Role of soft skills in the office space

“Communication is key.”

The proverb stands true at every phase of one’s life. Especially, when they have to work with different people having different mindsets. Discussing the thought process and work approach becomes important. This is where soft skills come into play. But are soft skills only about communication? Certainly not. It is a much broader spectrum that brings all the necessary elements of developing culture and instigating growth.

A Deloitte study on Global Human Capital Trends reveals that executives consider soft skills important to inculcate employee retention, improving leadership, and building a meaningful culture. While hard skills like excelling in your core expertise is important for any job, soft skills are emerging as more critical aspects. Reason? Because anyone can learn hard skills over time, but soft skills are something that an individual inherits in their character and comes more naturally. A person with average core skills but superior soft skills might be preferred by most of the organizations, as it’s better for the entire team dynamics.

 

What are Soft Skills?

Soft skills are the interpersonal characteristics that any person possesses. It is the art of intertwining your personal attributes like communication, creativity, empathy, etc. into your workplace to create a harmonious environment for all. The key importance of building soft skills within a team is to inculcate a compassionate relationship between the employees and with the leader to understand each other better and progress towards the goal together.

But how do soft skills help in growth? Let’s see.

 

How soft skills help the team?

1. Effective communication
   A team works best when there’s open communication among the members. For an idea to work, it’s imperative to brainstorm all its aspects. Openly embracing the disadvantages of an idea and welcoming new suggestions from others is critical for personal growth for any employee. And a team that encourages such a culture leads by example.
   
   In fact, today students are trained for soft skills as the universities acknowledge its importance in the workplace. Stanford University has rolled out a personal development course called Interpersonal Dynamics for the Graduate School of Business. At the Yale School of Management, they’ve introduced “Global Virtual Teams” to foster relationships across different time zones and cultures. Not only that, but giants like Google also trains its people to become more empathetic and compassionate towards each other through a training program “Search Inside Yourself”.
   
    
2. Improved leadership
   Soft skills become more important in the leadership position, as managers have to handle different personalities while extracting the maximum output from the team. Having the ability to understand each individual and its capabilities and listening to their personal and professional needs becomes a leader’s responsibility then. The more compassionate a leader is for its team, the more satisfied the employees are and the better the team performs.
   
   According to a Harvard Business Review study, out of the 1,000 leaders surveyed, 91% believe that compassion is crucial for leadership, and 80% would like to improve their compassion quotient.
   
    
3. Creative thinking
   The monotonous working process is soon to be dead now. Organizations are looking for fresh perspectives to bring innovation to the work. This requires a workforce of creative and critical thinkers. A team that can discuss new ideas and concepts without holding any personal grudge. Thinking out of the box is the trend right now.
   
   Employees should be able to think on their feet and make quick decisions when it comes to decision-making and problem-solving. Today recruiters look for such employees more than someone who is accustomed to working in a set standard system. The fact that the World Economic Forum has ranked the creative and critical thinking skills as second and third positions on top employee skills just emphasizes more the need for soft skills.
   
    
4. New businesses opportunities
   Every business depends on networking for growth and expansion. And it’s a no-brainer that soft skills like communication and building a relationship with the other party works wonders for networking. Getting personally in touch with the potential prospect and knowing about them more is any day far more effective than sending a cold email about a new business opportunity for them. Soft skills are the traits that might land a company a much-needed partnership over competitors.
   
    
5. Soft skills are hard to automate
   Today the world is shifting to automation. From AI to ML, people are working more on hard skills to ease the workforce functionality and have an error-free smooth operational system. But soft skill is something that can never be automated. As the workplace gets more automated and employees earn more expertise in their jobs, soft skills will become the main factor to assess them. Hiring will predominantly be based on how well can they adapt to the environment and the team, how they accommodate working with different minds, and how open are they in listening to others and bonding at a personal level.
   
   Here’s an example of the change in demand in skills from the recruiters.

A couple of studies show the overall effect of soft skills on the team, leaders, and the organization. A 2016 McKinsey & Company study shows that 86% of leaders could implement the improvements they wanted their employees to make. And a study carried out by researchers from Boston College, Harvard University, and the University of Michigan found that soft skills enhance productivity by 12%, which subsequently delivers a 250% ROI.

So, to sum it up,

Better soft skills = better communication = better leadership = better productivity

Soft skills will always matter for an organization. Hiring any new individual is an investment of time and money, so they’ll make sure they get the perfect fit for their team, the one with the perfect blend of field knowledge and soft skills.