In 2023, self-management skills have become increasingly important for employees to succeed and thrive. The ability to regulate one’s thoughts, feelings, and actions within the workplace is a crucial aspect of being a successful employee overall. Self-management skills encompass various capabilities that enable individuals to control their behaviors and achieve work goals effectively. Examples of these skills include time management, clear communication, problem-solving, stress management, decision-making, organizational skills, and self-confidence.

What Are Self-Management Skills?

Self-management soft skills benefit both employees and employers. For employers, fostering a culture of self-management can boost job satisfaction, engagement, and productivity within teams. It improves intra-team communication and builds trust, which contributes to reduced attrition rates. By empowering employees to manage themselves, organizations free up managers to focus on strategic initiatives and development work. On the other hand, employees who possess strong self-management skills experience increased trust from employers, stakeholders, customers, and teammates. They perform better, clarify their goals, achieve them more efficiently, and enjoy greater job satisfaction.

With the rise of remote and hybrid work models, self-management skills have become even more critical. Organizations have faced challenges in managing, developing, and retaining talent in these new work environments. By emphasizing self-management, companies demonstrate their trust in employees’ responsibility and productivity, regardless of where and how they work. This approach shows that organizations care about their employees as individuals and value their ability to self-manage.

15 Self-Management Skills Employers Look For

Self-management skills are essential for individuals to effectively control their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in the pursuit of personal and professional goals. Here is a list of key self-management skills:

1. Time management: The ability to prioritize tasks, set deadlines, and effectively allocate time for different activities.
2. Organization: The skill of arranging and structuring tasks, resources, and information in a systematic and efficient manner.
3. Goal setting: Setting clear and achievable objectives, both short-term and long-term, and actively working towards them.
4. Prioritization: Assessing tasks and responsibilities based on their importance and urgency and focusing efforts accordingly.
5. Self-discipline: Maintaining self-control and adhering to commitments, even in the face of distractions or temptations.
6. Proactivity: Taking initiative, being proactive in identifying and addressing issues, and seeking opportunities for growth and improvement.
7. Adaptability: Being flexible and open to change, adjusting plans and strategies in response to evolving circumstances or unexpected challenges.
8. Stress management: Developing strategies to effectively cope with and reduce stress levels, maintaining emotional resilience in demanding situations.
9. Decision making: Making informed decisions based on critical thinking, considering various options, evaluating consequences, and selecting the best course of action.
10. Self-motivation: Cultivating intrinsic motivation, staying driven and enthusiastic about work, and maintaining a positive mindset.
11. Emotional intelligence: Employers prize candidates with emotional intelligence. It’s the ability to recognize and manage one’s own emotions and understand and empathize with others’ emotions, fostering positive relationships and effective communication.
12. Self-confidence: Believing in one’s abilities, knowledge, and skills, and having a positive self-image that supports personal and professional growth.
13. Accountability: Taking ownership of one’s actions, accepting responsibility for outcomes, and learning from mistakes or setbacks.
14. Resilience: Bouncing back from failures or setbacks, maintaining a solution-oriented mindset, and persisting in the face of challenges.
15. Continuous learning: A commitment to ongoing personal and professional development, seeking opportunities to expand knowledge, acquire new skills, and adapt to changing environments.

Self-Awareness & Self-Management

Self-awareness plays a crucial role in developing self-management skills. Before individuals can effectively manage themselves, they need to be self-aware. Self-awareness involves recognizing one’s thoughts, behaviors, and actions and understanding how they impact oneself and others. It allows individuals to consciously create new patterns and make more productive choices. Self-awareness is a skill that can be developed through constant self-evaluation, a process-oriented mindset, and attention to both intrapersonal and interpersonal aspects.

Self-defeating behaviors can hinder self-management. By strengthening their self-awareness, individuals become better equipped to identify and address these behaviors. Common self-defeating behaviors include procrastination, refusal to delegate, poor listening, defensiveness, people-pleasing, and perfectionism. Once individuals acknowledge these behaviors as problems, they can proactively work on changing them and moving forward.

Assessing For Self-Management Skills

Assessments can be valuable tools for building self-awareness and developing self-management skills. They can measure emotional intelligence, which encompasses self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. Assessments based on cognitive ability and personality traits can provide insights into an individual’s ability to self-manage, including aspects such as flexibility, comfort with change adoption, composure, and results focus.

Employers can support the development of self-management skills in their employees. They should focus on enablement rather than control, ensuring that managers meet employees where they are and provide the necessary tools and support. Clear objectives and expectations are essential for employees to develop strong self-management skills. Utilizing development tools that provide transparency and track progress can create a clear growth path for employees. Creating a culture of psychological safety encourages employees to take risks and fosters their self-management abilities.

Nurturing The Ability In Employees

Employees can also take proactive steps to develop their self-management skills. Practicing new behaviors consciously and consistently is crucial for replacing old habits and creating new neural pathways. Making time for reflection, collaborating with managers, and setting goals helps individuals identify growth opportunities and chart their path forward. Tracking progress and aligning goals with managers provide a clear sense of progress and achievement.

Tracking progress is essential for self-management development. It provides a tangible way to measure growth and identify areas that may require further attention. By regularly reviewing and tracking progress, employees can gain a sense of accomplishment and motivation as they see themselves moving closer to their goals.

Furthermore, seeking feedback from managers, colleagues, or mentors can provide valuable insights and guidance for improving self-management skills. Constructive feedback allows individuals to identify blind spots, areas for improvement, and alternative strategies that can enhance their effectiveness in the workplace.

Getting Started

Ultimately, self-management skills have become increasingly important in the modern workplace. As organizations navigate remote and hybrid work environments, the ability to regulate thoughts, feelings, and actions is crucial for success. Self-management skills such as time management, clear communication, problem-solving, stress management, decision-making, organizational skills, and self-confidence contribute to improved productivity, job satisfaction, and overall performance.

Employers play a vital role in supporting the development of self-management skills by fostering a culture of enablement, providing clear objectives and expectations, utilizing development tools, and creating a psychologically safe environment. Meanwhile, employees can actively develop their self-management skills by practicing new behaviors, engaging in reflection, and tracking their progress towards set goals.

By recognizing the importance of self-management and actively working towards its cultivation, individuals can position themselves for success in the dynamic and evolving workplace of today.