New Economy Skills Unlocking the Human Advantage 2025

Recognition of human-centric skills BOX 4 Recognition data, such as peer-to-peer awards and acknowledgements, provide real-time, actionable insights into how skills are demonstrated and valued within organizations. Voluntary and intentional acknowledgement of individuals’ contributions provides rich and unique insights into human- centric skills, which are often difficult to measure through traditional assessments or overlooked in formal reporting. Workhuman’s analysis of recognition messages across 73 countries between 2019 and 2025 shows that leadership is the most frequently acknowledged skill in daily interactions, followed by motivation and self-awareness, and dependability and attention to detail. By contrast, systems thinking, teaching and mentoring, creative thinking, and curiosity and lifelong learning are least often recognized (Figure 13). Recognition patterns differ by organizational size. Across firms of all sizes, creative thinking emerges as the most valued skill. In smaller firms (1,000 employees or fewer), resilience and teaching follow closely, while in large organizations (over 50,000 employees), leadership and resilience dominate. At the industry level, creative thinking is the most valued skill in almost all sectors – average values range from $61 in banking and finance to $197 in pharmaceuticals – except in consumer goods and services, where dependability leads ($73). Second-ranked skills vary: the technology sector emphasizes resilience; banking, finance and insurance highlight motivation; manufacturing prioritizes resilience; and consumer goods and services elevates teaching.Trends over time reveal meaningful shifts (Figure 14). Recognition of motivation has risen sharply since 2022, while leadership, dependability, systems thinking and creative thinking have also increased since 2023. These trends likely reflect a growing recognition that these skills contribute to engagement and productivity.18 Empathy has followed a different trajectory – recognition grew during 2019– 2021, likely reflecting heightened attention to interpersonal connections during the COVID-19 pandemic that has remained above pre-pandemic levels. While curiosity and lifelong learning has increased since 2022, its overall frequency of recognition remains low. This underscores that, while organizations emphasize the importance of upskilling and reskilling,19 the very skill that underpins those behaviours is not often recognized or rewarded (Figure 14). Yet, skill recognition does not always align with value, as attributed by peers (Figure 13). While leadership is both widely recognized (44% of messages) and highly valued (averaging $64), creative thinking shows the opposite pattern: it is among the least frequently acknowledged (5%) but the most highly valued ($75). Resilience follows a similar trajectory, less often recognized (10%), but consistently assigned high value ($65). Conversely, empathy and active listening is frequently acknowledged but less often associated with tangible value. Human-centric skills: prevalence vs. recognition value FIGURE 13 Share of messages mentioning their skill (%)Median award value ($)75 70 65 60 55 50Leadership and social influence 0 10 20 30 40 50Motivation and self-awarenessCreative thinking Resilience, flexibility and agility Dependability and attention to detail Empathy and active listening Analytical thinkingCuriosity and lifelong learningSpeaking, writing and languagesSystems thinkingTeaching, mentoring and coaching Notes: Quadrants are defined by the median values. Source: Workhuman; World Economic Forum, Global Skills Taxonomy. New Economy Skills: Unlocking the Human Advantage 20