Importance of soft skills for current and future jobs

By Rushan Ziatdinov

Soft skills, also known as common skills or core skills, are transferable skills that may be used in a variety of professions. Soft skills are often considered as a hypernym for skills falling under three key functional elements such as people skills, social skills, and personal career attributes. They differ from hard (technical) skills, which are directly relevant to the job for which people are applying. Hard skills are often more measurable, and easier to learn than soft skills. Technical skills are always changing, while people's soft skills can be preserved throughout their careers and lives.

In the past, employers valued hard skills more highly than soft skills. But during the past few years, that has substantially changed. Rohan Rajiv, LinkedIn's director of product management, claims that, "Foundational soft skills have become even more important given the rise of remote and autonomous work, and are growing in importance across industries, levels and work environments. In fact, these soft skills were featured in 78 percent of jobs posted globally over the last three months," as was mentioned in the article "Why soft skills are more in demand than ever" by Forbes in 2022.

In 2022, The Balance, an American portal focused on articles related to simplifying personal finance topics and news, defined soft skills as non-technical skills that relate to how people work. According to this portal, soft skills are related to how people interact with their colleagues, how they solve various problems, and how people manage their work. Soft skills include adaptability, communication, compromise, conflict resolution, creative and critical thinking, dependability, leadership, listening, motivation, negotiation, positivity, problem-solving, teamwork, time management, work ethic, etc.

Touloumakos (2022) published an article in the Frontiers of Psychology journal that classifies soft skills into nine categories: a) Qualities such as adaptability, flexibility, responsibility, courtesy, integrity, professionalism, and effectiveness, as well as values such as trustworthiness and work ethic. b) Volitions, predispositions, and attitudes such as a positive attitude, readiness to learn, readiness to learn other skills, hard work, working under pressure, or uncertainty. c) Decision-making, problem-solving, analytical thinking, innovation, creativity, manipulating knowledge, and critical judgment.

d) Along with self-awareness, management and coping skills, leadership and managing skills. e) Interpersonal savvy/skills, social and teamwork skills, and the ability to have productive and successful interactions with others. f) Communication skills that include elements of negotiation, conflict resolution, persuasion skills; diversity and articulation work (managing simultaneous interactions with people, information, and technology). g) Emotional labor. h) Lookism, professional appearance, and aesthetics. i) Cognitive ability or processes, ability to plan and achieve goals, and others.

Soft skills, according to Oxbridge Academy (2017), are more important than ever for five key reasons: 1) Without soft skills to back up their task-related knowledge, hard skills are ineffective. 2) Soft skills are more valuable because they are harder to acquire. 3) Nowadays workplaces are collaborative, with a heavy emphasis on soft skills to get things done. 4) Customers want soft skills. 5) Soft skills, which cannot be copied or replaced by technology or artificial intelligence, are the future of work.

According to Investopedia (2022), while making recruiting decisions, businesses search for a combination of hard and soft skills in the candidates. Employers, for example, favor talented personnel who have a track record of completing tasks on time. Employees with strong communication skills and in-depth knowledge of the company's products and services are highly valued by employers. Even if their primary occupation is not sales or marketing, people with soft skills can make compelling presentations when speaking with potential customers.

Through online or offline classes, leadership development, specialized mentorship programs, and consultations with their professors, students can learn new soft skills or hone their current ones. By identifying their areas of weakness and establishing goals for progress, students can also develop their people skills.

For instance, if one needs to improve his/her listening skill, he/she can start by paying close attention to what their instructors or coworkers are saying and seeking clarification when necessary. Moreover, metaverses and virtual learning environments (Zepeto, Virbela, vAcademia, etc.) can be also used for teaching and acquiring soft skills (for example, communication and teamwork skills).

Developing soft skills in students is very important. Research carried out by Heckman & Kautz (2012) shows that success in life depends on many traits, not just those measured by grades, SAT tests, and IQ. The central message of this study is that soft skills predict and create success in life, and that programs which enhance soft skills play an essential role in a successful portfolio of public policies.

People who develop soft skills that are related to how you think, work, and relate to other people will be the most successful in the workplace of the future as it was mentioned in the Forbes article in 2022. No matter what sector or business an employee wants to switch to, soft skills can make job changes simpler.

Rushan Ziatdinov (www.ziatdinov-lab.com) is a professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering at Keimyung University, Daegu.