COVID-19 has changed the world, and the businesses that adapt are the ones that’ll survive. For better or worse, most companies have discovered their pre-coronavirus complacency in their business’s roles, strategies, and tactics—and found themselves in a new global business landscape that demands unique skill sets and talents.

The coronavirus forced companies to evolve practically overnight, and many industries feared they wouldn’t be able to keep up. However, many have discovered that these new business adaptations and “temporary” substitutes are performing better than they’d ever imagined.

We’ve learned that focusing more time and resources online provides a pretty healthy ROI and that it doesn’t take expensive real estate and lengthy commutes to complete tasks that could be done from a home office. Operations are changing, and tactics are evolving—to keep up, businesses, leaders, and employees are going to have to master new must-have post-pandemic skills.

Nothing Will Ever Be the Same Again

Or at least not for a very long time. Brand-new operational trends are emerging, and most will stick for a while—some, forever. Here are a few top-of-mind changes that’ll require special skill sets to address:

  • Contactless: Contactless won’t be a passing trend—expect businesses to continue evolving to reduce touchpoints even after the worst of COVID-19 is behind us.
  • Social distancing: While 6-foot social distancing won’t be a forever requirement, every organization and industry is going to have to rethink how to make some form of social distancing a painless norm.
  • Crisis planning: Before COVID-19, a business’s crisis plan was often a quickly whipped-up document shoved in a file cabinet somewhere. Moving forward, expect a bit more due diligence to go into creating plans, backup plans, and backup-backup plans.
  • Remote work: Remote work was on the rise before coronavirus landed, but now businesses have had to adopt it quickly out of necessity. Expect businesses to retain and evolve their work-from-home policies to optimize efficiencies and reduce waste.
  • Legacy rules: COVID-19 has taught the world (especially Americans) that our unquestioned rules of the past aren’t as set in stone as we once thought. Eviction bans, debt forgiveness, and extensive government loans aren’t fantasies—they’re attainable in times of need. So why not in times of normalcy?

These are just some of the changes businesses have faced—and will continue to face for the foreseeable future. Companies will have to hire, train, and reskill their workforces to adapt to a brand-new business landscape that’ll continue to change week by week and month by month.

New skills are needed, and businesses don’t have years to waste acquiring them. Most of the following trending skills were important before COVID-19—but now they’re non-negotiable.

10. Leadership

COVID-19 will sort the true leaders from the fakes. During the good times, it’s not too difficult for leadership to keep the ship afloat, but when a storm is battering your business from all sides, that’s when you discover who’s really worth the big paycheck.

We’re facing some dark times right now, and it’s going to take exceptional leaders to motivate employees to do their best work, avoid distractions, and overcome barriers. Everyone from the C-suite to the front lines will require greater leadership capacity to deal with expanded roles and responsibilities.

11. Problem Solving

Most COVID-19-related problems are clear and unavoidable, like store closures and cash flow issues. Other problems, however, won’t be so easy to spot. The ability to search, find, and fix problems is a rare but valuable skill.

Many employees are content to do the bare minimum and only solve issues that directly impact their work. Problem-solving employees don’t settle for “good enough”—they proactively look for deficiencies and develop practical resolutions.

12. Communication

Communication has been—and always will be—a foundational workplace skill. But COVID-19 has shifted the ways that we communicate, and now even the most likable individuals will have to tailor their communications to receive and deliver messages effectively. 

We all know those individuals who text without punctuation, emoji, or voice—we’re always questioning whether they’re angry, annoyed, or just too busy to bother. In a world where business communications are primarily happening over email and messaging apps, it’s critical to hone written communication skills.

Beyond text, body language has become more important than ever. If you’re chatting with your teams and colleagues virtually, you’ll need to ensure that your face, posture, and appearance align with your communications.

13. Creativity

Businesses are rewriting their playbooks for everything from sales to marketing to manufacturing. There’s no guide or proven best practices for operating a particular business in a particular industry during a lengthy global pandemic. 

It’ll take creative minds—from the CEO to the interns—to develop ideas and solutions for brand-new ways of doing business. Explore crazy ideas. Experiment with innovative solutions.

Don’t be afraid to fail. The post-pandemic time period is when risk-enthusiastic businesses have the opportunity to claim massive rewards—rewards that’ll have us thinking a decade from now, “Ah, I wish I would have done that then.”

How to Reskill Your Workforce

Millions of jobs have been lost to COVID-19. Even with companies ramping up their hiring, it’ll be extremely difficult to overcome the massive unemployment claims soaring across the country. 

If your business is in a position to hire for the skills mentioned above, then you’re in a good place. However, if you’re not in a position to hire, you’ll need to reskill your workforce to adapt to these necessary traits.

Some of these skills will be adopted by Darwinism, but others are going to have to be taught slow and methodically. McKinsey & Company have outlined a 6-step process to reskilling your company workforce:

  1. Identify the skills your business needs most: Look through the skills we’ve listed above and identify which ones are most crucial for your business and industry. What skills does your current workforce lack? Which ones do they currently possess?
  2. Build skill sets: Focus on skills that will be universally beneficial, regardless of an employee’s specific role or responsibility. Role-specific skills are important, too, but everyone needs certain base qualities. 
  3. Launch tailored learning journeys: You’ll need to think ahead strategically to identify not only the skills your team needs now but the skills they’ll need 12 to 18 months down the road.
  4. Start now, test, and iterate: Launch as soon as possible so that you can see what works—and what doesn’t. This will give you time to make changes and slowly perfect the training model. Don’t wait to get all the details right before launching—start now, test rapidly, and make changes.
  5. Act like a small company: Research shows that reskilling programs at small businesses are more effective than large ones, despite the bigger companies’ access to more resources. Be agile, move quickly, and be willing to fail.
  6. Protect learning budgets: Maintain your employee-training budgets, even when you’re making cuts to adjust to COVID-19 impacts. Your employees are your #1 asset—don’t delay in investing in them.

Be Prepared for a Post-Pandemic World

COVID-19 has likely caused the biggest worldwide economic shock since World War II. Few alive have had to rebuild broken economies, businesses, jobs, and livelihoods. You won’t have all the answers, but you can give yourself a fighting chance by acquiring the skills necessary to thrive in a post-pandemic world.

Don’t wait until your business is forced in a new direction or you’re placed far outside your comfort zone to start adopting these skills. Take the time now. Make a conscious effort. You won’t be able to do it all at once, but if you follow McKinsey’s 6-part process, you’ll be better able to identify and learn these necessary skills—1 at a time.

Whether you’re ready for it or not, big changes are coming. Coronavirus has shown us just how much the world can change overnight—you need to be prepared to act and not just react. With these skills in your back pocket, you’ll be ready to navigate whatever curveballs life throws at you.