The World Economic Forum is a lofty and important gathering intent on “improving the state of the world”. It also points us to the skills required in 2022 that render some skills as declining and others growing in demand. Sadly, skills for precision, manual bookkeeping and accounting are declining while others such as “analytical and critical thinking and analysis” are increasing in demand. In its most simple conclusion, automation will displace jobs.
Our existing education system (including those offered by industry associations) can’t teach everyone to be smarter than robots when it comes to routine and compliance related jobs. Automation is ubiquitous. It’s unstoppable. It’s borderless across the workforce. We at the Bookkeepers Hub Editorial Board are prepared for this shift and are intent on bringing our subscribers and members, guides and resources to help equip the business-minded bookkeeper with the skills needed to meet the challenges ahead in 2019 and beyond.
A new pair of boots
Put on your marketing boots! That’s a critical skill going forward towards 2022. There’s a huge learning curve to marketing, so that needs to be a learning imperative. Marketing is not a profession in the sense that it requires a degree, rather, it’s a skill that can be acquired ‘on the job’ with a little bit of study and learning.
Your productivity should no longer based on a manual system; it should be cloud-based to enable you to focus on the, perhaps unfamiliar role of marketeer. What you need to be marketing is a new level of service. With the same number or fewer clients, it is higher value, higher involvement services that are not the robo bookkeeping services that you need skilling in.