The ability to be a lifelong learner is an important trait that distinguishes successful professionals from mediocre. Many corporate professionals realise this the wrong way. Raghu, 42, has been at the centre of corporate life for almost two decades making his way up the corporate ladder. As a marketing manager, he has worked diligently to absorb all the tricks of the trade and perfected his art”.

However, with new avenues opening up in recent years such as digital and social media marketing, he suddenly finds himself increasingly dependent on some of his young subordinates who have a greater grasp over this realm. Interestingly, he is not a one-off case of a corporate professional suddenly developing such disconnect with his own field.

As the corporate world in India ages, a number of professionals today, especially those who began their careers in the 1990s when the private sector took off are realising that they did not do enough to acquire new skills over their career spans.

In the rapidly changing corporate landscape, staying static in your skills and behavioural abilities can make you a dinosaur in your own world, sooner than you would imagine. Staying relevant to your time is a key part of your professional journey.

You might be doing well in your field but the key is to never become complacent with your abilities. The skill set that is serving you well today might gradually become obsolete.

Successful professionals are aware of these developments and pounce at every opportunity to re-skill themselves. This includes undertaking short-term or part-time courses or a short sabbatical from work to go back to college. Some mid-level corporate professionals even take a break to pursue executive management courses which help them re-equip themselves for higher roles.

At some point you must step back, take stock of yourself and decide what new skills have been added which you do not know.

While technology comes naturally to some people, there are others who are comfortable being technologically challenged. Whatever category you belong to, it is important to be aware of changes that are transforming your professional world.

For instance, a marketing professional can ignore the importance of social media at his own peril. When social media becomes an important part of the game, all your strategies have to be reconfigured to include this all-important game-changer. It is easy to become complacent when you have spent years doing the same work. This comfort zone has to be challenged all the time. Make sure you are industry aware and on top of new developments that are taking root in your area. Most importantly, don't let yourself slide into the comfort zone even if you are not switching jobs. Challenge yourself by undertaking assignments that you have never done. Taking up new responsibilities allows people a constant learning experience. One should keep looking for cross cultural assignments to grab and cultivate newer ideas and working strategies.

Years of experience give us deep insight into your fields. The flip side is that they tend to make us resistant to modern strategies and newer ways of thinking.

You must not let your years be undone by this flaw of rigidity. The corporate world today is adopting greater flexibility in its dealing with both clients and employees. At the same time, newer ways of doing things are also being embraced. Be open to initiatives like flexi-timings and allowing work from home options as long as the work is delivered. Make employee convenience an important determinant of your decisions.

The past 20 years have brought radical changes to the way the corporate world works. Apart from technology, another driver of this change has been the new generation of millennials. They are more assertive and perceived to be more impetuous. No wonder, it takes more effort to retain and keep them satisfied in their jobs.

This generation has also contributed to bringing about a shift in the corporate culture transforming it to become more casual and employee-friendly. Every manager must learn to adopt these changes to suit the needs of the time and contemporise the style of leadership.

Even if you have spent years at an organisation, you must never start believing that your job is secure for a lifetime. You never know what might go wrong, forcing you to job search once again. As many as 7,800 employees were laid off by Microsoft after it overtook operations at the former mobile giant. With years of world dominance, Nokia employees would hardly have anticipated this sudden downturn of fortune. With new information, skills and technological manoeuvres being added to every field at a rapid pace today, the importance of life-long learning has only increased.

A survey by Adecco Staffing, a part of the world's largest recruitment and workforce solutions provider, found that hiring managers are three times more likely to recruit a mature professional rather than a millennial. This puts statistics on the side of experienced professionals. However, you need to ensure that you have enough contacts to provide references when you hit the job search button. You must never stop networking, keep reaching out to people in the industry, maintain social circle intact and make new professional friends. They might come handy when the going gets tough.

(THE WRITER IS VICE-PRESIDENT, HUMAN RESOURCE, SUN LIFE FINANCIAL ASIA SERVICE CENTRE)