Use 21st-century skills to help employees thrive
By Alex Sullins
The term “21st-century skills” has been commonplace for a couple decades. The idea is that opportunities, challenges, and events that have not yet occurred in the industry may become prevalent in the future, so workers need to possess the skills to be able to adapt, overcome, and succeed. The most obvious example of this phenomenon is the current global health pandemic of COVID-19. It changed everything. World economies were shut down while life came to a standstill. However, one of the unexpected silver linings for parks and recreation professionals was the unexpected attention to parks and programs as people sought out opportunities different from their stay-at-home lockdown. The pandemic provided a grand platform to highlight the industry’s importance in terms of influencing and enhancing quality of life. As such, numerous articles and stories being presented in print and social media are already declaring that former models of the industry have forever shifted as people are more focused on life outside of work, in addition to how, where, and why they work in their chosen professions. So, as we emerge from a social and economic lockdown toward a post-pandemic future, it is time to look at how park and recreation professionals are evolving and how the development and incorporation of new skills might help in meeting future challenges.