To do our jobs well, we often need technical skills specific to our industry. For instance, a contractor might know how to do carpentry, or a news reporter might know how to write and speak in public. These are called "hard skills" and are paramount to your role and job mobility.
In the last few years, the business world has shifted to a greater emphasis on soft skills. Soft skills include things like emotional intelligence, problem-solving, or teamwork, and they allow employees to collaborate effectively with different people who have different skills, roles, and goals. Each skill is important for the overall objectives of providing excellent customer service and achieving business success. The best outcomes happen when employees and employers hone these skills to deliver exemplary customer service.
Soft skills are often more abstract than hard skills and, therefore, more difficult to measure and acquire. Many organizations identify several primary skills, such as the following:
- Emotional Intelligence: How well you can understand, communicate, and regulate emotions.
- Empathy: Taking the viewpoint of others to comprehend their emotions, opinions, or experiences.
- Teamwork: The drive to collaborate with others to achieve shared objectives or outcomes.
- Growth Mindset: The willingness to devote time and energy to improving skills, feelings, or goals.
- Openness to Feedback: The ability to welcome and use feedback (negative, positive or neutral).
- Effective Communication: Communicating with colleagues and peers in a way that makes messages clear and that enables both sides to feel heard and valued.
- Adaptability: The ability to adapt to changing circumstances and challenges while maintaining a steady work cadence.
- Active Listening: Hearing and paying attention to tone, feelings, and mutual understanding.
- Work Ethic: Having the tenacity and willingness to invest the time and effort necessary to reach goals.
- Curiosity: The ability to ask the right questions to better understand the real issues and values.
- Ownership: Driving the successful conclusion of any current issues or initiative.
One should continue to work and enhance these soft skills throughout one's career knowing they might adjust based on role and organization.
The Executive Perspective
Executives should realize the importance of soft skills for employee performance and customer service optimization. These skills help employees interact more authentically with customers and colleagues or in personal social settings. Hard skills are important for everyday business functions; but soft skills are critical for everyday work and life communications.
ROI Institute data indicates that soft skills programs yield significant ROI and are crucial for innovation and sustainability. To effectively prove their value, connecting these programs to business impact, setting clear goals, and ensuring organizational support are critical.
Soft skills are critical for organizational success, according to data from the ROI Institute. They found one case where a police team achieved more than 5000 percent ROI from a leadership program that integrated soft skills into their everyday work. Teams can improve their workplace by giving equal importance to soft skills as hard skills. The institute recommends that teams set objectives and share them with your team, involve all team members regardless of their roles, and support them to learn and use soft skills for better outcomes.
Soft skills are a driver for innovation within companies. When teams collaborate and individually hone skills such as emotional intelligence, flexibility, and active listening, the organization will flourish. Integrating an employer's objectives with soft skills allows employees to find a rhythm in teamwork and workflows that sustain and even elevate business outcomes.
It is important that organizations promote the improvement of soft skills among employees and consider them when hiring new staff. Everyone has soft skills at which they excel, and these can help them provide exceptional service both internally and externally. A growth mindset can help a new team succeed on a project intended to increase sales while being receptive to feedback makes an employee a more cooperative team player.
In summary, soft skills are just as essential for business sustainability as hard skills. Start by looking for soft skills during the hiring process and promote the development of soft skills in teams to drive a culture of continuous learning. This will, in turn, create role models who can help educate others, raising the standard of soft skills in the workplace. Combining soft skills with hard skills empowers teams to grow, refine, and bring ideas that drive improved service for your most loyal customers to life.
Ryan Toben is senior vice president of customer success and account management at Calabrio.