Adaptability

Hardly a week goes by without a report from somebody telling us that the future of work is changing.

At PYP we see it happening and work with the people affected both negatively and positively. But how will that impact you and how do you need to adapt as a result?

Adaptability combines flexibility with versatility. Flexibility is your willingness to adapt. It’s your attitude. Versatility is your ability to adapt. It’s your aptitude.

Adaptability is a skill which means it can be learned, practiced and improved. It refers to the ability of a person to change his actions, course or approach to doing things in order to suit anew situation. We constantly change our lifestyles because our world is always changing. When there is shortage or a product is simply unavailable, we have to adapt and switch our demand to substitute goods.

Being adaptable means being able to rapidly learn new skills and behaviours in response to changing circumstances. Employers usually look for adaptability when hiring new staff and the skill is often included in job descriptions because of its importance for growth within a role.

Adaptability in the workplace is important for a number of reasons. Employers value employees that are successfully able to manage workplace change. The more adaptable you are the more productive you will be overall and long term, coping with changes, evolutions and challenges in the business.

Someone demonstrating adaptability in the workplace has the ability to respond effectively to their working conditions even if things don’t go as planned. They usually work well both on their own and with team members.

Having adaptability skills means embracing change with optimism and a problem-solving mentality to create an ideal outcome. Consider a stressful work situation, such as a co-worker quitting without notice and leaving a lump-sum of work behind. An employee with adaptability skills embraces this inconvenient change as a challenge, rather than a frustrating issue.

Adaptability also encompasses being able to effect changes in a course of action with smoothness and timeliness, without any major setbacks. New rules and regulations spring up within organisations and industries all the time and it is therefore necessary to adjust smoothly and quickly to such changes with very little difficulties.

You can become aware of how you overcome challenges each time something comes up in your business and work to improve. But, one of the best things you can do is to avoid looking at a significant challenge ahead as if it is a mountain you have to climb.