Soft Skills are Really the Hard Ones

In the world of business, the most commonly used words are leadership and management. They’re often interchangeably used. But have you ever wondered what these words really mean?

Leadership is something that a business is managed through, from empowering its people in terms of how they work, how to use equipment, perform work tasks or complete complex procedures to ensuring business continuity in the face of any hurdles. While organizations do look for these qualities in their leadership and employees, which we call hard skills, they more often have concerns about the gaps in employees’ so-called “soft skills” that are actually “power skills” in the world of business.

Some of the essential soft skills that today’s employers look for in their employees are:

• Teamwork and collaboration
• Oral and written communication
• Analytical reasoning and critical thinking
• Complex problem-solving
• Agility and adaptability
• Ethical decision-making

In every organization, performance gaps do exist. But it is leadership that has to identify it and partner with the management training and development teams to explore ways to fill them. However, all skills gaps tend to differ from one another when it comes to addressing them. For instance, developing new “hard skills” like a new procedure or task is easier than developing a new “soft skill” like “active listening.”

Here are Three key Challenges to Developing Soft Skills and Ways to Overcome them.

1: Soft skills are Hard to Measure

Evaluating a soft skill like time management is important, but subtle and contextual. So, it is important to focus on scenario-based factors.

2: Upgrading Soft Skills is a Continued Process

Follow-up and follow-through are key to making a lasting change in behavior. For soft skills, such as interpersonal skills, real development will only occur after repeated practice. Employers need to plan opportunities to reinforce and extend the learning over the course of a time period.

3: Soft Skills are not about You; They’re about Me

Soft skills such as communication skills are deeply rooted in people’s personalities and are related to their habits and life experience. If you do not understand yourself, you cannot expect it coming from within you. That’s why it is often said that to learn or upskill one’s communication skill is to take part in a team. Working with leaders or other experts who can model the skills can help you see what “good” looks like in action.

How to Improve Your Soft Skills?

Valuing strong soft skills over hard skills is in wide practice. It is because they are often personality characteristics developed over a lifetime and need constant practice. That being said, anyone can develop their soft skills with experience and practice. For instance, if you are looking for someone who is expert in conflict resolution, you’d be right if you pick someone who is naturally skilled at effective communication, because it may help to practice working through conflicts with others.

• Observe and mimic the positive soft skills you see in others
• Set milestone goals to improve soft skills
• Find resources to help you learn

To Conclude:

Soft skills are today’s hard skills. It means by being just enough to be highly trained in technical skills would unlikely help if you didn’t develop the softer, interpersonal and relationship-building skills in terms of effective communication and collaboration.

Do you think you should upskill and reskill your soft skills? Or brush up on your interpersonal skills?

Get started with Promise Training & Consultancy. They can help you to develop your soft skills according to your requirements.