The interview is often one of the most dreaded parts of the recruitment process. Some people hope that their resume is enough to carry them through; others relish the chance to step up and discuss themselves with a positive attitude and confidence in their abilities.
Experience is no longer enough. Candidates must be able to demonstrate the skills they have picked up; if not from previous roles, then from other opportunities in their lives. Most people might expect to discuss hard skills: the expertise they have gained in relation to specific processes or tools that make them qualified for the role.
However, it is becoming increasingly common for employers to request a demonstration of soft skills to help seal the deal. A 2023 study from Business Name Generator reinforces this shift, finding that:
- 84% of employees and managers believe new employees must possess soft skills and demonstrate this in the hiring process.
- 71% of employees believe soft skills will be more or just as important in the future.
- 48% of companies are looking to expand on existing skill sets.
Let’s take a deeper look at what these valuable skills are and how you can leverage them for success in your career. You might already be on the path to doing so; that is the real beauty of them.
What are soft skills?
Fun fact: The term “soft skills” was actually coined by the U.S. Army in the 1960s. Even if you aren’t sure exactly what soft skills are, there is a high chance that you make use of them every day without realizing it.
Imagine you have two candidates for promotion in front of you who have exactly the same set of skills and experiences. How do you choose who gets the role? You look at other factors like how well they communicate, how they work with others, and how they manage their time. These are all the mysterious and valuable soft skills we all need to develop to get ahead.
Soft skills focus not on technical abilities but on social, leadership, and problem-solving abilities that help us navigate our day-to-day. Though soft skills tend to be rooted in our personal attributes and traits, they can be trained and improved just like any other skill.
But what can we consider to be soft skills?
The 5 essential soft skills
As with any skill set, some are considered more essential than others. The core skills everyone needs in their bag are:
1. Communication
Communication skills benefit everyone. Being able to express ideas clearly helps us collaborate more effectively. Though much of this happens through emails, meetings, and formal exchanges, even casual conversations can strengthen team bonds and improve understanding.
2. Critical thinking
Critical thinking and problem-solving skills are often underrated, but their value can never be denied. They help us assess situations and make better decisions. Whether we face a complex dilemma or a simple choice, critical thinking can help to ensure that we follow the right path.
3. Leadership
Leadership is a valuable skill. While a position may be given to someone based on a mix of their hard and soft skills, being able to demonstrate leadership qualities is useful even for those who have no aspirations of management. Even when working on smaller projects, leadership skills can help ensure tasks progress fairly and efficiently.
4. Teamwork
Everyone needs to know how to pull their weight in their teams. You don’t have to be best friends with your colleagues, but you need to know how to get on with them enough to complete tasks and successfully finish projects. Knowing what has to be done to work well together and bring out the best in each other are essential interpersonal skills that should not be ignored.
5. Professionalism
Professionalism and integrity are always valued. Knowing how to act and the right manners to display in certain scenarios helps to build your professional reputation. Ideally, you will begin to cultivate credibility for yourself as a worker. Others will know that you are a knowledgeable and professional colleague, and they will want to come to you for help or solutions.
Other good soft skills to have
Though the above five can be considered essential, they are not the only soft skills that could boost your career development. You may also want to consider developing the following:
1. Organization
Disorganization can be exhausting for both the individual and their colleagues. Getting into the habit of simple organization, whether this is keeping a tidy desk or ensuring every file on their computer has its place, may seem fussy. However, it will build good practices and will make finding and referring to information easy.
2. Time management
Like organization, time management is one of those skills that many might not want to target, only for it to prove invaluable further down the line. Many jobs nowadays are fast-paced and require the juggling of multiple tasks scattered across numerous group projects. Good time management allows us all to prioritize tasks better, meet deadlines, and productively manage our schedules.
