What skills does an MBA teach you?
Each time a company hires new talent, they look for a mix of different skills and experiences. However, it’s no longer enough to just be a functional expert. To complement core competencies, there are a great number of soft skills that employers seek, many of which can be gained through an MBA degree.
According to the recently conducted AIM Soft Skill Survey 2019, 54.7% of Australian business leaders consider strong soft skills as being very important when hiring new talent. Yet, some of the most sought-after ones can be gained from an MBA, to help unlock real career opportunities and support your long-term success.
Leadership
Leadership skills are no longer limited to those who are part of the c-suite or a board member. Due to the changing structure of today’s organisations where it’s more fluid and less hierarchical, practical leadership skills are essential to create impact, motivate team members and drive results.
Completing an MBA will undoubtedly equip you with the right leadership qualities to allow you to achieve those outcomes. In recognising the importance of this competency, 55% of Australian business leaders revealed in the recent AIM Soft Skill Survey 2019 that leadership is one of the Top 5 most essential soft skills to have.
People Management
Wise leaders know they need a strong team and the only way to be able to manage those people is to excel in people management. This explains why 38.9% of Australian business leaders interviewed as part of the AIM Soft Skills Survey 2019 ranked this soft skill as one of the Top 5 most essential to have and 36.9% of them wished this skill was stronger in their employee base.
Part of having strong people management skills is knowing how to motivate, train, inspire and drive opportunities. These are some of the key competencies that you can learn by undertaking an MBA.
Change Management
When a change occurs, it never happens in isolation. It’s important to consider that it can impact an entire organisation and all the people involved. When trying to manage change successfully, it is critical to know what needs to be done.
An MBA will teach you how to reduce any potential stress or anxiety the change can have on people to ensure the transition occurs as smoothly and thoroughly as possible.
Communication
We all need to communicate ideas in the workplace. Excellent communication skills can be gained through an MBA, as you will learn how to provide clarity, eliminate confusion, and ensure people are being heard and respected. You will also be taught how to empower people with any tasks that may be at hand, including developing and maintaining successful relationships both inside and outside of the workplace.
This is why when looking at hiring new talent, 98.6% of Australian business leaders indicated that communication is a crucial competency to have. It makes it by far the most important soft skill to have when looking for a job, in front of collaboration and problem solving, according to the AIM Soft Skills Survey 2019.
Problem-Solving
The AIM Soft Skill Survey 2019 revealed that problem-solving is a very important skill for 90.7% of Australian business leaders when recruiting new talent.
Finding a solution to an issue or challenges faced by your team or company is at the heart of having excellent problem-solving skills. However, to manage that, you need to be able to recognise there is a problem, which an MBA can teach you. You will learn how to develop the appropriate strategies to overcome obstacles by collecting data, assessing it, and monitoring it.
Time Management
Excellent time management means you can accomplish more in a shorter period and therefore increase productivity levels. During your MBA studies, you will learn when and how to prioritise, as well as when to intervene or ask for help during a project to execute deliverables on time.
For 87.9% of Australian business leaders, according to the AIM Soft Skill Survey 2019, effective time management is one of the most critical skills they look for when scouting for new talent.
Collaboration
The saying goes two heads are better than one. This rings true in the work environment where studies have previously shown that collaboration can drive workplace performance. Collaboration involves individuals from within the immediate team, across departments and other external stakeholders to come together to share different ideas to achieve the best outcome.
An MBA will focus on the interpersonal skills that you require to help facilitate those conversations and develop top team performance.
Adaptability
With everything changing so quickly in today’s fast-paced work environment, it’s important to be ready to adapt to any circumstances on a daily basis. An MBA will teach you how to view change not as an obstacle, but rather as an opportunity. Although a skill such as adaptability is often one of the hardest soft skills to find for 36.7% of Australian business leaders that were surveyed for the AIM Soft Skills Survey 2019.
While these are just samples of some of the skills that you can gain from an MBA, they should serve as a reminder about how studying for it will help you build competencies that will be useful for your entire career and will ideally enable you to rise through the ranks of your organisation.
If you’re looking to get on the fast track in your management career, our TEQSA accredited MBA is one of Australia’s best value MBA. Backed by the Australian Institute of Management’s 76-year heritage, the MBA+ has been designed to be highly flexible and fit around your life. With 5 years of exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to AIM’s short courses, the MBA+ will take you further.
