improving one’s ability to work with others and can have a positive influence on furthering your career. If you are a small business owner or self-employed, soft skills can help you find, attract abd retain clients.
They are skills that one must possess strongly to be able to stand out. They are traits that make you a good worker.
Some examples of soft skills include….
Communication
Work ethics
Organization
Leadership
Collaboration
Teamwork
Integrity
Problem solving
Critical thinking
Open-mindedness etc.
Hard skills are learned abilities acquired and enhanced through practice, repetition and education. Hard skills are essential because they increase employee productivity and efficiency and subsequently improve employee satisfaction.
Hard skills are concrete skills that are specific to your job and are required or you to actually do your work. They are abilities you learn in school or on the job.
Some examples of hard skills include……
Driving
Cleaning
Laundry washing
Computer skills
Analytical skills
Catering
Marketing skills
Graphics designing
Web designing
Presentation skills etc.
Skill Development is very important and beneficial to us. Learning new Skills help in your professional life a lot. Here are a few importance of learning and developing skills.
Help you achieve your goals
For you to start up or learn a skill, you must have a goal you want to meet up with. Skill development can help you in achieving that goal.
Gives you confidence
When you are able to learn or start a new skill, you gain more confidence in yourself. You start believing in yourself and always look forward to doing your work diligently thereby, achieving your goal.
Increase productivity
Skill development helps increase the productivity of the economy. It makes everyone eager and wanting to learn more. It makes us responsible in all our dealings.
Improve standards of living
Learning a new skill or starting up a skill can improve your standard of living. You will stop depending on others’ to cater for your feeding and expenses. You will be able to cater for yourself on your own.
Gives you motivation for working
Developing your skills gives you more morale to want to work more, especially when you are currently getting what you want. You won’t want to be discouraged because you are yet to achieve your goal.
Increase profit
Working on your skill, developing it to the advanced stage will earn you more. The main purpose of learning a skill is to earn from it. If we are not able to earn from our skills, what’s the essence? Developing your skill will push you to earn from it.
Improve performance
When you start developing and practicing your skill on a daily basis, your performance improves. You’ll go topnotch. You will be more of an expert in it.
Improve accuracy and quality
Skill development improves accuracy and quality. It makes people want to come closer to you and gain more from you.
Improve communication
Developing your soft skills help to improve communication. You will be able to communicate with people more properly and professionally.
Develop good customer relations
Like I said previously, learning the communication skill will help you develop a cordial relationship with your customers. This will birth a good review about you, thereby, bringing in more customers.
Improve morale and motivation
Skill development helps to improve morale in you. You find out that you are the one giving yourself motivation. You tend to start motivating others as well.
Job satisfaction
Skill development makes you satisfied with what you are doing. Having followed all the impacts from the start, the most important is getting satisfied with your job and wanting to do more.
Most importantly, skill development can reduce unemployment and underemployment. And helping people develop and update their skills makes economic sense. It increases the growth of the economy. Just like the 8th target of the SDGs is to reduce unemployment.