What are soft skills?

As opposed to ‘hard’ skills, that are more along the lines of what might appear on your résumé — your education, experience and level of expertise — soft skills are essentially people skills — the non-technical, intangible, personality-specific skills that determine your strengths as a leader, a listener and a negotiator.

Ask yourself…

Are you an amicable person?

Do you get along well with others?

Can you work in a team?

Are you committed and conscientious?

Do you communicate effectively?

Can you solve problems efficiently?

These are the types of soft skills employers look for in prospective candidates. Soft skills are very valuable and critical to a successful career. That they can make or break a career has been proven by researchers and sociologists. David McClelland, the eminent American behavioural psychologist, showed that a number of things contributed to top-executive success. Among the most powerful were factors he called achievement drive, developing others, adaptability, influence, self-confidence, and leadership. All of those are soft skills. The only hard skill in McClelland’s list was analytical thinking.

Behavioural experts say that there are several soft skills that employers look for in job seekers. Some of them include:

Team spirit.

Positive attitude: This is akin to the proverbial water in the glass syndrome.“Do you like to view the glass as half full or half empty?”

The art of communicating: John and James are attending the religious service in the church. John wonders whether it would be all right to smoke while praying.

James contends, “Why don’t you ask the priest?” So John goes up to the priest and asks, “Priest, may I smoke while I pray?”

But the priest says, “No, my son, you may not. That’s utter disrespect to our religion.”

John goes back to his friend and tells him what the priest had said. James says, “I’m not surprised. You asked the wrong question. Let me try.”

And so James goes up to the priest and asks, “Priest, may I pray while I smoke?”

To which the priest eagerly replies, “By all means, my son. By all means.”

Read this carefully and ponder for a minute. Don’t you think the positive or negative reply you get depends on the way you word the question?

Good communication skills are essential in order to climb the corporate ladder. Effective communication is what allows you to build bridges with your colleagues and the boss, express your needs, resolve conflicts and get work done by your juniors.

Fluency of speech, vocabulary and language usage is important. Of what use is communication if the listener is not able to comprehend what you are saying? Your ability to express yourself clearly is what sets you apart from the rest in the organisation.

Honing communication skills

i) First, get into the habit of reading books, magazines, newspapers, anything in print. You must read to improve your vocabulary and also to keep pace with the language trends.

ii) Speak slowly and clearly.

iii) Hone your grammar with a good reference or a style manual.

iv) Practice the art of conversation at home or with friends.

v) Pay attention to your body language. Eye contact while making conversation speaks a lot about your confidence, straightforwardness and honesty.

vi) Fidgeting exhibits signs of nervousness and discomfort. Avoid it.

vii) Be a good listener to be a good conversationalist.

Social graces and business.

Creative skills.

Time management.

There are some basic tenets to which you must adhere, to make time work for you instead of feeling overwhelmed with numerous tasks.

i) List your tasks.

ii) Delegate.

iii) Learn to say no.

“Do not bite more than what you can chew.” Do not over commit yourself and then feel miserable about the job not done. If you are asked to do a piece of work and you know that you will not be able to meet the deadline, it is better to communicate it upfront.

Other attributes such as the ability to handle criticism, contributing to team success, assisting others, adaptability, willingness to learn, creativity and resourcefulness, leadership potential and general managerial skills distinguish you from the rest of the crowd. While in the initial years of your career, educational qualifications and technical expertise are crucial to getting good assignments, as you grow in the organisation, it is your personality that matters. Even if you possess a few of these qualities, you can work your way up the career ladder faster than your peers.

Are soft skills inborn traits or can they be cultivated? The latter is true. It is possible to train people to develop certain skills and fine-tune existing characteristics to help them project an overall pleasing image. Human resource and behavioural experts offer short-term structured training programmes to bring out the soft skills. As reiterated before, finishing schools can groom employees in social graces. A classic example, although the context is different, are the beauty pageants. A gamut of specialised trainers teach these young participants how to walk, talk and even dress up. This training is what ultimately endows them with good looks, grace and confidence to face the judges and walk away with the crown.