{"id":51382,"date":"2021-10-12T10:01:46","date_gmt":"2021-10-12T14:01:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/?p=51382"},"modified":"2023-06-03T06:13:59","modified_gmt":"2023-06-03T10:13:59","slug":"employee-soft-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/employee-soft-skills\/","title":{"rendered":"Make the Most of Your Employees’ Soft Skills"},"content":{"rendered":"

Though I was always proficient in my science and math classes growing up, I\u2019ve never really been much of a STEM guy. Honestly, I don\u2019t remember hearing the acronym during my time in high school at the turn of the millennium. Common usage of the term might be newer than that, but maybe it\u2019s further evidence of how disconnected my writer brain was from the worlds of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.<\/p>\n

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For those who may not know, STEM teaching is a focused educational category with an aim toward preparing students for the rapidly evolving technology and skills of the modern workplace. A solid goal, for sure, but at some point the folks in charge of such things realized that humans are not technical-skills robots, so more recently \u201carts\u201d was added (perhaps begrudgingly?) into the acronym to make it STEAM. In doing so, they threw us a bone, with a nod toward the idea that success in the workplace cannot rely on knowledge and technical expertise alone. It also takes communication and at least a little bit of creativity.<\/p>\n

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\"Skilled<\/p>\n

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Most recently, \u201creading\u201d was thrown in there to make it STREAM. Another acknowledgement that there might be more to (earning a) living than the ability to employ hard, practical skills.<\/p>\n

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While I may be manufacturing some of the tension between \u201chard\u201d and \u201csoft\u201d skills here, the reality of the situation is that a successful, well-rounded employee will need to use both types of skills. The running gag for liberal arts\/humanities degrees like mine is, \u201cOkay, good for you! What are you going to do<\/em> with it?\u201d Fair enough. I would argue that learning is a legitimate end unto itself, and that the critical thinking, communication, and creativity engendered by study of the arts have their place in the more practical world of work. But what good are creative ideas that never escape the mind into the real world?<\/p>\n

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Likewise, though, you can have all the technical expertise possible in your field, but at some point, you are going to have to interact with other people \u2014 customers, colleagues, supervisors \u2014 in order for your skills to have any practical application. Expert skills that exist only within a void are not actually \u201cpractical\u201d no matter how much you can do with them.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSofter\u201d people skills are, of course, more intangible \u2014 more difficult to both test and train for \u2014 than their \u201charder,\u201d knowledge-based counterparts. An employee either knows Excel or they don\u2019t, can code in C++ or can\u2019t, and any gaps in knowledge can be filled with training and experience. It\u2019s much harder to gauge an employee\u2019s (or interviewee\u2019s) active listening abilities, for example, and equally harder to train for.<\/p>\n

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Still, especially in these trying pandemic times, soft \u201cpeople skills\u201d are more important than ever. Customer expectations, and stress levels, seem to be at an all-time high. Demand for services, such as fast delivery and responsive customer service, has only increased, even as the pool of available workers across multiple sectors has seemed to decrease. Emotional intelligence<\/a>? That deinifely needs to increase, too.<\/p>\n

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Soft skills can be the differentiator<\/h2>\n

Not every company can afford to change their business practices, to offer free shipping or lower prices, for example. Delivery itself is nearing the threshold of physical possibility \u2014 how much faster can we go than same-day delivery (and who can afford to compete with Amazon, anyway)?<\/p>\n

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In tighter markets with narrower profit margins, where throwing more money at problems is not a feasible solution, a company’s success and ability to differentiate itself from competitors can depend on its employees’ soft people skills: their ability to connect and communicate with customers and their fellow employees in effective \u2014 that is, patient and compassionate \u2014 ways.<\/p>\n

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\"People<\/p>\n

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So, here\u2019s the paradox: though intangible soft skills like creativity, critical thinking, empathy, and active listening are more important than ever for a company\u2019s continued success, they are also much more difficult to account and train for than hard technical skills. But anybody with any type of public-facing role will need both, so we\u2019ve come up with a few best practices to help.<\/p>\n

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