When seeking new employees, businesses look for candidates who possess two types of skills – soft or transferrable skills and hard or key skills. Hard skills are attributes that are needed for a specific occupation. Graphic designers need to understand the fundamentals of design and colour theory, photographers need to understand the various camera settings, framing and lighting needed for the pictures they take. Soft skills, or transferrable skills, are a set of basic skills that can be transferred across occupations and industries. The term ‘soft skills’ relates to a person’s EI (emotional intelligence), the culmination of personal and social skills that characterise relationships with other people. Some examples include, but aren’t limited to, commitment, enthusiasm, adaptability, personal presentation and reliability. While key skills are learnt through an educational program, soft skills cannot be taught by someone else, rather they are learnt through educational, work and life experiences.
For businesses, soft skills are important as they excel a person’s ability to produce effective work practices and high quality results. They allow for better communication and teamwork, not only between team members, but between an employee and their boss also. Having soft skills also impacts how the individual will be perceived by co-workers and supervisors. While key skills allow the employee to do the work, soft skills relate to how the employee gets the work done; for instance, engaging their team members and/or welcoming constructive feedback. The overall result is more effective outcomes.
Further, soft skills, when used appropriately, can aid in building the professional brand of the individual and, therefore, the business. By having an individual representing the business who is well-presented, self-aware, considerate and client-focussed, the business is more likely to leave a lasting positive impression on business associates and customers. This is especially so where the business is communicating with individuals from different cultures.
References
Agency, S.F. (2012) What are the ’soft skills’ employers want? Available at: https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/aboutus/newsarticles/Pages/Spotlight-SoftSkills.aspx (Accessed: 10 May 2016).
Genere, P., Gill, R., Lawson, C. and Lewis, M. (2015) Communication Skills For Business Professionals. Ch 1. Cambridge University: Cambridge University Press. (Accessed: 10 May 2016)
Melnick, L. (2016) What are ‘Soft Skills’ and why are they important? Available at: https://gviservicelearning.com/blog/important-soft-skills-students/ (Accessed: 15 May 2016).
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