LinkedIn APAC SMB Skills – India

New Delhi: LinkedIn, the world’s largest online professional network, today released a research that spotlights top skills needed to succeed at Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) in the APAC region. SMBs are one of the fastest growing sectors and form the backbone of the Indian economy. * As the sector continues to expand, critical skills such as management, technology, teamwork, planning, and communication emerge as top priority skills for SMBs in India.

According to the LinkedIn Talent Solutions SMB Skills APAC Survey, here are some key insights on the top skills for SMBs in India:

Soft skills considered most impactful for Indian SMBs and will dominate the future workforce:

· Critical thinking (43%), management (36%) and creativity (34%) are the top 3 and the most impactful skills required to be successful in a role at a company
· Whereas, management (40%), teamwork (36%), and digital (34%) are considered the most impactful skills to be successful in the company
· Indian professionals are most confident to develop skills such as management (45%) and technology (41%) at their current organization, among other countries surveyed
These professionals stated that they develop these skills through their day-to-day job (87%), internal training provided by the company (15%), and self-sponsored classes (15%)
· In the future, critical thinking (39%), resilience (30%) and creativity (40%) were concluded as the top 3 most challenging skills to be found. Additionally, among the countries surveyed, India recorded the highest number (28%) who believe that technology and digital skills will be the most difficult to find in the future

“A SMB’s success is dependent on tight relationships between peers, managers, and teams within the organization. Therefore, soft skills such as strong collaboration and teamwork, good communication skills, digital skills, and the ability to be creative in problem-solving are key to ensure the future growth of a business. As the SMB landscape evolves with technological progress and globalization, leveraging employer branding tools to attract talent and investing in talent development will be imperative for companies,” said Irfan Abdulla, Director Talent & Learning Solutions, LinkedIn India & South Asia.

Highlights from the APAC region:

· Respondents from Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore too emphasize on teamwork as one of the key drivers of success at an SMB
· Additionally, business management emerged as the most impactful skill for finding success in a company, across the APAC region surveyed
· Interestingly, finding candidates who display strong critical thinking abilities and adaptability/resilience, identified as drivers of success, was a challenge for recruiters in the APAC region
· Like in India, critical thinking (40%), resilience (35%) and creativity (28%) too emerged as the top 3 most challenging skills to be found in the future in the APAC region