Soft skills, the abilities that can boost a career

Soft skills, soft skills...

It's true that everyone's talking about them. The term has even become a fixture of HR jargon, ever fond of anglicisms of every kind. For that reason, we need to spell out what we mean by this phrase, which also sounds rather good in the language of Molière: "compétences douces", or gentle skills. But gentle doesn't mean soft in the sense of weak. Today, soft skills have become fundamental pillars for the smooth running of organisations.

At Morning, the notion is in fact at the heart of the company culture, and of every organisation keen to nurture its agility. And with good reason: soft skills cover professional abilities as varied as listening, leadership, resilience and critical thinking. All prized by recruiters!

What exactly are soft skills?

According to the professional literature and human-resources manuals, soft skills refer to a set of behavioural abilities encompassing personal, social and communication skills, character traits and personality traits. A set that allows individuals to move through social life, to work well and to adapt well to everyday situations. Put another way, soft skills characterise the way a person interacts with their environment.

Soft skills refer to a set of behavioural abilities encompassing personal, social and communication skills, character traits and personality traits.

Because work is an inherently social activity, these personal qualities are widely sought after by recruiters today. The corollary of this state of affairs: technical skills are no longer the sole measure of an employee's worth. Other, more qualitative and subjective abilities are added to a broader potential. These abilities encompass a multitude of capacities, among them the ability to adapt quickly to new situations, to solve problems, to persevere in one's commitments or to lead a team. A recent study showed that 87% of candidates consider soft skills very or fairly important. A figure that reaches 96% among recruiters.

What are the main soft skills?

Out of the very long list of soft skills, here are the ones most valued in the eyes of recruiting managers:

• Communication:  whatever the job, you will (in the overwhelming majority of cases) have to communicate daily with people of varied profiles. Clients, colleagues, employers, suppliers and so on. So many scenarios and interlocutors before whom you'll need to set out your various points clearly, dynamically and convincingly. Here are some of the abilities this "chapter" involves:
  • Listening
  • Non-verbal, verbal and visual communication
  • Negotiation and persuasion
  • Presenting and public speaking
  • Writing
• Team spirit: the social nature of work calls for interaction to see things through. Beyond communication skills, it's crucial to show consideration towards your colleagues. Such consideration will allow everyone to get the best out of their neighbour (put at ease) while respecting the harmony within the group. This notably involves:
  • Collaboration and teamwork
  • Emotional intelligence
  • Sociability and sensitivity
  • Receiving and giving feedback
  • Awareness of diversity
• Problem-solving: beyond cooperation and certain analytical skills, problem-solving calls for a particular mindset. Every day, organisations face the unexpected. To respond in the most effective and fitting way, these organisations must rely on cool-headed people, equipped with very particular soft skills, such as:
  • Analysis and research
  • Resilience and flexibility in the face of constraints
  • Bringing knowledge together
  • Risk management
  • Cooperation
• Critical thinking: whatever the role, employers are looking for professionals able to analyse situations and make informed decisions. That said, you need to be able to understand problems, think critically and find solutions while taking account of how things are changing on the ground. The abilities associated with critical thinking often involve:
  • Curiosity, a desire to know and to learn
  • A critical eye
  • Logical, universal thinking
  • Lateral, particular thinking
  • Anticipation and planning
• Leadership: not every role is necessarily a position of responsibility over others. However, the ability to handle different situations and people is a real asset, especially when decisions have to be made under pressure. You will sometimes be called upon to step in during a difficult situation at group level, or to resolve uncomfortable issues on a case-by-case basis. To face this kind of situation, employers will be attentive to the following soft skills:
  • Conflict management
  • Project management and supervision
  • Delegation and organisation
  • Facilitation and teaching
  • Inspiration and motivation
• Positive attitude: no negativity. Even if, at times, critical thinking demands a certain distance and the flagging of weak or negative points that need working on, keeping a positive stance has the merit of encouraging and even supporting collective achievements. Employers are looking for professionals who will be considerate and respectful towards their colleagues. It's essential to be able to take a positive view, especially if the working environment tends to become stressful easily. This involves:
  • Confidence in yourself and in others
  • Energy and enthusiasm
  • Patience
  • Respect for difference
  • Courtesy and politeness
• Work ethic: good old professionalism! Work ethic is the ability to see tasks through with respect for the company culture and in keeping with sound professional conduct. Having a good work ethic means developing a positive relationship with your employer, your colleagues and all the company's stakeholders (clients, partners, suppliers, etc.). Among these abilities, you might find:
  • Attention to detail
  • Time management
  • Integrity
  • Independence and autonomy
  • Proactivity and initiative
• Creativity : here's a field broad enough to include both behavioural and technical abilities. Above all, it's important to stay open to contingency, to chance, while showing ingenuity. This will let you find new ways of doing your work, improve processes, and even open up new avenues to explore. The abilities sought after are often:
  • Open-mindedness
  • Ingenuity and imagination
  • Drive
  • Cultural sensitivity
  • Innovation

