Introduction
Soft skills are important for the success of your business. Soft skills are intangible abilities that are difficult to measure, but they can have a huge impact on productivity and employee retention. You may not know exactly what soft skills are or how they can help your business, but it’s worth taking a closer look at them to figure out how you can develop them within yourself as well as your employees.
Cultivating soft skills, such as creativity, empathy, collaboration and time management, can help your business boost employee engagement and performance.
It’s easy to think of soft skills as the icing on the cake or something that’s nice to have but not necessary for business success. But it turns out that cultivating these traits can actually make your business more successful, increase employee retention and productivity, and help employees be happier in their jobs.
So what are soft skills anyway? They’re personal qualities such as creativity, collaboration, empathy and time management that help you succeed at work. They’re often associated with millennials (for example: “I’m really good at using technology”) but they are also important for older generations (for example: “I’m really good at collaborating with my coworkers”). Everyone has them—and everyone needs them!
Here’s how developing those skills will boost your business:
Soft skills allow leaders to build productive teams and foster happier, more engaged employees.
Soft skills are such a vital part of human interaction that they benefit the entire organization. These are the interpersonal qualities and social behaviors that are not directly related to a person’s job duties, but can help them do their jobs more effectively. They include things like communication, leadership, time management, problem-solving and decision-making — all essential aspects of working as part of a team.
Soft skills are difficult to teach because they’re so multifaceted; they’re also difficult to measure or automate because there isn’t any one right way to do something with soft skills. So when it comes down to it: having employees with good soft skills is simply better for your business than having those who lack them — no matter what industry you’re in or what type of work you do.
Soft skills are a key factor in an employee’s overall performance.
While you might think that hard skills are the most important thing to look for in a job candidate, soft skills can be just as crucial. Soft skills are a person’s ability to communicate effectively, work well with others and make a good impression on people above them in the company. These are all things that will help an employee get ahead in their career.
Soft skills will always be important because they allow people to relate better with one another and make sure that they are able to function within the corporate environment without any issues or problems.
Research has found a correlation between high retention rates and the ability of managers to use soft skills to guide their employees.
As the nature of work shifts, more and more people are finding themselves in positions where soft skills are needed to navigate the changing landscape. For employees, that means learning how to be more effective communicators, collaborating with colleagues and leading teams. For managers, it means guiding their teams through these changes by helping them develop those same skills.
The importance of this is clear from research by Gallup—the global survey-based analytics firm—which found a correlation between high retention rates and the ability of managers to use soft skills like coaching or helping others grow their careers. This makes sense: if employees feel supported by their manager and have opportunities for professional development, they’re more likely to stay with your company long-term and contribute positively both personally and professionally.
Soft skills should be fostered through on-the-job training since real-life practice is the best way to learn them.
It’s important to note that soft skills are learned through experience. Just like you can’t learn to play the piano by reading a book, you also can’t learn soft skills from a book.
You need to be in the field, interacting with employees and customers, observing what works and what doesn’t work—and then applying this knowledge back at the office.
It’s also important to note that soft skills are not something that just anyone can learn on their own time: They require training and mentorship in order to master them effectively (assuming they’re someone who has an aptitude for said skill).
Keeping employees engaged and happy has a quantifiable financial impact on your business’s bottom line.
You’ll also find that your employees are more productive and engaged, which helps boost your bottom line.
And if you think this is a small issue, think again: according to The Conference Board, 87% of businesses surveyed said they had trouble attracting and retaining talent in 2016. If you can’t keep the right people in place, it’s going to be difficult for your business to succeed in its goals.
In fact, employee engagement drives employee retention better than money does—and those costs are significant: according to CCH Inc., losing just one employee who made $50K per year could cost you $50k out of pocket (i.e., training costs). And when all is said and done? You might not even have enough funds left over for other expenses!
Conclusion
Soft skills are an essential part of being a successful business leader. In order to maximize your employees’ potential, you must be able to engage them in work that makes them happy. While this may seem like an impossible task, there are ways to cultivate soft skills within your organization and increase employee engagement and productivity.
