If you only need one reason to start recruiting for soft skills, then let this be it: it’s easier to teach hard skills than it is soft skills. When you have a very specific role that needs to be filled and you want the person who takes the position to perform to a certain standard, it is easy to get blinded by qualifications and education.
But this could be detrimental to your company’s success if you end up hiring someone who cannot fit in with your company culture. Organisations are held together by a very fine but strong thread which is the relationships that exist between people. That is why in this blog we’re listing the 7 soft skills you need to be looking out for when hiring new employees.
7 soft skills every candidate should have
1. Communication
We’ve put communication first for good reason. It is the most important of all the soft skills and often requires more critical thinking than people realise. While you shouldn’t expect every one of your employees to have the polished relational skills of Barack Obama, being able to clearly communicate in a number of different mediums is a highly valuable skill in the workplace. Whether it is on the phone, via email, in person or by video conference, you want your employees to be able to easily and astutely impart important information to one another so that your company can succeed. If knowledge is power, then communication is its vehicle of choice.
2. Responsibility
When you invite a new person into your company there is a lot of trust involved. It’s rarely talked about and usually only comes up when it is broken, but figuring out if you can trust a candidate is an essential part of the recruitment process. How that trust manifests in day-to-day working life is in responsibility. For an employee to be responsible for their work they need to practice accountability, discipline as well as self-motivation. It is almost impossible to make someone feel responsible for their job, rather they have to have the motivation within themselves to step up to the plate.
3. Teamwork
No surprises here! Perhaps the only time you may not need to check for this soft skill is if your candidate will be a full-time remote worker. But most of the time all employees have to work with others at some point, whether it is a part of their job description or not. These days workforces are increasingly cross-functional, so it is rare for anyone to exist in complete isolation in a company. Organisations in themselves are really just oversized teams, all working together towards a common goal. If you want to keep your company on the road to success, then you need to ensure you hire team players.
4. Positive attitude
While we’re not suggesting introducing faux happy “Have a nice day” work mentality into your company anytime soon, having people around you who radiate natural positive energy is invaluable to not only your business but to your team’s collective mental well-being. Toxicity breeds toxicity and it can travel like a slow poison through your company if it goes unchecked. Alternatively, a positive attitude and general work well-being feed directly into increased productivity.
5. Work ethic
While motivational theory has its place, you don’t want to constantly be having to pull out the old carrot and stick routine! People who have a natural work ethic arrive to work on time, meet their deadlines, can stay focused despite workplace distractions and always keep their priorities in order.
The polar opposite to this is the passive employee who has to be constantly reminded to finish tasks, is perpetually late and somehow never seems to be at hand when you need them…
6. Time management
From to-do lists to scheduling to delegating, time management occurs in many forms, but this can be a make or break soft skill if the role is demanding enough. If the particular position you are trying to fill requires the employee to task switch on the regular, then you will require someone who is exceptionally adept at time management. Being able to manage time effectively directly correlates with cost savings as well as increased revenue for a company making it a very attractive skill to have in any business.
7. Conflict resolution
Unfortunately, having a positive attitude and being a team player won’t eliminate all work relationship issues. There will be good days and bad days in any office, whether it is because of the business itself experiencing turmoil or personal issues that spill into the workday. People with conflict resolution skills are able to manage these uncomfortable issues in a professional and dignified way, allowing everyone to continue working to the best of their abilities.
Need help in securing the best talent for your company? Get in contact with us today and we can start to connect the dots between you and your ideal candidate
