The employment market has undergone important changes over time, requiring professionals and companies to pay attention not only to technical skills – so-called hard skills – but also to emotional skills, known as soft skills.
They are important because organizations have already understood that for good professional performance, people must strike a balance between these two skills.
Want to know what soft skills are and how to identify them in a selection process? So keep reading!
What are soft skills?
Soft skills are the skills and qualities of a person, which enable him or her to relate to others in a more efficient way. This ends up generating a series of differentials also for the companies, because they improve – in a significant way – the integration in the work environment, contributing to the improvement of the organizational climate.
These skills are developed during life, but can also be encouraged. The main examples are:
- Clarity;
- Objectivity;
- Creativity;
- Teamwork;
- Determination;
- Positive attitude;
- Ability to convey knowledge;
- Verbal communication;
- Persuasion power;
- Ability to lead.
The soft skills are fundamental for the development of an organization since it is for the people who are part of the tasks that they deliver.
The more developed they are in the employees of a company, the better the results will be. Issues such as turnover, absenteeism, and lack of engagement can also be overcome with a cadre of employees who have these skills.
What are the most desirable soft skills in the job market?
Often, soft skills are tied to the position, but there are some that are common to all professionals, who do not just compete for specific functions and are highly desired by companies. Follow us!
Good communication
Good communication is essential for all professionals who wish to excel in the job market, and it is important in all walks of life.
This is because all parties involved in dialogue are expected to be able to clearly understand the message being conveyed. When this does not happen, there are gaps that can lead to “misunderstandings” and, consequently, to the compromise of relationships (whether they work or not).
Collaboration
Communication is fundamental to collaboration and therefore is a soft skill highly desired in the job market. These two skills must go hand in hand since collaboration is nothing more than professionals working in harmony to achieve a common goal.
Collaboration is important so that each member of the team can contribute their skills and competencies to the group. This means that the deficiencies are met and the best deliveries are guaranteed.
Emotional balance and ability to work under pressure
Increasingly shorter deadlines and the need to be more and more multitasking, in addition to meetings and goals, require the professional a great emotional balance for the most intense moments.
In this scenario, balance is of fundamental importance for these situations not to affect behavior or performance in the work environment. In addition, the ability to work under pressure is developed through the enhancement of the emotional side.
Interpersonal relationship
There are several sectors in the companies that need to communicate, and this is done through people. To have coordination between these areas, professionals need to relate well.
The human resources sector, for example, needs to communicate constantly with the communications area to disseminate internal communications and for endomarketing actions.
For this, both must be aligned and know how to relate to achieving the expected results of the company.
How to identify these skills in selection processes?
Identifying the soft skills of the candidates is fundamental for the formation of a team aligned with the purposes of the organization. Here’s how to recognize them.
Mapping
First, it is fundamental to map the hard skills and soft skills necessary for each position of the company already in the recruitment and selection.
In this process, you must take into account not only the functions that will be performed for the desired results but also the values and the organizational culture, as well as the level of interaction with the other professionals.
Job Description
After the initial mapping, it is time to make the job description. In it, must include the hard skills that are indispensable to fill the open position.
These skills can be proven through knowledge tests, while soft skills require a much more personalized and subjective assessment. They can be observed initially in the face-to-face interview and can also be evaluated through behavioral tests.
Interview
A well-structured interview is critical to getting to know the candidates. You can schedule a video interview in the first moments to get to know the candidates and ask them some questions to assess how they behave in certain situations by using some oral behavioral test questions.
In a second stage, the group or individual dynamics, in which the candidates can simulate everyday situations, are also very interesting to identify the soft skills.
In this process, it is possible to make a careful observation to select and exclude those who do not have the desired skills.
However, it must be borne in mind that soft skills can only be proven, in fact, in the daily life of organizations. It is the duty of the leaderships supported by the Human Resources sector of the companies, to monitor closely and offer the necessary support or training for the development of these competencies.
As we have seen throughout this post, the balanced development of hard skills and soft skills is critical to the formation of high-performance teams. These two skills complement each other and need to be evaluated efficiently to build a productive, balanced, motivated and engaged team.
In this scenario, it is up to HR to analyze the hard skills and soft skills required for the positions and evaluate the candidates, through constant observation and care in relation to the competencies of the professionals already working in the organization.
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