A T-shaped employee is someone who has specialized knowledge and skills in a particular area as well as the desire and ability to make connections across different disciplines. 

The notion of a T-shaped employee is a quickly emerging trend in the world of employment. Now more than ever, transferable skills are invaluable to many organizations and those with a combination of expertise and broad ability to learn and develop are at an advantage.

But the T-shaped individual is just one type. The other types most commonly referred to are X- and I-shaped people.

The X-shaped individual refers to the type of person who is good at working in multiple areas. The term is used to directly refer to those employees who are excellent manager material. The multiple arms of the X represent a person with good interpersonal skills and can work with different people across different industries or areas of a company. They are then able to bring such different groups together so that they can collaborate effectively.

The I-shaped individual is similar to a T-shaped person; however, they are lacking in one specific area. The I-shaped individual possesses a deep understanding of and skills in a given arena. However, they have not tried or have not been successful at applying said knowledge or skills to other areas. Depth of experience is valuable, but a well-rounded and highly sought-after employee can use his or her skills in multiple areas.

The most desirable type of employee is often a T.

The vertical bar on the T-shaped person is representative of an individual’s unique abilities and skills and how deep their knowledge is related to those. The horizontal bar represents the person’s ability to use said skills and abilities to collaborate with others in different areas of expertise.

With their core skills and ability to learn things quickly, T-shaped employees excel in their main responsibilities but they can also perform other tasks effectively. In such a way, they contribute to the growth of the organization as a whole.

Specifically, they offer the following advantages:

Better communication and collaboration skills

T-shaped individuals are able to deal with other people and understand their needs as a whole, because of their ability to discuss matters across the entire company. They understand the ways other people work and the reasons for doing things in a certain way.

Flexibility

While T-shaped employees can cite a main expertise, or a primary area of work, they can still offer their skills to other priority areas that may require their assistance. They are flexible enough to take on new tasks and help other members on their team to make sure that the overall goals and objectives are met.

They see the whole picture.

Those who chiefly possess a very specific skill set (I-shaped employees) are of great value. However, they can often fall into a habit of tunnel vision – drilling down on their own subject area and neglecting other areas of importance. T-shaped employees, on the other hand, are able to apply their specialized knowledge and desire to learn to other areas of the business and projects they may be working on.

With the right resources and attitude, anyone can become a T-shaped individual. If you can see that an employee already has an area of expert skill alone, perhaps consider looking into helping them broaden their knowledge across other avenues. If they have a wider breadth of knowledge in a number of skills, you could work with them to choose one and commit to making it an area they excel in.