Transferrable Skills

Transferrable skills are those which can be used in all jobs because they make you a well rounded employee that can work in a number of different situations. Since last year, I feel as though I have come a long way in developing my transferrable skills in order to make myself a sought after employee. Here is a list of transferrable skills that employers tend to look for (Skillsyouneed.com, 2017):

• Problem Solving
• Organising
• Working to deadlines
• Management and Leadership
• Negotiating
• Motivating People
• Making Decisions
• Research Skills
• Numeracy
• Good Communication Skills

Problem Solving: Last year I did not feel that I had been in many spa related situations where I had to solve a problem. However, since then I have been working as a therapist and a supervisor in spa, therefore I have been in situations where I have had to solve problems which involve both therapists and guests, which require different forms of professionalism. By developing my problem solving skills, I will be more confident in a number of different scenarios such as complaints,therapist issues etc.

Organising: Organisation this year in terms of my time has been fairly difficult as I have had 2 jobs, university work and social time to balance. I feel as though I could have done better with this, especially when dedicating time to university assignments, but once I put a plan in place and stuck to it I was able to get on top of my work as well as keep working in both spa and my other job. Developing organisational skills and being able to demonstrate them to employers shows them that you will be on top of things and be able to meet deadlines.

Working to Deadlines: Working to deadlines applies to me with both uni, and working in the spa. At university I have assignment deadlines to meet which means I have to plan my time effectively in order to give them all the attention needed. I have found this quite difficult because of the jump in the quality of work from level 4 to level 5 in order to get the best grades, which means that I have attempted to put things off, which is the worst thing to do. However, I have now set out dates and plans of when and what work to do in order to complete it in time for submission to a high standard. In spa, I am on deadlines in terms of meeting targets, making sure treatments start and finish at the right time, and also making sure that spa is opened and closed on time in the morning and evening.

Management and Leadership: This year has been key in me improving my management and leadership skills. Since the beginning of this academic year I have been watching the commercial team and student supervisors when dealing with all different types of situations including guest complaints, missing bookings and staff absence. Because of this, in second semester I felt comfortable enough to put myself forward for the role because I knew I had enough basic knowledge to then build upon through my own experiences. As i have got to know the weekend team more over the last few months, I am also able to delegate tasks efficiently so that they get done to the best standards.

Negotiating: Negotiation is a skill that can be used in many parts of a business. When working in the spa, my main use of negotiation is when dealing with customer complaints or issues in order to find a solution for them and be able to offer the most reasonable level of compensation for any troubles they may have had. general employee-to-company negotiation may also include holiday, pay or hours to name a few. Having developed negotiation skills allows a person to feel like they have more control in a situation and will be able to speak for themselves and obtain their goal effectively.

Motivating People: Many jobs involve motivating other people, whether it be personal motivation, motivating everyone as part of a team or keeping your team motivated as a manager. This year I have found myself trying different methods of motivation as a supervisor, this could be anything from bringing in treats for staff to enjoy on breaks, or creating incentives on shift such as meeting a retail target or getting repeat bookings and being rewarded with spa use or other discounts. This method seems to work well in the spa as people are more likely to respond to reward when asked to complete a task (smallbusiness, 2017).
Other forms of motivation include conveying a positive attitude which will reflect on other colleagues. This also means that the team will be more productive if there is a constant positive attitude through everyone. When being supervisor on my shifts, I try my best to keep everyone motivated with a positive attitude and leadership mentality.

Making Decisions: Decision making is a skill that I have been able to greatly improve this year due to the new experiences I have had in spa as well as in my other job. There are often situations where quick decisions need to me made without a member of authority present. This is something that I would have been very uncomfortable doing last year. However, because I have been in more of these situations as well as having the opportunity to see how my colleagues make similar decisions.

Research Skills: My research skills have been drastically improved this year as we had a research skills module which allowed us to explore the basis of research, why you would use certain types of research over others and how combining different types of research can benefit certain topics. this module also helped me to look more carefully into my sources and think about why I am using them and how I can apply them logically to my research. moving onto level 5 has allowed me to see the standard of referencing and depth of research that is required in order to achieve grades in the top band.

Numeracy: “It is simply inexcusable for anyone to say ‘I can’t do maths.’ (Humphries, 2011)
My basic numeracy skills are to a fairy high standard, I am also confident on my mental arithmetic which means I am able to work things out quickly to solve a problem for example. Now that I have started to cash up in spa, I am able to use these skills to do the job more efficiently. Being able to work with numbers has also helped me in my business module when creating my cashflow forecast. Having a high level of numeracy skills often sets candidates apart in recruitment because it shows a certain level of efficiency in how someone works.

Good Communication Skills: Good communication skills are required for almost every industry in order to successfully progress. Different parts of my jobs involve talking to a variety of different people which means that I have had to develop the skill of knowing how to effectively communicate in a way that is professional with different types of people. In spa, I have learned that my manners when I am on reception and in a supervisory role have to show a more authoritative stance so that the guests feel like they would be able to come to me with any issues they may have and feel confident in the fact that I will be able to deal with them professionally.
When communicating with my team, I need to ensure that I am able to be authoritative but understanding also, to gain the most productivity from them. By knowing how to communicate with your team, it opens many more opportunities for you to gain feedback and respect from them and identify any issues that need to be dealt with for their employee satisfaction.
Because I have worked in a number of industries, eg. Retail, Spa and bars, I have developed my communication skills with a wide range of people including customers, colleagues and suppliers. I believe that I am able to adapt the way I communicate with a variety of different people, both professionally and in every day life, which gives me the edge on a lot of jobs because I can prove that I am able to communicate effectively in different situations.