As you'll have gathered, the field covered by the set of abilities known as soft skills corresponds above all to a way of being — a manner of conducting oneself with regard to the particular conditions required to carry out certain professional activities — rather than a technical know-how tied solely to one job or another. They are, above all, cross-cutting skills. And the good news is that this isn't innate. Phew. Like plenty of things, soft skills can be worked on!

Abilities that are hard to assess: demonstrate them!

Since soft skills relate above all to people's personal qualities, these dear "gentle skills" pose a serious problem. Their intrinsic nature makes them very difficult to measure. It's impossible, at first glance, to assess them or quantify them.Everyone will believe you if you claim to have team spirit or to be creative. But how do you measure it? How do you show it off easily in an interview, for example? There aren't a thousand solutions. To prove your soft skills, you'll need to demonstrate them by example and recount concrete, real-life cases. In the absence of measurement, your interlocutor can always gauge your ability to thrive in the working environment. And if the level they estimate seems insufficient to them, don't panic. It's entirely possible to learn and develop your soft skills...

Develop your soft skills!

As we've said: many employers value the way of being over the know-how, because it often involves personality traits developed over a lifetime and through a series of personal and professional experiences. We might therefore be led to believe they're difficult to teach. However, anyone can improve their soft skills through experience and practice. In concrete terms, here are a few tips that might help you develop them:

• Initiative
  • Choose an ability you want to improve and practise it: it's sometimes easier to focus on one specific ability, or a group of related ones, than to try to develop them all.
• Awareness
  • Observe and imitate the positive abilities you see in others: this is a basic and also pragmatic method of learning.
• Organisation
  • Take notes in meetings to organise your thoughts: this is called active listening and improves your communication ability.
• Planning
  • Set yourself key goals to improve your abilities: this will help motivate you and keep to a schedule that matches your expectations.
• Curiosity
  • Find resources and opportunities to help you along the way: courses, books, videos, podcasts and so on.

Put your soft skills forward!

By way of a conclusion, it's very important to make the most of your abilities and put them forward! On this point too, there are many concrete ways to go about it:

• First of all, add relevant abilities to your CV and give examples that demonstrate them: don't hesitate to include the qualities most closely associated with the role you're after in your CV, describing how they proved useful in various professional situations.
• Next, make the most of your abilities in your cover letters: you can also weave soft skills into your cover letters. So do as you would on your CV and highlight one or two of the abilities mentioned here, while giving specific examples of times you demonstrated them at work.
• Lastly, talk about your abilities in job interviews: keep the main soft skills in mind during your interviews and, once again, be ready to give examples of how you've used them.

Oh, and the most important thing: don't forget that every application will call for different abilities and experiences, so make sure you read the job description carefully and focus on the skills listed by the employer. You see? In the end, isn't developing your soft skills an excellent idea for boosting a career?

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