As society continues to evolve at a rapid pace, organizations and individuals are finding it more difficult to prepare for the future. Today’s business landscape shifts quickly as new companies are created and new jobs are architected — only to see them both quickly disappear in our ever-evolving world. Most of us will admit that job security is an antiquated idea. In fact, Deloitte’s skills-based organization survey suggests that jobs may go away in favor of skills as a way to match workers with work.

So how do we future-proof our ability to stay relevant despite these constantly changing conditions, and what skills should we cultivate at work to develop and maintain elastic enterprises and employees? Here are some suggestions to consider:

1. Human Interaction

As more work is automated and outsourced to machines and technology, the most critical capabilities for today’s workers are interpersonal skills like empathy and communication. With administrative, transactional and manual tasks being performed for us, we will need to focus on our ability to interact with co-workers, customers and contractors. While concepts like emotional intelligence and empathy have historically been labelled “soft skills,” these are essential people skills that impact our ability to positively interact with each other.

For example, learning and development (L&D) professionals should turn their efforts to cultivate a culture built on empathy, teaching employees to be active listeners. By avoiding a “one-size-fits-all” approach to working and utilizing active listening, organizations will in turn promote authenticity and serve better in the long term.

2. Digital Literacy

The research group Brookings evaluated 545 occupations and determined that 71% of the jobs they examined require a medium or high level of digital skills. They also discovered that digitization was associated with increased pay and job resiliency, safeguarding against the potential impact of automation.

So, what is digital literacy? It is the ability to navigate digital technologies including complex equipment, software systems, internet platforms and mobile devices — all in the context of the world of work. But learning a new software language is not enough. As the pace of technological change occurs very quickly, these skills can soon become obsolete.

To future-proof employee work, organizations must empower employees to constantly evolve their digital skills using internal training groups with trainings for the latest technologies. On an individual level, employees can equip themselves with the latest technical skills using online courses to learn the newest coding languages or embrace constantly evolving business practices.

This makes adaptability increasingly important.

3. Change Agility

A McKinsey report suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated expected workforce transitions and one in 16 workers may have to switch occupations by 2030. Additionally, a recent Gartner report found that 56% of candidates report applying for jobs outside their current area of expertise.

With these expected rapid changes, few would argue that we need to develop transferable skills that will allow us to be successful in the ever-shifting business environment. These skills include critical thinking, complex decision making and analytical abilities that artificial intelligence (AI) cannot replicate (yet).

Moving forward, L&D professionals should be providing employees opportunities to shift their roles and continuously evolve their tools internally to foster growth for the overall company. With an internal culture promoting flexibility and growth, organizations and employees will both ensure a sustainable growth in careers.

4. Creative Capacity

You have likely heard the old adage that the most dangerous seven words in business are “we have always done it that way.”

The world is constantly reinvented by people who put forward truly original ideas. Innovation frequently occurs when someone decides to rip up the previous playbook and take a risk on something different.

To foster creativity, L&D professionals should adopt a culture that encourages risks and challenges. Adopting programs that encourage employees to pitch new ideas and solve business problems will foster new ideas and continue to drive careers and businesses forward.

According to author Annie Auerbach, “Cross-connection may be the key to creativity… Smashing together two ideas which have not been connected — that is a breakthrough. That is what makes creative friction and sparks something fresh.”  Our potential to wield these aforementioned abilities are predicated on our attitude.

5. Character Qualities

Of everything mentioned, our willingness to be open-minded, curious lifelong learners is arguably the best predictor of our potential to future-proof our future selves. While these characteristics have more to do with having a growth mindset than a specific skill set, they can still be developed and encouraged in the right culture. Aristotle suggested that our choices form our character, which makes our behavior at work (where we spend the majority of our lives) crucial to our overall outlook and mentality.

While this is hardly an exhaustive list of the skills needed to sustain our employability in the future, it is a good place to start as you consider your personal development goals. It would also be interesting to evaluate whether your organization has formal programs or informal cultural norms that encourage these capabilities. After all, our organizations are only as future-proof as the people inside them.