Introduction: First, the workforce has to grasp technology quickly for the completion of tasks. Next, we have to seize the opportunities to improve our skills in oral communication, interpersonal interaction, organisational management and other comprehensive abilities. This will expand the boundaries of our workplace, avoiding a narrow emphasis on a specific area or skill.

A friend once dropped a message to me and said: I am already thirty years old, but I’m not established in my career. After working for so many years, I still have not acquired any core competencies. I am facing career options now, and do not know where I am heading.

Dear friends, do you think you lack ‘core competencies’ in the workplace? This seems to be the cause of throbbing headaches for many people. Today, let us discuss this topic.

Most of us know that as part of the workforce, we must have core competencies, otherwise we may be replaced anytime or find it difficult to have opportunities for new developments and promotion. Thus, we are plagued by worries. If you ask people with such anxieties what kind of ‘core competencies’ they need, they often can’t answer you. If we search online for the meaning of the key words ‘core competencies’, several explanations will pop up. Some people say that their core competencies are skills that they are solely adept in, for example, programming, interacting with others, using Excel, or writing superbly. However, a lot of people think that all the above mentioned skills are easily replicated, surpassed, or substituted, so they aren’t really ‘core’ skills.

Dear friends, are you full of anxieties because you lack ‘core competencies’? If so, have you contemplated this question in depth: What do you lack when confronted with workplace competition in this rapidly changing world?

（picture from the Internet）

Some people categorise core competencies at the workplace into three areas. Let us take a look at these. They are first, career orientation. Second, obtaining comprehensive abilities. Third, acquiring skills.

First, career orientation. We need to answer a few questions: What do you think is the most valuable job? What type of job do you like the most? Which job are you good at?

The answers to these three questions determine the choice of one’s profession, the products that one will develop, and the job status for future development. The accuracy of career orientation has a direct influence on the development of our core competencies as well as setting limits to it. Dear friends, if you are concerned about your ‘core competencies’, please take time to answer the three questions we just spoke of.

In reality, we have come across many friends with such issues. After several years of working, they know clearly what they do not wish to do and what they don’t like. However, they aren’t sure of what their strengths are or what they enjoy doing.

How do we discover the areas where our strengths lie? If I have just graduated from school, the best way is to make many attempts. When we try more jobs, we realise what our talents are and what tasks we are proficient in. However, a lot of people, like this friend, are still uncertain of their strengths despite several years of working. We believe that such people have their strengths. It is just that they haven’t discovered and nurtured them.

We all know that it is ideal if a person likes a job that he is good at. The majority of us look forward to having such jobs. The regret is that even though every person has his own area of interest, most of us are not able to carve out a career based on our interests. On the contrary, a lot of us have to rely on jobs that we don’t relish for a living. Our interests will remain hobbies. Why? The crucial reason is that even though we find pleasure in our interests, we don’t fully pursue them. Since our hobbies do not add value to our lives, they cannot be turned into jobs or even become our ‘core competencies’ unless we are willing to be trained and put in hard work to do so. Until then, the value of our interests is not reflected at the workplace.

Thus, we would like to suggest to this friend: Seriously recall your life and work experiences for the past 10 years or so, and record in detail the jobs that you have carried out. Then, honestly evaluate the areas that you have done well in. These areas could be your strengths which are worth investing your time and energy in for further development.

In the process of our career development, we need to comprehend our strengths so that we can work towards our goals diligently. We have to discover our spiritual gifts and channel our time and energy to multiply one thousand talents so that they become two thousand talents which will in turn grow to four thousand talents.

（picture from the Internet）

Once we have done our career orientation, we arrive at the second aspect, which is the formation of ‘core competencies’, which include fluency in a language for communication, the ability to process messages, interaction skills, and organisational management. These constitute the fundamental abilities for the people at the workplace, and determine whether a person can constantly learn new skills, adapt to the work environment, co-operate well with others, and communicate. Regardless of which profession we are in, we must possess such comprehensive abilities or else we will struggle in our jobs.

After that, we come to the third component of ‘core competencies’, which is the specific skills we possess. Here, our professionalism and expertise will determine if we are able to assume our roles and fulfil our responsibilities.

