Study reveals soft skills may make for the better job candidate

WILKES-BARRE — Andrew Chew, Senior Research & Policy Analyst at The Institute for Public Policy & Economic Development at Wilkes University, said depending on the nature of the job, an individual with impeccable soft skills may be the better candidate than one who has practical experiences but lacks in soft skills.

“On a high level, recruiters define soft skills as interpersonal (people) skills,” Chew said. “They include communication skills, active listening, and empathy. They also pertain to the ability to work on a team, flexibility, problem-solving, critical thinking, creative thinking, attitude, adaptability, ethics, time management, and conflict resolution.”

Chew said while hard skills result from education and training, soft skills are sometimes innate, like personality traits and emotions, and sometimes learned at home through sibling interactions and parental modeling.

“Sometimes they are even acquired through activities in the classroom that are really designed to promote an understanding or application of hard skills,” Chew said.

Soft skills are not new, but they have gained prominence in the past decade as employers perceive an absence of certain necessary soft skills.

In 1918, Dr. Charles Rigborg Mann indicated that an overwhelming majority of job success comes from strong soft skills with the remaining small portion coming from the hard or technical skills to do the job. Chew said Mann’s survey data came from practicing engineers across the country.

“Whether the issue is due to parenting, technology, or schooling, the perceived absence of soft skills is a hot topic among employers of all type, sizes, and locations,” Chew said.

The Omnia Group, an employment services organization, suggests that the top seven soft skills needed in today’s workforce include leadership, teamwork, communication, problem-solving abilities, work ethic, flexibility/adaptability, and interpersonal skills.

These strengths, Chew said, enable an organization to be highly productive, innovative, and more successful as employees have a stronger insight into each other, the customer, and how to position the company for success.

Furthermore, Chew added that the employees enjoy harmony and happiness in the workplace due to the empathy and understanding in their interpersonal relationships. This in turn improves efficiency. Soft skills — or people skills — are critical to attracting and retaining clients as well, he said.

Soft skills can be learned

It is important to note that the soft skills referenced are present in every person at an all-or-none basis. Some individuals have incredible people skills, but lack good time management abilities.

Soft skills can be learned, but for many the challenge is acknowledging the need for improvement in a particular area. Self-reflection is a soft skill in and of itself.

Employers face challenges as well, because many elements of soft skills are subjective. Some issues, such as missing deadlines and repeatedly arriving late to work, are easy to measure; others, such as those pertaining to problem-solving and communication, are more difficult to convey.

A manager must be able to reference specific circumstances where lack is apparent. It is a delicate issue as well, because addressing a deficiency in a soft skill may feel like a character attack to another person.

COVID-19 impact

Chew said this brief was prepared during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically, at a time when many businesses were negatively disrupted. Some business disruption has been positive, however.

As of April 29, 2020, there were 14,179 job openings available in Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties, covering 567 occupations with 8,700 job titles from 3,700 employers.

The jobs require five different education levels, 195 certifications, and 1,100 hard skills. The employers noted 103 different soft skills. Regardless of education and hard skill level, 103 soft skills are recognized in each occupation. The top 25 skills and the number of ads referencing them are noted below. This validates the importance of soft skills to employers regardless of the education level attained by the potential employee.

Positive attitude key

Learning the core competencies of a soft skill and working to master the core competencies of that particular trait will support the implementation of positive habits, leading to the development of the skill.

“For example, positive attitude has been identified as a needed soft skill,” Chew said. “Being flexible, managing emotions, listening actively, and embracing challenges are some competencies of developing a positive attitude. Some basic principles such as avoiding negativity, expressing gratitude, and reward oneself will lead to enhanced positivity.”

Chew said adopting the behavior of a respected individual or a mentor is another good method to improve soft skills.

For educators

Much of public education focuses on teaching foundations as opposed to critical thinking, but Chew said opportunities do exist to teach critical thinking skills while focusing on foundational learning.

Pennsylvania has laid the groundwork for developing emotional intelligence through Career Ready Skills PA initiative, which began implementation in 2019. It aligns with the Pennsylvania’s Career Education and Work Standards, but is geared toward competencies in several areas — self-awareness and self-management, relationship building and management, and problem solving.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education developed a curriculum that begins in Pre-K with age-based skill development. There was acknowledgement that soft skill development can begin as early as Kindergarten using appropriate behavior modeling and developing a child’s emotional intelligence. There are a number of products aimed at helping teachers at all levels help their students develop their soft skill potential.

“Development of soft skills can be incorporated into many types of curriculum or taught on its own, and educators at all levels can blend the two options,” Chew said. “For example, group projects are ideally suited to better understanding teamwork. They are fairly common in high school and college, but students are not taught about how to work in a group, what good teamwork is, or about general group dynamics prior to working in those groups. Without this education, students are not likely to develop good collaborative strategies.”

High schools and college and universities benefit in many ways from relationships with local employers. Understanding the needs of employers in the workplace and developing solutions through coursework and service learning is key. For example, communication classes can play a vital role in teaching stronger communication skills for the workplace if it is done through an applied process with input from employers. Internships and service learning are also opportunities for soft skill development.

For parents

Given economic conditions, Chew said many parents also work multiple jobs and lack sufficient opportunity to focus on this development.

“Frankly, some parents don’t have strong soft skills and may sometimes be unable to model constructive behaviors to their children,” Chew said.

Regardless of the circumstances, Chew said there are resources to help parents teach their children soft skills. Many exist online, but another option is to have the conversation with each child’s school teacher so both can work together to enhance the student’s skills.

For employers

Employers have the opportunity to help new hires through initial training and orientation programs as well as mentoring programs. Chew said mentoring programs can help new hires learn unspoken or informal traits that are helpful in the workplace that are difficult to teach in educational curricula, and can be rewarding for both the mentor and mentee.

There are numerous online resources to guide such efforts, and there could be opportunities for educational institutions, business organizations, or economic and workforce development agencies to spearhead the effort to expand mentoring programs in workplaces.

“As referenced earlier, employers can work with local education institutions to identify needed soft skills and work through applications to develop them,” Chew said. “They can do so through existing required coursework, new classes, continuing education classes, or certifications.”

Chew said more than 100 years of data demonstrate the importance of soft skills in careers, their value to employers, and their benefit to the community in general.

Nonetheless, Chew said many workers remain notably deficient in these areas.

“This creates an incredible opportunity for employers, educators, and parents to collaborate for comprehensive, long-term solutions,” Chew said.