Entire categories of employment are rapidly disappearing and will continue to do so for many years to come; however, entire categories of non-technical skills are still needed no matter which market is sought.

The new (advanced) technology is responsible for the demise of many commonly held jobs, such as drivers, publishers, printers, cashiers, travel agents, bank tellers, manufacturing jobs, dispatchers, bartending, telemarketers, accountants, stock traders, military pilots, soldiers, construction workers, warehouse workers, even tax preparers, plus so many more. 

Because of the rapid advancement of technology, industry changes are occurring faster today than ever before in human history. In addition, career seekers are no longer looking to cultivate long-term relationships with employers. The median number of years that wage and salary workers stay with their current employer was 4.1 years in January 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported. In 2021 the number is even lower due to the extenuating circumstances of the times. 

According to Arianna Huffinton, Thrive Global Manager and CEO, “The need for hybrid skills was increasing even before the pandemic. Automation and machine learning were already putting a premium on all the skills — creativity, empathy, collaboration, innovation, complex problem solving, teamwork — that can’t be automated. These are skills that are severely undermined when people are stressed, burned out and depleted. And burnout has only gotten worse in the last year. So the pandemic has been a forcing function, taking a wrecking ball to a model of work that was already crumbling. By accelerating both the crisis and the solution — a way of working that prioritizes these human skills — the pandemic has fast-forwarded our future. As Erica Pandey wrote in Axios, “The pandemic has been an accelerant for every work trend — good and bad.”

Managing all these conflicting needs will be as significant a disruption as the urgent move to all-remote work at the beginning of the pandemic. And it will come at a time when people are particularly worn out from a year of pandemic fatigue. That’s why human skills will be central to whatever hybrid combination a company chooses for the future. At Thrive, we’ve spent the past year working with customers and company leaders in a range of industries, and here is what we’ve learned that can help us navigate this transition to a hybrid world.

In The Distributed Age, where our workplaces are going to be hybrid, having that internal locus of control is going to be more important than ever. And companies that prioritize well-being and nurture the human skills of empathy, creativity and resilience are going to be the ones to thrive in our hybrid world. 

To learn more about where and how these employability skills are being taught, click here to get your copy of the Information Packet for schools to include a high school elective to address our changing world of employment.

Technology has changed the landscape of employment for potential job seekers, especially teenagers who are deciding on their future careers. The fact is that jobs are disappearing. New advanced technology is responsible for the demise of many commonly held jobs such as publishers, printers, cashiers, travel agents, bank tellers, line-assembly jobs, dispatchers, bartenders, stock traders, military pilots, construction workers, warehouse workers, even tax preparers, plus many more. What does the future hold for young people? 

Human capital is still needed; however, employers are looking for specific employability skills, skills that enable jobs to get done in a productive, positive manner. 

Although technology has changed our lives, one thing that has not changed is human nature. The most cited reason employees leave a company is due to a toxic relationship with a co-worker or an employer who undermines the employee’s work, confidence, and commitment, When employees or customers are offended by someone in the workplace, they may decide not to do business with them, whether it is a diner, a hospital, a nursery school, a corporate entity or any type of business enterprise. 

The Goal of GoSuccess! is to Help Harness Teen Power so They Can Achieve Their Goals in Whatever Field They Choose.

GoSuccess! was created in order to address the non-technical skillset that employers want, expect, and need from their employees, needs that are not being addressed by schools.

Companies seek highly qualified people, but, according to research, not at the cost of the most common essential employability skills, i.e., how well they work with others inside and outside the corporate environment or school, college, or research labs.

The following qualities, i.e., employability skills, are the qualities all employers expect their employees to possess:

1. Positive attitude - Being calm and cheerful when things go wrong.
2. Communication Skills - Physical, Verbal and Non-Verbal. Awareness is always Step One.
3. Confidence - An inner “knowing” of their innate abilities.
4. Listening skills - The greatest compliment one can give another person.
5. Self-reliance - Believing in one’s own capability to handle whatever arises.
6. Creativity - The ability to think “outside of the box.”
7. Honesty and Personal Integrity - Someone the company can trust.
8. Professionalism which includes a strong work ethic and a willingness to learn.
9. Loyalty and Dependability - Seeing the strengths of their organization.
10. Leadership Skills including presentation skills and effective teamwork skills. 

Teamwork and a willingness to learn are implicit in the personally adopting these skills. Mastery of these competencies will make business operations run smoothly and efficiently. Happy employees equate to productive employees. 

GoSuccess! builds and promotes each of these competencies to enable our young people to add read value to any workplace from day one - resulting in building the next piece of their career journey,

The Mission of GoSuccess! is to provide students with the tools necessary to participate to their fullest in and outside of the school community.

