Have you heard of the term “soft skills” when recruiting top talent for an organization? Soft skills can mean the difference between a competent employee and a stellar one. If this buzzword is unfamiliar to you, keep reading to learn how hiring employees with soft skills may be the way to go, from the experts at Prescott HR.
What are soft skills?
Let’s start by defining what “soft skills” means first. A soft skill is a characteristic or personality trait that goes beyond an employee’s set job expectations.
Here are a few examples of soft skills in employees:
- Strong communication or collaborative skills
- Critical thinking
- The ability to multitask and meet deadlines
- Communication skills
- Dependability
Why are soft skills important?
All of the above qualities are great things to look for in job candidates, but they aren’t always easy to find. Most employers are looking for employees who can perform their technical job tasks well, but it’s the possession of the soft skills above that can really set excellent employees apart from the rest.
Recruiting team members who are dependable and critical thinkers are going to pay dividends in the long run, especially if you run a highly collaborative team.
You can hire an extremely talented software designer to help run a project, but if they are incapable of meeting deadlines or unwilling to communicate clearly with the team, you are only doing yourself and your company a disservice.
What are the top soft skills in demand right now?
According to a Zip Recruiter market outlook survey, here are the top ten soft skills in highest demand right now:
- Communication
- Time management
- Interpersonal skills
- Flexibility
- Problem-solving
- Collaboration
- Innovation
- Mentoring
- Multi-tasking
- Proactivity
How to discover soft skills in a job candidate?
During the interview process, it can be difficult to assess your potential hire’s soft skills. We recommend incorporating behavior-based questions into your interview to get a sense of the soft skills your potential hires may possess. An example of a question to ask job candidates is to ask them to share a time they had to deal with a difficult customer or client.
How can your organization discover your current employees’ soft skills?
The good news for your business is that your current team is probably full of soft skills, maybe even ones you haven’t noticed yet! That’s why continuous employee training is paramount to discovering and fostering your team’s soft skills. Start by discovering and developing your team’s soft skills through training programs or team exercises.
This is an opportunity to see how your team members perform under different kinds of circumstances, and the soft skills you are looking for should rise to the surface during these exercises.
Work with Prescott HR
Does your organization need help with recruiting new team members? We are here to help!
Prescott HR offers a wide range of services that can help your organization evaluate your team’s current skills, plus offer ways to improve. Our stringent HR practices allow us to be focused and effective, providing your business with precisely what you need.
Give us a call today at 443-351-8818 or contact us online.