Why Mastering Writing Skills Can Help Future-Proof Your Career

Having excellent writing skills can make you an indispensable member of your team or company. And it’s one of the best ways to remain consistently employable – no matter your profession. Especially when you consider that workers can spend a third of their time reading and writing emails alone (according to a Carleton University study). Then, depending on your role, it’s likely that you’ll also write reports and memos and, perhaps, proposals, PowerPoint presentations and social media updates.

Granted, there is an array of software to make sure that your writing is accurate and polished. So that with the click of a button, you can have perfect grammar and spelling.

But these apps can only work with what’s already on the page. They don’t know what was said at last month’s management meeting. Or, that a client is close to canceling a contract. Or, that another needs reassurance that service delivery will be swift and hassle-free. They simply cannot read between the lines.

A recent report by management consultancy firm, McKinsey, called “Jobs lost, jobs gained: Workforce transitions in a time of automation” stated that there will be challenging transitions ahead at work. And that in about 60% of jobs, at least one-third of activities could be automated.

However, as Bernard Marr writes: there are key skills that robots simply cannot master. These include empathy, critical thinking, creativity, strategy, imagination and vision. To stay ahead of the curve, your writing needs to demonstrate these qualities. So, it’s essential to plan and strategize so that you effectively straddle the line between what is said and unsaid. This is where many people slip up. And according to a Conference Board survey of 431 human resources professionals, writing is one of the biggest employee skill gaps.

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