Learning soft skills, or behavioural competencies, is crucial to success in the professional world. For companies, these skills represent aptitudes that can be put to practical use. They are unique in that they are cross-disciplinary and not linked to a particular profession or technical context.
This is what differentiates them from hard skills. Although technical expertise continues to reassure recruiters and employers, the fact remains that business skills are subject to programmed obsolescence. As a result, many technical and/or simple tasks are increasingly being robotised or delegated to artificial intelligence.
‘As a result, 80% of the jobs that will exist in the future do not yet exist. In this context, it is soft skills that will stand out, especially as we don’t know what skills will be like in the next ten or fifteen years.
That’s why we need to invest in soft skills and complement the knowledge that people have if we hope to maintain employability and business competitiveness. Soft skills, unlike hard skills, are difficult to quantify, but they are just as essential. Today, the two are inseparable.
Soft skills training is reserved more for team managers, but all employees can benefit from it.
The World Economic Forum interviewed a number of HR managers around the world to produce a study, The Future of Jobs Report 2020. They were asked to list the skills they would most like to see in interviews by 2025.
The survey revealed that the majority of the Top 15 results were soft skills
- Analytical thinking and innovation
- Active learning andstrategies
- Complex problem solving
- Critical thinking and analysis
- Creativity, originality and initiative
- Leadership and social influence
- Use, monitoring and control of technology
- Technology design and programming
- Resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility
- Reasoning, problem solving and ideation
- Emotional intelligence
- Troubleshooting and user experience
- Service orientation
- Systems analysis and evaluation
- Persuasion and negotiation
There are several approaches to developing soft skills
- **Training and workshops** :
Participate in training sessions dedicated to soft skills to acquire specific techniques and knowledge.
- **Mentoring and coaching
Work with a mentor or coach who can provide advice, feedback and concrete examples.
- **Conscious practice**
Engage regularly in situations that require the use of soft skills, such as group activities, volunteering, or collaborative projects.
- **Continuous feedback**
Seek feedback from colleagues, superiors and subordinates to identify areas for improvement.
- **On-line reading and resources**
Read books, articles and take online courses on subjects such as communication, leadership and stress management.
Focus on 7 skills to develop from the TOP 15 of the World Economic Forum’s study The Future of Jobs Report 2020
- Analytical thinking and innovation
- Active learning and learning strategies
- Critical thinking and analysis
- Creativity, originality and initiative
- Resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility
- Emotional intelligence
- Persuasion and negotiation
Developing soft skills is an ongoing process that requires practice and reflection, but it can significantly improve professional effectiveness and fulfilment.
