Adaptability is an essential soft skill to have in this evolving work environment. When a person is adaptable, they deal well with changing or difficult environments. There have likely been times in your career when you’ve had to adapt to an environment or circumstance. Hiring employees who already have this soft skill will make your company more stable. Here are ways to determine if a new hire has adaptability and to encourage adaptability in your workplace:
Ask Good Questions
To test for adaptability, ask questions in your job interviews about previous experiences. Consider using questions like “Have you ever had a project suddenly change after putting in a lot of time and effort? How did you deal with this change?” or “Tell me about a time when you had to learn a new work process.” Asking questions like this can help you to determine if the job candidate has adaptability or not. For more questions you can ask, go here.
Embrace Change
Although change is difficult and uncomfortable, it can be an agent for innovation. Invite your employees to share ideas for positive change. Encourage employees to challenge tradition and push towards innovation. Doing this will not only make your employees adaptable, but it will make your entire company more adaptable to change.
Give Freedom
If your employees are used to being constantly monitored, they will have trouble dealing with sudden, unpredictable changes. Giving your employees autonomy in their work will help them to make changes by themselves and react better to a changing environment. Try to encourage your employees to take responsibility and ownership over their work.
Apply this advice in your company to increase adaptability in your employees.