Soft skills are important because they are applicable to all professions and industries. Increasingly more people are interested in training to better organize time, communicate more effectively or be assertive – both in their private and professional life. Let’s see what soft skills are worth having to succeed in the labor market dominated by technology.
Multitaskers in Retreat?
Working under time pressure, multitasking, resistance to stress – today more and more employers realize that these are not the desired qualities of the candidate, but the requirements, the frame in which they would like to fit the candidates.
“These can bring short-term benefits, but in the long run, they do not stimulate creativity and do not motivate employees to think independently. This is because people working under time pressure focus on delivering the task on time, and not on finding interesting and creative solutions” – says the manager at JCommerce, a nearshore software development company, managing a team of several people.
“In our company, we build relationships based on trust and communication, and Scrum framework, which we use in IT projects, helps us a lot in that matter” – he adds.
Flexibility and Creativity are in Demand
Today, features such as problem solving, critical thinking, innovation and creativity are desirable qualities. Thanks to them, the employee not only develops as a person, but also brings value to the organization with their extraordinary ideas. People who work in the IT industry (and in each one project-oriented area), are vividly interested in Agile methodologies, such as Scrum or Kanban. These frameworks focus on a more flexible approach to work, allowing everyone to commit.
Soft Skills Important in Any Workplace
Today, intelligent robots take over many repetitive tasks of employees, technology makes our lives easier at every step, but it is social and emotional skills that help employees to find themselves anywhere, regardless of the company, industry or team in which they work.
- Social – because building relationships in the workplace helps to build an environment based on trust. It is easier to cooperate and implement projects with people about whom we know more than just what’s their role in the organization.
- Emotional – they are important because by showing emotions, we build bonds with colleagues. Today, the most valued managers are those who are characterized by empathy and are not afraid of showing weakness.
Soft Skills Missing
Talent shortage on the market, especially in the technology industry, doesn’t make the life of HR managers easier. Talent acquisition is a strenuous process and a real challenge today, especially in the context of soft skills gap.
The McKinsey report “Soft Skills for a hard world” indicates that the most important 3 areas where soft skills are missing today are:
- Problem solving, critical thinking, innovation and creativity
- Ability to deal with complexity and ambiguity
- Communication
Soft skills are especially important in the case of acquisition of juniors, where at the beginning their potential and matching with the team are more important than their experience.
Summary
Candidates should not only possess hard skills, knowledge and certificates. They should match the team, be able to communicate, be creative, and be able to solve problems. Developing soft skills is possible, but it requires constant work and maintaining relationships with colleagues. It is worth bearing that in mind in an increasingly digitized world.
