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Inevitable changes are being faced by not only individuals but also large-scale organizations. We have seen quite a few transnational organizations making it out alive from unpredictable or sudden economic crisis and some going into bankruptcy overnight. What are behind the twists and turns drawing the difference between staying competitive and turning unprofitable for organizations these days? 

     “Changes are inevitable and the outcome of our performances depends pretty much on how we act in response to them,” said Mr. Sorawit Lim-o-pas Pulsawasd, one of a few Thai government-funded student specializing in Charity Management, pursuing his Ph.D. at the University of East London, the United Kingdoms. 

    As a proud alumnus of the School of Liberal Arts, English major program, Walailak University, Mr. Sorawit or Champ, shared his experience-derived caliber from working as a consultant, a columnist, an invited lecturer and a project initiator of many community outreach projects, one of which was “Food for Fighters”, the project addressing food supplies for frontline medical professionals and food businesses during the peak of COVID-19 in Thailand.

    Sorawit talked about the dynamic of global business rhythms prioritizing a new set of skills transcending discipline-specific skills to the soft skills which everyone can develop and many of the world’s most influential corporates are looking to a whole new direction when it comes to making a hiring decision. 

    “Google, for example,” said a business advisory columnist. 

    “has recently hired a non-college graduate packed with the right sets of skills and capabilities,” Sorawit added and explained two non-generic words highly recommended for both newly graduates and well-seasoned workers, those of which include “pain point” and “a sense of urgency”. Differing in the literal meaning regards, the first helps one identify what causes pain AKA problems or hindrance while the latter helps project how urgent each particular task has to be dealt with. When combined, effective decision making can be achieved. Since pain points indicate active acknowledgement of existing problems, this helps direct attention to the area calling for improvements which is a prerequisite to creating plans or seeking the solutions. 

    Turning to a sense of urgency, everyone knows to prioritize tasks and responsibilities but among all equally significant tasks, proficient workers must be able to recognize the most alarming ones. 

   “In a world in which everything seems important, always in one way or another, there are always some “important things” allowing no postponing and no waiting,” explained Sorawit before encouraging his young-generation audience to take note of this particular phrase and get accustomed to it. 

   Invited to give a talk under the topic “Future Skills for Success in 2022” in the 11th Academic Conference and Exhibition Thailand’s Resources: 30 Years, RSPG for Real Benefits to the Public, Sorawit, making references to Mckinsey, a global leading consulting firm, highlighted four indispensable skills members of the professional word need to equip themselves with: Cognitive, Interpersonal, Self-leadership and Digital literacy. Given that each of the skills mentioned can be quite broad in terms of the meaning scope and so subjected to personal interpretation, below is the clarification for each of the skills. 

    Coming as the first is a cognitive skill involving critical thinking, planning, communication and mental flexibilities. Critical thinking, for example, enable a person to perform logical reasoning, researching for data and developing structured problem solving. When working, it is important to manage time and prioritize what needs to be done and be able to be perform well verbally as well as being an active listener. Stepping further into a relationship realm, Sorawit stressed on relationship development and teamwork effectiveness. Regarding this, he walked us through a human resource management perspective attracted to those showing potentials to collaborate with others to take a leadership position.

    “in five years, the mentality making human human again will be dominant. The thinking reflects our desire to depart from any qualities depriving us of human features to what defines us as human,” explained Sorawit. 
Sorawit said further, “that means we will be longing for empathy, trust, humility and sociability. Those having a strong networking skill will be a star because having a powerful network is a key to tackle crisis.”

     As for self-leadership, besides goal achievement skills such as ownership and decisiveness, grit and persistence, and self-development, ones must learn to have self-control, self-confidence and self-understanding about emotions, trigger and strengths. The last skill, Digital skills, involving ones’ knowing to navigate in a professional setting using digital knowledge, whether it is about software e.g., programming, dana analysis and analytics, computational thinking, or understanding of the digital system such as Cybersecurity, Digital ethics, Tech translation etc. 

     For the digital skills, Sorawit pointed out, “skilled workers have to know how to mobilize, synchronize and deal with data gigantic in terms of scales and super-dynamic, like how to utilize it.” 

At the end, one thing Sorawit asked everyone to keep as a take-home message is to strike for balance. Each proportion of one’s life does not only have a space for works and achievements but time for a proper physical and mental rest as well. 

     Mr. Sorawit Lim-o-pas Pulsawasd, has been working as an advisor to a number of international organizations and news agencies, namely BBC London, Al Jazeera, the Economist, the Edelman and Sanofi. He also works as a partner with the UNDP, The Rockefeller Foundation, and USAID Thailand. Between 2021 and 2022, Mr. Sorawit has been collaborating with both the public and private sectors as a digital marketplace advisor with the Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission Office of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME), Promotion Community Development Department, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Industry, National Housing Authority and the Thai Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Sorawit assists in coordinating the government sectors with E-Commerce platforms including Shopee, Lazada and JD Central. 
 

Photo by Mr. Sorawit Lim-o-pas Pulsawasd and Mr. Woraprat Janpa

Article by Nootchanat Sukkaew