3. Creativity
Creative thinking is a valuable asset that shines when conventional solutions fall short. You might all have been sitting around trying to solve problems and reach the perfect solution, then someone speaks up with exactly the right solution. Though many attribute creativity to an inherent talent, it is a soft skill that can be developed.
4. Empathy
Anyone can have a hard day. Empathy makes navigating interpersonal relationships in the office much easier. When it comes to resolving conflicts, building strong relationships, and managing workplace issues, empathy is imperative.
5. Adaptability
The ability to pivot and change is a skill that proves its worth during difficult situations. Sometimes, we have no choice but to drop what we are doing and switch to something else. It could be a new way of working or maybe even a new task altogether. No matter what, adaptability gives us the skills to make those quick switches and continue working with minimal interruptions.
Why do we need soft skills?
Technical skills are the bread and butter of our roles. However, you cannot rely purely on your technical knowledge to advance your career. At some point, you are going to work with other people. Even freelancers don’t operate entirely in a bubble all on their own.
We need both soft and hard skills for career readiness and longevity. Soft skills give us the means to build positive relationships and connections that can take us far. You might have a brilliant understanding of your technical niche, but without soft skills, you will never be able to convey your knowledge and collaborate effectively.
How do we develop soft skills?
Considering the importance of having these skills, you may be thinking, can soft skills be taught? Actually, yes! In 2017, MIT Sloan conducted a randomized controlled trial around a 12-month soft skills training program across 5 garment factories in Bangalore. The program focused on communication, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, among others.
Within 8 months of program completion, the company that owned the factories saw approximately a 250% return on investment. Not only was there a huge boost to productivity, attendance and retention, but the employees were also better at performing complex skills and working as a team.
Soft skills can be taught in-house just like any other area of expertise. While you may not want to sit down and work on a certification in active listening, as you might with a technical skill, there are other ways you can pick up knowledge and understanding.
One of our favorite methods, you may be unsurprised to hear, is mentoring. With the right mentor-mentee partnership, both parties have the opportunity to take in the experiences of the other and learn from them in a way that benefits them. If you want a chance to both learn new skills and see how they are used in the everyday business world, you need to get involved with mentoring.
Using mentoring to develop soft skills
Mentoring is one of the most powerful learning and development opportunities a company can offer. By using mentoring as a vehicle to deliver training in areas such as soft skills, mentees have someone to support their journey and hold them accountable during their development. Some examples of how soft skills can be improved through mentorship include:
1. Communication Skills
Mentoring relationships allow people to share their feelings about different topics at hand or other critical aspects of the mentoring relationship, creating a safe place to explore and express emotions. These relationships also encourage discussion through open-ended questions that require more descriptive answers than just yes or no, which in turn makes people dive deeper into their own thoughts, feelings, and opinions.
2. Leadership Skills
Mentoring relationships are often used to nurture high-potential employees and prepare them for leadership roles long before they ever consider applying for a promotion. A good mentoring partnership can offer a mentee the chance to shadow higher-ups and get a glimpse into what it will take for them to become a good leader. By the time they step into the role themselves, they should have a good understanding of their strengths and weaknesses and how they can use them to support their own teams.
3. Empathy
Good mentoring relationships help people build empathy, often by forging a bond and connection between partners that helps them learn how to put themselves in one another’s situation and imagine how they would feel and react. As people practice and build this skill within the safety of a mentoring relationship, they can then begin to apply it in other work situations. In fact, empathy can be used to build better communication and listening skills.
Build relationships and learn new skills with mentoring
The road to professional success looks different for everyone. Technical skills will be a great foundation for your career, but soft skills are vital if you are to succeed, not just on your own terms but in the eyes of others. If professional development is on the cards for you, look into the benefits of mentoring and reach out to someone who you believe can offer you the support and insights you crave.
Want to start a formal mentoring program in your organization? MentorcliQ’s mentoring software helps organizations connect the right people together, without any of the admin stress.
Get in touch and book a demo today to find out how our program can help your employees grow their soft skills.
