In a lot of ways, the phrase “soft skills” can be somewhat misleading. The word soft almost seems to imply that these workplace skills are somehow of lesser importance than “hard” skills, or perhaps even that soft skills are somehow easier to come by than technical skills.
But mounting evidence suggests that this impression could not be further from the truth. Employers are placing a greater emphasis than ever on courting and retaining employees who can demonstrate soft skills—those sometimes less tangible but essential workplace attributes that make you a true value to your organization.
Indeed, according to a recent article from Forbes, 84% of employees and employers surveyed identified soft skills as vital both for getting hired and for succeeding in new roles. Moreover, say those surveyed, these soft skills—such as communication, critical thinking, problem solving, and teamwork—have become increasingly vital as we hand a rapidly growing number of technical tasks over to AI and automation.
So what exactly does that mean for the future of hiring, and what does it mean for your organization? We’ll take a closer look at the evolving role of soft skills in the modern workplace and offer a few tips for how your organization can navigate the shifting terrain.
An Overview of Soft Skills
Let’s start with the obvious. What are soft skills, exactly? Soft skills are the personal attributes that make it possible for you to interact, communicate, and cooperate effectively with others, and to function as part of a team or organization. Naturally, a lot of different traits can fall under this definition.
However, a few of the most frequently-cited by employers and recruiters include:
- Emotional Intelligence
- Interpersonal Communication
- Empathy
- Self Awareness
- Teamwork
- Leadership
- Problem Solving
- Flexibility
- Adaptability
You get the idea. These are skills that allow you to do your job well and get along with others while doing it. More importantly, these are skills that are not specific to any one role or industry.
While every field demands its own unique set qualities, capabilities, and technical skills, the traits listed above can contribute to your personal success regardless of your chosen field. This quality of “transferability” may help to explain why soft skills are in growing demand today.
The Growing Demand for Soft Skills
The growing demand for soft skills is actually informed by good hard data. According to a 2023 journal study from the National Library of Medicine, there is increasing recognition in the labor market of the irreplaceable role soft skills will play even at a time when digital skills are essential.
In fact, the study explains “within technologically driven domains, there is a discernible demand for soft skills, such as critical and analytical thinking, problem-solving, communication skills, and creativity with flexibility. Furthermore, our results indicate that individuals must possess balanced proficiency in both soft and digital skills to thrive in a future characterised by technological advancements.”
As the study points out, soft skills are more than just traits that make humans stand out from other humans in the job market. They are also qualities that better enable us, as humans, to harness, enhance and benefit from our technology in the coming years. As we come to rely more and more on machines to do the technical work, there is an opportunity for humans to shoulder less of the toil and tedium that comes with this work. There is an opportunity, in its place, for us to think more deeply, communicate more fully, and collaborate more freely, provided we cultivate the distinctly human skills required to do so.
Technical Evolution and the Soft Skill Revolution
AI has so thoroughly infiltrated the world of business that it’s already become cliche to suggest it will change our way of working. The transformation is well underway. And it is having a deep impact on the way employers make hiring decisions.
It might seem only natural to assume that our move toward an increasingly tech-powered and automated economy would favor those with technical skills. And in one sense, this is true. Employers want hires who are tech-savvy, who know how to leverage emergent technology, and who aren’t intimidated by rapid advances.
So why, then, in a recent LinkedIn study, did 91% of talent professionals say that soft skills are the #1 trend shaping the future of recruiting and HR?
The answer falls somewhere between what machines can and can’t do. There is permeating fear that AI technology will displace our jobs. That fear is not unfounded. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects that commercial adoption of AI will impact 40% of all jobs around the world. The impact will be even more profound in “advanced economies”, where 60% of all workers will likely feel the effects.
But, notes the same report, some jobs will be replaced while others will be complemented. But where exactly will this line be drawn? Machines can do many of the technical jobs that humans do, but they can do so faster, more accurately, and without requiring health benefits.
This doesn’t mean human technical skills aren’t valuable. Machines require knowledgeable operators, oversight, and quality control. But these skills alone simply won’t be sufficient in the evolving workplace.
They must be supplemented by that which machines can’t contribute—emotional intelligence, empathy, creativity, problem solving, and interpersonal communication. Indeed, if robots were people, they would likely be fired for that which they don’t offer.
According to Forbes, 89% of recruiters say when an employee doesn’t work out, it’s due to a deficit of soft skills.
What does this tell us about the future of hiring?
For starters, it tells us that a college degree, a resume, and a 30-minute interview can only reveal so much about a candidate. Identifying those with the soft skills to create positive company culture presents a far greater challenge.
And this is where employers often struggle today. Evaluating hires for technical skills is a pretty straightforward undertaking. But it can be a lot more difficult to gain a true sense of how well this new recruit works with others, how effectively the prospective hire can manage in a crisis, and how transferable the employee’s skills are likely to be as they advance within your organization.
Indeed, while the vast majority of organizations today say they recognize the importance of hiring with soft skills in mind, far too many also say they struggle to gain a foothold on how to hire for these qualities.
According to LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends Report, 41% of businesses say they lack a clear framework for recruiting or vetting soft skills in prospective hires. This is particularly problematic at a time when hiring is as costly as it has ever been. There is a true and measurable financial value to building a framework for evaluating soft skills.
Creating a Portrait of Success
This speaks to one of the problems that SuccessPortraits has endeavored to solve. Our workplace personality assessments reach beyond the resumes and certifications to provide a measurable way of understanding and assessing less technical skills sets.
Using 19 distinct workplace traits like creativity, perseverance, core self-evaluation, assertiveness, team orientation, and social intelligence, we provide you with a quantitative framework for better understanding who your employees are before you bring them on board.