Today, many of our young listeners are anxious about this area. They think that they aren’t equipped with any excellent skills. In fact, it is easy to acquire skills. If you realise that you lack them, immediately take action, and learn some skills! We can register for online micro courses to understand some basic knowledge about work. Once we are clear about our direction, we can plunge into systematic learning. The Internet has provided us with vast resources for learning. If you are willing to put time, energy, and some money into it, you will be able to find the appropriate information, courses, and teachers for training. You must make good use of the opportunities you have.

Regardless of whether we are young or middle-aged, we have to quickly grasp the professional skills and fulfil our job requirements when we assume our positions at work. This is the foundation for the next phase of our career development. Once we have started training in our professional abilities, we have to concentrate on developing our fundamental abilities, seizing the opportunities to improve our skills in oral communication, interpersonal interaction, organisational management, and other skills. This will expand the scope of our influence at the workplace, avoiding a narrow emphasis on a specific area or skill.

Core competencies are not only about abilities and skills, as there is a rich content embedded in these concepts. Upon analysis, there are at least 3 aspects to them. For those of us who haven’t built up our core competencies after a long time in the workforce, we have to think in-depth and see which areas we have issues with.

Mr Li Jia Cheng once said: “Life issues are a huge, complex, and volatile topic. We utilise our rational and logical sense of Intelligent Quotient (IQ) to analyse, predict, and solve many issues. In addition, we use our Emotional Quotient (EQ) to understand situations and exercise self- control. Furthermore, we apply our Spiritual Quotient (SQ) to pursue excellence and values as well as to strive for self-improvement in order to overcome the issues. In my personal experience, we must continually enhance the 3Qs.”

Dear friends, let this serve as a reminder to us. As Christians, if it dawns on us that we lack ‘core competencies’ at the workplace, we must examine what skills we are short on. We should also evaluate our Spiritual Quotient to find out these areas of inadequacies.

If we still haven’t got any areas of strength after working for more than 10 years, it could be because of low-skilled jobs or the fact that we frequently change jobs. If it is the former, we should push ourselves to learn more or take up jobs with greater challenges. If it is the latter, we must reflect on ourselves: why do I divert my focus once I set my eyes on new things and goals such that I cannot accumulate experience and plough deep enough in my job? When we first start to work, we switch jobs and explore the job market. However, if we are pulled in many different directions for more than 10 years, it could result in us not having clear goals in our career. I suggest that you do not rush into learning specific skills or signing up for online courses and end up being upset. Pause for a while and be silent. Come and seek the Lord in prayer and think through these 3 questions: What is the most valuable job? What do you enjoy doing most? What are you good at?

（picture from the Internet）

Among the biblical characters, Joseph and Daniel had some of the most successful careers. In the Bible, it is written that ‘light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in Daniel’. Why did Daniel have such wisdom? It is written in the Bible that ‘the spirit of the Lord is in him’, which means that he had a good state of spirituality.

The Bible does not specifically tell us how Daniel, the Prime Minister who served several kings, learnt to rule the country. However, we see from the Bible that the young Daniel did not lose his willpower or give up on his religion as a result of the ruin of his home country. From his youth, he was ‘determined not to defile himself with the king’s food or with the wine that he drank.’ Here, we observe that his faith in God was pure and firm. He feared the Lord and would rather offend the king who was in authority. As a young man, he was unafraid of being engulfed by the flames. In his old age, he did not flutter in trepidation of the lions’ sharp teeth.

Likewise for Joseph, he would rather disobey his mistress and be imprisoned than to sin against God. The core competency of these two biblical characters was, first and foremost, to fear the Lord. They possessed clear goals in their lives. Regardless of the circumstances, they pressed on to accomplish God’s will. Not only did they look to God’s justice and kindness and trusted in Him entirely for large issues such as life and death, but they also depended on Him in small matters like three meals a day. Prior to this, they learnt to develop the necessary skills and be faithful stewards in their God-given positions.

We hope that today’s discussion has reminded you of some essential points.  We also invite you to join us again for the next episode of “Workplace Strategy.”