Professional Employability Skills

Sequence of Presentation:
• The Awesome Power Of Persuasion
• Decision Management
• Resolving Resistance
• Getting Commitment
• Digital Skills

Meaning of Employability Skills
• Definition: Employability Skills can be defined as the transferable skills needed by an individual to make them ’employable’.
• Purpose: A group of essential abilities that involve the development of a knowledge base, expertise level and mindset that is increasingly necessary for success in the modern workplace.

Awesomeness of Persuasion
i. Ever wonder who wields the world’s greatest power? Who accomplishes their dreams?
ii. The most successful people are those who can effectively get things done
iii. They influence others to agree or comply, to effectively execute goals, objectives and wishes
iv. Persuaders are Awe some They always have and always will
v. They motivate change
vi. Revitalise entire organisations
vii. They create growth and profit
viii. They lead others to new heights
ix. They achieve personal goals for wealth, power and influence
x. Science Backed Facts:
xi. We are not thinking machines, we are feeling machines that think.”
xii. “Despite popular notion to the contrary, the brain does not operate like a computer or any other machine. That’s why we have to stop forcing it to act in ways that are unnatural and unproductive. Your brain is not a logic machine. As it turns out, emotions and feelings about something or someone occur before you’voe made any attempt at conscious evaluation.”

Persuasion – Myths:
a. Some uninformed people might view persuasion in a pejorative context
b. Some see persuasion as an element in the “hard sell” category
c. Others equate persuasion with manipulation and deception
d. Many perceive persuasion as arm-twisting
e. Persuasion depends on charisma or personality
The Secret of Effective Persuasion
Dr. Conger writes in his article called “The Necessary Art of Persuasion”:
“The Necessary Art of Persuasion”: “Effective persuasion becomes a process by which the persuader leads colleagues to a problem’s shared solution.”
• “Shared solution” refers to results in everyone’s best interest.
• “Process” indicates that persuasion is not an off-the-cuff bag of psychological tricks that you can immediately apply to any situation.

Persuasion – Realities
• Persuasion is understanding human nature and the human brain, then working in concert with natural processes
• Persuasion supersedes sales and is quite the opposite of deception
• Persuasion is opposite of manipulation

Resolving Resistance:
Employ 4-step process for resolving resistance:
Ø Listen to the entire objection
Ø Acknowledge the objection in a positive manner
Ø Analyse the objection
Ø Answer the objection

Last But Not Least:
• Unless you get closure, specific agreement to proceed, until you trigger “Yes!” you haven’t persuaded the decision and action you seek. Which means
Ø Your planning, preparation, and presentation have been wasted
Ø All you have done is a waste of time, effort, energy and resources

What Digital Skills Do I Need for the Modern Workplace?
• Knowing how:
Ø To answer your emails
Ø To access a company’s files on google drive
Ø To tweak a website’s code
Ø Above mentioned are all digital skills that are increasingly sought after in today’s job market.
Ø Digital literacy is a language; the more digital skills you have, the better you can speak it.
10 Key Digital Skills:
i. Social Media
• The ability to understand and utilise social media effectively is a core skill every professional should have.
• Businesses need to reach out to customers in ways that will drive traffic to their website—or product—for potential conversion
ii. Search Engine Marketing
• Students with SEM experience will be able to increase the visibility of a company’s website on a search engine (e.g., Google) primarily via paid advertising.
• By doing so, the business will attract valuable web traffic from the search engine results page
iii. Analytics
• Data analytics essentially allow students to make educated and data-driven decisions in their roles.
• Numbers define whether a campaign was successful, and by what percentage.
• The key to analytics is knowing what data to collect and measure in order to improve the next campaign.

iv. Content Marketing: Content comes in many forms – blog posts, videos, podcasts, info graphics, even social media status updates.
• Marketers may spend their time optimising keywords and advertising campaigns, but content is still king.
• After all, a website or social media page is driven by its content
Without content, customers have no way of understanding the benefits of a product or service
v. Email: is one of the oldest forms of direct marketing and still packs a punch in customer acquisition and retention.
• Email marketing is an art form in itself.
• An experienced digital marketer knows that each funnel stage has to be carefully planned.
• From the signup page—including its placement on a website—to the first welcome email, every step needs to be optimised in order to attract and retain users and build engagement.
vi. Mobile:
• Mobile connectivity continues to grow with nearly two-thirds of the world’s population using mobile phones
• 55% of all active connections come from smartphones.
• Since smartphone traffic now exceeds desktop traffic, it’s clear that mobile is the future.
• Having a mobile-friendly webpage can enhance your search presence amongst consumers who do not have access to desktops
vii. Pay-Per-Click Marketing (PPC):
• PPC is a popular way for brands to get traffic quickly.
• Companies with big budgets can easily get their search result to appear on Google’s first page, thereby guaranteeing massive search engine traffic.
• One popular PPC advertising model is Google’s very own AdWords programme.
viii. Video:
• Video as content is easier to consume than a typical blog post.
• It is also more entertaining and appeals to millennial
By combining the emotional power of social video with the reach and scope of digital advertising, markets can tap into a growing market of engaged consumers
ix. Strategy and Planning:
• Businesses that embed strategic planning in their marketing agenda are most likely to see measurable results in the long-term
• Setting specific KPI’s and identifying methods for measuring each indicator can help a marketer remain accountable.
• It is also imperative that they analyse past campaigns and decide which metric is worth measuring
x. Social Selling:
• Businesses across industries are beginning to understand the importance of social selling
• Businesses are investing in new ‘sales stack’ technology over and above a CRM such as email tracking tools, productivity apps, and sales intelligence software.
• Social selling tools are seen as very effective in engaging with and influencing consumers, particularly amongst top performers.