What are soft skills?
Soft skills, also known as interpersonal or people skills, are the personal attributes and abilities that help individuals interact effectively with others. These skills are not specific to any role or industry and can be applied in any situation. Examples include empathy, emotional intelligence, self-awareness, communication, leadership skills and many others.
Why are soft skills valuable?
One of the main reasons why soft skills are so useful is their impact on effective communication. People with good communication skills are more likely to express their thoughts and ideas clearly, fostering better understanding and collaboration. Soft skills also contribute to developing strong interpersonal relationships, leading to improved teamwork and productivity.
Soft skills can play a role in problem-solving and decision-making. In fact, people with well-developed soft skills may be better at critical thinking, creative solutions and finding common ground in conflicts. Effective time management is also a soft skill – linked to organisation and adaptability – enabling professionals to meet deadlines and achieve their goals.
Additionally, soft skills like emotional intelligence, help individuals to understand and regulate their emotions, and empathise with others. This enhances self-awareness and the ability to provide constructive feedback, creating a positive work environment and fostering employee retention.
According to Indeed’s guide on building an inclusive culture of talent management, focusing on soft skills can bring significant benefits to a business’s employer branding. This is because investing in training soft skills can nurture a culture of emotional intelligence. People-first outlooks like this can put larger organisations onto ‘best companies to work for’ lists.
Soft skills as part of a skills-first hiring strategy
Hiring for soft skills can be incorporated into general skills based – or ‘skills first’ – hiring practices. There is a good argument for using skills-based hiring rather than qualifications-based hiring in fast-paced industries or businesses that are developing more environmentally sustainable practices. The skills that people learn during their university degree course might be redundant by the time they enter the jobs market, which means that regularly upskilling and learning may be required by many candidates.
While this primarily applies to hard skills, such as learning particular software packages, certain transferable soft skills are equally valuable, such as
- Adaptability
- Resilience
- Motivation and hard-work
- Grasping new skills quickly
- Creatively troubleshooting problems when they arise
In the next section, we explore some highly valuable soft skills and how they can benefit the professional development of employees while driving business growth.
Five essential soft skills
Developing soft skills is not only important for personal growth but also for professional success. This is especially true for both managers and employees. Soft skills provide a foundation on which to build relationships, strengthen communication and create value within an organisation. They can also help employees and managers understand each other better and work together more effectively.
Here are five essential soft skills that are important for all managers and employees:
1. Empathy
Empathy may be one of the most important soft skills to develop both in personal and professional spheres. This skill helps people to read the emotional states of others and adapt accordingly. It also helps to build trust and connect more effectively with clients, customers and stakeholders.
Empathy is a critical foundation of an inclusive work culture. When managers demonstrate empathy, companies also often have better retention rates and higher employee morale.
As we found in our article on how empathetic leaders are essential in times of crisis, employees are often leaving due to bad management culture. Consider empathy as a universal leadership skill and aim to use empathetic language with employees.
2. Emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence (also known as ‘emotional quotient’ or ‘EQ’) is the ability to gauge and manage your own emotions and build professional relationships. EQ influences how well employees interact with one another and how they handle stress and conflict. A high EQ may correlate to high job performance and increased job satisfaction.
3. Emotional regulation
A skill set connected to emotional intelligence is emotional control: the ability to regulate your emotions and how they are (or aren’t) displayed. Those with emotional regulation can manage their stress and stay productive under pressure, and many managers value this skill at every level of the organisation. Being easily angered, frustrated or discouraged when a task goes south can hinder team collaboration or productivity.
4. Communication skills
Good communication involves listening and observing as well as talking. When working with your team, you should not only be articulate, but you must also be able to ‘see’ beyond the spoken word and notice questionable behaviours and patterns. Employees with expert communication abilities can mitigate a problem before it becomes a crisis, fostering collaborative solutions when needed.
5. Self-awareness
Self-awareness is the core of all soft skills: It enables individuals to recognise their strengths and areas for improvement, making it easier to develop other skills that may be lacking. Those with strong self-awareness often pay attention to how they present themselves in different situations, are interested in open feedback and know their shortcomings. They are committed to personal growth and are conscious of their progress, knowing when they are succeeding and when they need to make adjustments.
How to help employees with soft skill development
Employees often have diverse skills profiles. For example, some might be good troubleshooters but struggle with communication. Identifying individual skills profiles can help employers pinpoint areas where employees could benefit from developing particular soft skills.
Organisations can support this development through various methods and strategies. One effective approach is through training programmes and workshops specifically designed to enhance these skills.
Provide soft skills training and education options
Equal access to development opportunities is important for a competitive workforce and attracting talent. All employees should have the same access to resources regardless of background or level to create an inclusive environment that encourages growth and improves soft skills for everyone.
Examples may include public speaking exercises or confidence building workshops. It could be that the most eloquent public speakers are actually more introverted but need confidence-building training in order to feel more secure when presenting talks.
To improve analysis or creativity, it may be beneficial to offer workshops that tap into these soft skills. Employers can also create knowledge-sharing groups or bases, perhaps using project management or collaborative apps to enable sharing of mind maps, visual mood boards or voice notes.
Promote collaboration and teamwork
Soft skill development has benefits for both individual employees and team collaboration. Strong interpersonal skills help team members to communicate effectively, resolve conflicts and work towards common goals, increasing productivity and overall team success.
Employee resource groups (ERGs) can also help employees share ideas formed around common interests, hobbies and identities. As ERGs lack the top-down hierarchies some businesses have, they can empower employees to discuss shared experiences either at work and in their personal life.
Investing in leadership development at every level is an essential aspect of soft skill development. As we found in our guide to distributed leadership, employees who are given more autonomy and resources at work are less likely to feel anxious and are more likely to feel empowered.
Strong leaders possess effective communication and problem-solving skills, which help them guide and manage teams. By nurturing leadership skills in employees, organisations create a pipeline of capable leaders who can contribute to growth and success.
Provide opportunities for self-reflection skill application
Creating opportunities for employees to reflect and apply their skills is a powerful way to support their growth and development. Reflection enables employees to evaluate their experiences and skills, helping them identify areas for improvement. By encouraging self-reflection, employers can help employees feel more confident using their soft skills, equipping them better to face future challenges.
Fostering the development of soft skills in employees is essential for creating a competitive workforce and ensuring organisational success. By implementing strategies such as training programmes, constructive feedback and mentorship and investing in leadership development, organisations can help their employees develop their soft skills.
This approach not only enhances individual performance but also strengthens team collaboration and contributes to the organisation’s overall success. Soft skills are beneficial for both personal and professional growth, benefiting employees and the organisation as a whole.
