Start with your baseline audit, then pick your first Connect activity: attend a branch meeting, start a conversation, grow your network.
Pack 01 · Yours on sign-upA practical skills challenge to complement technical knowledge.
The Future Skills Challenge helps you develop the five skills that automation can't replace.
Every year the software does more of the processing. What it can't do is sit across the table from a worried client, chair the committee, or spot the question nobody asked.
Employers and clients now buy advice, communication and trust. The technical skills can be proved with certificates, but the human skills are the difference.
Whether you're looking to improve existing soft skills or develop new ones, this challenge will help you grow and develop.
Every challenge builds a blend of the same five skills, and each monthly pack shows you which ones you are working on that month. Your self-assessment scores you against the same five, so your baseline and your challenges always line up.
Explaining complex financial matters so anyone can act on them.
Taking the lead when something needs organising.
Changing how things are done, including AI and automation.
Getting to grips with new tools and platforms quickly.
Taking your expertise beyond your clients and employer.
Seven challenges, one a month. Join whenever suits you: your first challenge starts the day you sign up, and a new one unlocks each month.
This short quiz helps you understand where your soft skills are currently, and gives you a base point to measure against at the end of the challenge.
Take the assessmentFree to access: no cost and no minimum activity. Your challenge starts the day you join.
Sign upA monthly pack lands with ideas to help you develop different skills, from Connect through to Thrive.
One pack a month, pick anythingStart with your baseline audit, then pick your first Connect activity: attend a branch meeting, start a conversation, grow your network.
Pack 01 · Yours on sign-upChoose something you have been meaning to learn and give it a month of small, real steps.
Pack 02 · Unlocks in month twoPass it on. Share what you know: a tip, a lesson learned, a resource that helped you.
Pack 03 · Unlocks in month threeHelp someone progress: mentor a student, review a CV, share your career story, open your practice for a day in the life.
Pack 04 · Unlocks in month fourPut your skills to work where you live: volunteer, become a treasurer, help people understand their money.
Pack 05 · Unlocks in month fiveStep up and improve how things are done: lead a project, introduce automation, create something new.
Pack 06 · Unlocks in month sixThe finale. Retake your assessment, turn the shift in your scores into your Future Skills Story, and celebrate how far you have come.
Pack 07 · The finaleWork through the audit below to score yourself across the five capabilities. Save or print your report, keep your numbers safe, and score yourself again at the end of the challenge. The shift is yours to brag about.
Done your audit? Sign up below and your first challenge pack is on its way.
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