4 Signs Your Employees Are Lacking Conceptual Skills

The ability to see the big picture, think strategically, and develop creative solutions is highly sought after in today’s complex business environment. Unfortunately, not everyone has these conceptual skills. While this can be frustrating for you as their leader at the moment, however, once you know an employee lacks conceptual skills, you can then begin to make an intentional effort to support their development in this area.

In the following article, we’ll review what conceptual skills are, as well as provide you with several telltale signs that indicate an employee is lacking conceptual skills so that you can decide whether or not to include it in their development plan going forward.

The Definition of Conceptual Skills

Conceptual skills allow a person to identify, understand, and find solutions for abstract or complex problems. They are transferable soft skills that will influence one’s ability to succeed regardless of industry, position, or level of seniority. Not to mention, conceptual skills will only become more important as the nature of work and business evolve. In fact, five of the Top 10 Skills of 2025 published by the World Economic Forum can be categorized as conceptual skills, including:

• Analytical thinking and innovation
• Complex problem solving
• Critical thinking and analysis
• Creativity, originality, and initiative
• Reasoning, problem-solving, and ideation

Additional examples of conceptual skills include creative thinking, decision-making, and strategic planning.

4 Signs Your Employees Are Lacking Conceptual Skills

While conceptual skills are considered a key skill leaders need, that does not mean they are not equally important for employees. In fact, if your employees show the following telltale signs of a lack of conceptual skills, it will impede their performance and growth to some degree, which can, in turn, affect you and your entire team. Therefore, it’s important to keep an eye out for these signs and take action accordingly:

1. They Can’t See the Forest Through the Trees

Conceptual skills are what allow a person to see the bigger picture and then act strategically. But when employees don’t have adequate conceptual skills, they will often become too involved or focused on the details and tactics. In other words, they won’t be able to see the forest through the trees. This will make it difficult for them to prioritize their tasks, manage their time, and make sound decisions that align with the team’s vision and goals.

2. They Don’t Dig Beyond the Surface of a Problem

When a problem arises, employees who lack conceptual skills won’t scratch far beyond the surface. They won’t ask enough questions, especially the difficult ones, to understand the problem fully. They may even struggle to look inwards and recognize how their own actions or behaviors contributed to the problem. All of this will make it near impossible for the employee to solve any deep-rooted problems completely, which, as you can imagine, can have significant repercussions.

3. They Shut Down When Faced With Complex Problems

One day your employees will inevitably be faced with an abstract or complex problem that needs to be solved. When that day comes, you want your employees to rise to the challenge and find a creative solution. However, if they lack conceptual skills, they won’t have the abilities, tools, or confidence that they need to do any of that, which may cause them to shut down, complain, argue, or brush the problem off as less significant than it is.

4. They Follow Processes to a Fault

To mitigate risk and reduce the chances of costly mistakes, it is crucial to have defined processes and procedures in place for employees to follow. However, if your employee lacks conceptual skills, they may blindly follow those processes, even if the process itself is the thing that is broken or causing problems. What you want instead is for your employees to abide by established processes while constantly questioning, critiquing, evaluating, and then updating those processes accordingly.

Next Steps

Even if your employees are demonstrating the telltale signs listed above, conceptual skills are learnable skills. With time, practice, and experience, employees can learn the conceptual skills they need to succeed not only in their current role but in any role they hold in the future. 

However, your support will be critical to get them to that point. Not only must you take an active role in the creation and execution of their development plan, but you must be willing to advocate for their professional development and training needs, hold them accountable, and provide them with in-the-moment coaching and feedback.