Six soft skills you need in your workforce

Soft skills are people skills and as workforces become increasingly diverse, employers are on the lookout for team members with strong people skills.Soft skills are integral for team cohesion and productivity. Soft skills are made up of personality and behavioural traits like manners and attitude and they shape how we interact with co-workers and managers. Though harder to quantify than hard skills, which are the technical skills an employee needs to perform their job, soft skills can set a job seeker apart from their competition.

Benefits of soft skills

A workplace that prioritises soft skills sees constant employee career progression, higher retention rates and higher levels of employee satisfaction.

Essential soft skills in the workplace

1. Communication

All employees engage in communication every single day. Good communicators understand the key to communication is listening. If your workforce lacks people with good communication skills it can lead to misunderstanding and frustration.

2. Critical thinking

Critical thinkers are a critical part of any team. They systematically identify, analyse, and solve problems systematically instead of relying on instinct.

3. Leadership

Even when not in a leadership role a good leader can make decisions, manage situations, and speak to people reasonably.

4. Teamwork

Good teamwork improves productivity and minimises conflict. Integrating someone with good teamwork skills into your team will ensure mutual respect is fostered among your employees.

5. Positive attitude

Employees who are friendly, eager and enthusiastic can increase the overall happiness of a workforce and boost morale in the workplace.

6. Work ethic

Someone with a strong work ethic promotes dedication, motivation and success throughout the team.