You have probably heard the term, “Jill/Jack of all trades, master of none.”
In his book, Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialised World, David Epstein argues that this is actually a cliché, and downright wrong.
Not many of us do only one task today. An electrician does not simply work on a circuit board. A plumber is unlikely to fix toilets all day. Specialist education is obviously important in the trade industry.
- Plumbers need to know how to fit and maintain water systems, such as baths, showers, sinks, toilets, dishwashers, washing machines. Some might install central heating systems or gas boilers.
- Electricians fit, service and repair electric equipment, wires and machines.
- Boat builders repair, refit and build marine craft from small boats to large vessels.
- Decorators apply paint, wallpaper and other finishes to the outside and inside of buildings.
- Builders work on construction projects, such as building, repairs, renovations, remodelling, brickwork, plastering. This may be commercial or for residential homes.
Trades people obviously require specialist education to enable them to complete those tasks well and safely.
However, people work in the trades will recognise that other skills are also essential to be good at their job – transferable skills.
What are Transferrable Skills?
All jobs today require us to have a combination of skills – hard skills and soft skills.
Hard skills are teachable and easy to quantify, such as –
- Technical skills
- Marketing skills
- Bricklaying
- Plastering
- Planting a crop
- Marketing skills
- Project management
- We can see that a person has plastered a wall well.
- It is not always so easy to quantify soft skills.
- Soft skills are skills such as –
- Problem solving
- Communication
- Adaptability
- Critical thinking
- Time management
- Team work
- Interpersonal skills
But when looking at these lists, you can see how hard and soft skills are essential in any trade role.
Let’s look at a builder for example. A builder needs to be able to build, repair, construct, plaster etc. These are hard skills. BUT they also need to –
- Be at jobs on time (time management)
- Work with other people (interpersonal skills, team work)
- Communicate effectively with team members, new clients, employees, employers etc (communication)
- Be able to deal with problems and issues that arise (problem solving and critical thinking)
- When these problems arise, things sometimes need to change. A job may need to be changed or reorganised or rethought (adaptability)
You can see that hard and soft skills are required.
More Examples of Transferable Skills
Let’s look in more depth at transferrable skills that can be required in trades industries.
General skills include –
- Carrying out instructions, so including listening to or reading instructions
- Good written and verbal communication to issue instructions, give feedback etc.
- Public speaking – for example, talking to new clients, educating staff, giving a talk when trying to get a new contract
- Observing others – we improve by watching others. We can also give feedback on the performance of others by watching
- Good maths skills
- Good time management – being on time to start a job or attend a meeting or meet a client
Interpersonal skills –
- Motivating others, such as members of the team
- Providing constructive criticism to team members, new staff etc.
- Training and mentoring new staff
- Delegating
- Accepting constructive criticism – we can all improve and update our learning, so we all need to be able to accept constructive criticism from others
- Supporting staff members who are upset
- Resolving conflicts between staff members
- Dealing with complaints from customers effectively and efficiently
- Developing good customer relations
- Working well with others
Business Skills –
- Responding quickly and efficiently to communications, such as phone calls, emails, messages
- Answering reports
- Writing reports
- Managing relevant records, such as accident reports, health and safety
- Familiarity with use of relevant computers and IT
- Bookkeeping
- Budgeting
- Recruitment
- Interviewing potential candidates
- Hiring new candidates
- Supervision
- Evaluating employees
- Preparing schedules for where people work and when
- Leading meetings
- Negotiating contracts with customers and suppliers
- Identifying problems
Planning and Researching Skills –
If you are a trades person, you may work for yourself or for someone else. You may have plans for your own business. So further transferable skills include –
- Anticipating and preventing problems
- Solving problems
- Making decisions on how to deal with problems
- Setting goals
- Prioritising tasks
- Researching potential suppliers and sub-contractors
- Analysing information
- Managing time and deadlines
- Creating and implementing policies and procedures
Marketing –
- Preparing promotional materials
- Writing blogs
- Networking
- Creativity
- Social media posts
Etc
This list is no means exhaustive and you can see that there are many, many transferable skills involved in running your own trades business or working within trades.
Improve your Skills
If you are working in the trades and want to improve your job and career prospects, or start your own business, then developing your knowledge of transferable skills can be essential to –
Employ and train staff
- To have an effective and well-working staff team
- Keep track of budgets and bookkeeping
- Communicate well with staff, customers, contractors
- Network
- Sell your services
- Problem solving
- Critical thinking
- Marketing
Staff Training and Improvement
If you already run your own business and have staff, it is important to also develop, improve and update the skills of your staff in –
- Time management
- Communication
- Prioritising tasks
- Hard skills related to the relevant trade
Hard and soft skills are essential in all trades.
If you are a tradesperson and would like to improve and update your knowledge of transferable skills.
Or you want to train your staff in certain transferable skills, we can help.
We offer courses in –
And much more.