The overall goal for each participant is to achieve a high level of teen-esteem, a belief in themselves. Every person is special in some way. The instructors with GoSuccess! will illuminate that specialness in every participant.

GoSuccess! is far more than learning skills. The courses provide a template for life. They allow each participant to learn about themselves in a way they had not contemplated previously. Because the training is done in a group, participants receive feedback from their peers, feedback that is not competitive but complimentary to the individual. Why? Because the courses are developed in a way that validates each student and do not encourage a competitive atmosphere.

Every person is different, yet each possesses something other classmates do not. When differences are brought out in neutral way, others do not feel threatened or feel “lesser” because they do not share that trait. This is not a competition.

The requirement of one skill course requires each participant to write a positive statement about the performance of another classmate. By the end of the program, the teen participants felt empowered by the acceptance and recognition of their peers. An additional benefit is the change in attitude by having been required to see only positives in the work of their peers. This requirement then extended to those not in the class. Finding fault in others is sometimes a protective measure, a way to feel superior related to that person’s fault.

Every human being desires acceptance by someone, some group, people with whom they interact. These programs provide that. The acceptance and validation from peers build within each participant a strength that will enable them to pursue more difficult and varied experiences. They knew they are okay; their peers allowed them to know that through their actions.

By being placed in a position to help others who are younger and are experiencing their own self-doubts, teens more readily master the material they need to learn in order to help others. The feeling of satisfaction from helping someone else is motivation to continue along this path.

Self-belief leads to working up to one’s own ability, selecting a future most suited to their abilities, and ultimately, to making the world a better place. Happiness and success are desirable and contagious!

THE GoSuccess! PROCESS

The GoSuccess! Licensed Trainers train students on the ten skills listed via three courses (one year of electives) that approach the “employability skills” in a variety of ways in order to ensure each skill is thoroughly absorbed.

Specifically, the basic training all trainers go through consists of a Framework that includes communication skills—verbal and nonverbal, listening skills, attitude training, and human relation skills. The instruction for trainers is covered in five two-hour sessions and is the basis for all GoSuccess! training. Session One training will be held in August. Trainers will meet via Zoom where they will learn about the background, expectations, commonalities of the courses, and answer any questions that arise. 

The training for each course offered can be taken by the instructors at their convenience. For each of the three elective courses, designated trainers require five two-hour sessions, all recorded in the event there is a conflict in scheduling. These additional three courses help teens internalize the skills that employers are seeking. These same skills also make human interaction on all levels positive and more productive. 

All training is prerecorded. Any questions that arise can be sent to the home office immediately and will be responded to within 24 hours.

Training will also include Coaching Skills Training for meeting with students individually. In addition to our courses, our goal is to mentor those teens who may feel challenged by the material in order to increase their confidence levels, belief in themselves, and their preparation for a fulfilling life.

Although our lives have changed due to technology, human nature has not. The most cited reason employees leave a company is due to having a toxic relationship with a co-worker or boss who undermines the employee's engagement, confidence, and commitment. When employees or customers are offended by someone in the workplace, they can decide not to do business with them, whether it is a diner, a hospital, a nursery school, a corporate entity, etc.

That is why Licensed Trainers are needed is in this area of “employability skills” education. Answers to objective questions can be found online; learning technical skills can be found online, but you cannot find and learn the human essence online, meaning that indefinable feeling you get when you interact with others. Employability skills that are an absolute necessity in order to have a productive, profitable workplace, no matter which workplace chosen. They are essential to the implementation of new ideas, new robotics, new methods of execution.

The question is: Where are these qualities/skills currently being taught? The answer is “Nowhere.” Schools do not have the time to train teenagers on these skills separately. They are mandated to focus on the essential skills: language arts, math, science, computer science, geography, etc. The “employability skills” are assumed to be the student’s responsibility to acquire. If, however, students are unaware of the importance of interpersonal skills, how can they develop them? Who can help them? What courses are available to them? Electives are the only leeway schools have and are the answer!

We are looking for people who teach in schools who want to become Master Licensed Trainers, trainers who believe in the possibility of every child maximizing his or her potential. All of this can be completed in 32 weeks (one year) of a high school elective period.

TESTIMONIAL: •Alessandra M: “This course has done much more for me than I ever expected. It has not just made me a better speaker, but it has made me a better person overall. I now feel more confident in my skills to relate to other people on a daily basis. I would recommend this class to everyone because the lessons they will learn they will carry with them throughout their lives. I never would have thought that I would get this much from a class when I could talk a lot and there was no final exam.”