Harnessing the Power of Soft Skills at Work

There has been discussion lately around redefining the term 'soft skills' to avoid gender implications and promote better recognition of their value in the workplace. Having personal experience working with people who have these abilities, I believe them to be shared across genders, but I applaud any discussion highlighting these valuable and often underrated qualities.  Soft skills are essentially people skills that underpin our ability to relate well to others and nurture relationships. They help us communicate effectively and respond appropriately. Although closely aligned with social and emotional intelligence, these merely form part of a broader range of aptitudes that we have relied on throughout history to drive ideas, harness cooperation, and develop civilisations. Without them, we could not collaborate as well as we do, and many of our greatest achievements would never have been realised.

If technical or hard skills have historically been assigned a higher value, perhaps it is because they are more easily measured and, without their specialisations, human progress would stall. Taking an oversimplified approach towards hard and soft skills, though, is outdated thinking, as we need all our extraordinary human capacities to create the kind of world we want to live in.

Interpersonal skills

Our workplaces today must meet many social, legal, and moral commitments. After putting all the risk-mitigation measures in place, we still need people with strong interpersonal skills to handle compliance issues and resolve disputes in all areas of activity. Almost everything we do has a human impact, and soft skills enable us to operate consciously against this backdrop.

Good interpersonal skills are grounded in a desire to understand people’s needs, attitudes, and motivations and to respond appropriately. It is not a hard science but an intuitive awareness of what makes people tick. Helping people be their authentic selves while producing their best outputs is what soft skills can bring to the workplace. If employee wellbeing and productivity are the reins of sustainability, it is prudent to harness them together.

Hard skills are learned by studying a technical specialism or developing specialist knowledge, which generally results in a qualification, but common sense, emotional insight, and the ability to achieve mutual understanding are talents that carry no certification. Soft skills play an integral role in fostering trust, forging bonds, and defining common aims. They are vital to our wellbeing throughout our lives, and our work life is no exception

Horses for courses

Most people have a combination of skills but tend to favour those that come naturally and develop them more consistently. While soft skills might come almost instinctively to some, others focus on the practicalities of problem solving and prefer to deal with facts rather than feelings. Perceptive leaders will recognise and value these preferences and structure their groups accordingly, understanding that projects are best served by the collaboration of diverse minds.

The old proverb ‘horses for courses’ could apply equally to humans, in that people are most effective in roles best suited to their skills, aptitudes, and temperaments. This is true for all posts, including those managing people. A workplace populated by soft skills can greatly improve communications and morale, which leads to a reduction in stress, a known precursor and major cause of much mental and physical ill health. In our hybrid and remote working environments, where there is less face-to-face interaction, these skills have come to the fore in helping to manage and improve the employee experience.

Role models

Those with the mental flexibility to adjust approaches and make the subtle changes that facilitate diversity and inclusivity will provide their teams with the psychological safety needed to succeed and contribute with confidence and creativity. When people feel needed, appreciated, and part of a collective purpose, it is a great boon to their mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing. Although few people come with a ready set of soft skills, these can be cultivated over time with the right attitude and in the right environment.

Leaders.com defines emotionally mature people as those who possess ‘patience, adaptability, humility, and an eagerness to learn from others’. These are all soft skill characteristics, as are being a good listener, being open-minded to varying perspectives, and being receptive to input and feedback. These are the timeless social graces that make it easier to manage change and make informed decisions. Identifying role models and emulating some of their behaviours and communication styles can help us develop and refine our own unique approaches. We are more likely to improve our own skills if we work in a setting that promotes collaborative self-improvement.

First do no harm

Soft skills are best cultivated within a culture that supports strong working relationships, regardless of hierarchy. In turn, these skills have the potential to shape organisational culture and improve outcomes across the board. Great psychological harm can be done where there is a lack of soft skills, so the Hippocratic oath, "First do no harm," is a sound guiding principle when drafting employee well-being policies. 

Most would agree that working with people who have soft skills is a far better experience than working with those who don’t, so we should heed Maya Angelou’s thought-provoking wisdom: ‘I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’ 

Written by MHScot Team Member, Sonia Last.

Sources:

Leaders.com,  Babcock, J. Great Leadership Requires Emotional Maturity, Here’s Why: 

O’Neill, K. and Rice, F. Medium.com  A Hard Look at the term Soft Skills

Pontefract, D. Forbes.com, Leadership. It’s About Time We Abandon The Term ‘Soft Skills’