In order to do your job effectively, you need hard skills: the technical know-how and subject-specific knowledge to fulfil your responsibilities. But in a forever-changed world of work, lesser-touted ‘soft skills’ may be just as important – if not even more crucial.
These skills are more nuanced, even low-profile: think personal characteristics and behaviours that make a strong leader or a good team member. Especially amid the normalisation of remote work, where collaboration and the ways to innovate have changed, companies are beginning to catch on to the importance of these intangibles when building out diverse, successful teams.
As a result, employers are increasingly considering a candidate’s soft skills as closely as their experience and explicit technical specialties, say experts.
For some workers, some soft skills are innate – personality traits that make someone a naturally good communicator or analytical thinker. But for others, developing and honing soft skills can be more challenging. Yet it is possible for every worker to develop and hone these characteristics as well as learn how to show them off. And that, say experts, is something we should all be doing.
There is no definitive list of soft skills, but the term essentially refers to abilities beyond the technical. Confidence with certain software, for instance, is a hard skill; on the other hand, knowing how to analyse different software packages to figure out what a company should be using requires critical thinking: a soft skill.
Another major soft-skill area is communication. Effectively communicating with colleagues, clients and management requires dexterity and emotional intelligence. Empathy, teamwork and compassion are also skills that fall under that same umbrella.
The term ‘soft skills’ itself is just jargon, says Eric Frazer, author of The Psychology of Top Talent, and assistant professor of psychology at Yale University School of Medicine. “From the standpoint of behavioural science, it really refers to a series of mindsets and behaviours. Some examples of soft-skill mindsets might be someone who’s a continuous learner, or someone who’s highly resilient. Many behaviours – critical thinking, active listening, imaginative problem solving to name a few – are also soft skills.”
In essence, he continues, the term is just another phrase for ‘people skills’. “It’s about a person's sense of self, and how they relate with other people.”
Many soft skills are highly practical, like efficiency, prioritisation, organisation and time management – all traits that are becoming increasingly critical for remote and hybrid workers. “People who are high performers have the discipline to structure their day, and to be highly effective within a set time frame,” says Frazer.
And soft skills aren’t merely useful at work – they’re generally invaluable. The same skills that enable workers to operate successfully within company hierarchy and rise to the top also breed successful interpersonal relationships, for instance.
As many of the highly technical parts of work are becoming increasingly automated, or replaced by technological tools, companies are instead looking for workers who can problem-solve, juggle larger responsibilities and work well with others. The ongoing labour shortage also has organisations focused on longevity: employees who have the interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence to grow into leadership positions offer a lot more value.
Additionally, soft skills have become even more important in the post-pandemic, largely remote work landscape. For instance: communication can be much more nuanced and complex when workers don’t see colleagues face to face. Adaptability, too, is a soft skill – and the past two years have called for a lot of it.
Global job site Monster’s The Future of Work 2021: Global Hiring Outlook revealed soft skills such as collaboration, dependability and flexibility are among the skills employers most prize in workers. Yet, executives report struggling with finding candidates who have well-developed soft skillsets – and have for years.
technical prowess - techniczne umiejętności
securing a job - otrzymanie pracy
just as crucial - równie ważne
hard skills - twarde umiejętności
know-how - wiedza, ekspertyza
lesser-touted ‘soft skills’ - rzadziej wspominane "miękkie umiejętności"
more crucial - bardziej znaczące
more nuanced - bardziej zniuansowane
personal characteristics and behaviours - cechy charakteru i zachowania
intangibles - nieuchwytne wartości
explicit technical specialties - konkretne umiejętności techniczne
innate - wrodzone
developing and honing - nabycie i doskonalenie
learn how to show them off - nauczyć się, jak je uzewnętrzniać
abilities beyond the technical - zdolności inne niż techniczne
dexterity and emotional intelligence - sprawny umysł i inteligencja emocjonalna
fall under that same umbrella - mieszczą się w tym samym przedziale
from the standpoint of behavioural science - z punktu widzenia nauk behawioralnych
mindset - mentalne nastawienie
people skills - zdolność do budowania relacji z ludźmi
sense of self - samoświadomość
increasingly critical - coraz bardziej ważne
remote and hybrid workers - pracownicy zdalni i hybrydowi
structure their day - zaplanować soobie dzień
breed successful interpersonal relationships - przyczyniają się do budowania trwałych interpersonalnych relacji
notable shift - znacząca zmiana
becoming increasingly automated - stają się coraz częściej zautomatyzowane
juggle larger responsibilities - radzić sobie z większym zakresem obowiązków
longevity - myślenie długoterminowe
leadership positions - stanowiska menedżerskie
adaptability - zdolność do adaptacji
global job site - globalna witryna internetowa z ofertami pracy
executives report struggling with finding candidates - menadżerowie wyższego szczebla mają trudności ze znalezieniem kandydatów