‘Soft skills’ are being redefined by business experts — now seen as ‘opposite skills’ … [+]
Words matter. The term “soft skills” – kindness, compassion, empathy – has become a rap over the years. In the past, many business leaders dismissed soft skills as superfluous—warm and fuzzy feelings, hippie nonsense or a new-age fad that have no real impact on engagement or performance. Many leaders still adhere to the myth that soft skills create a team of smiling slackers. But the tides are changing, especially with the permeation of artificial intelligence into our lives. As the critical need for skills such as empathy, collaboration, and adaptability continues to grow, “soft” no longer encompasses the high importance of these skills. What businesses and universities are really looking for is “resilient’ skills, according to experts. In a previous article for Forbes, I identified five key soft skills (renamed hard) that are essential in today’s global marketplace such as compassion, employer-employee trust, empathy, connection and kindness.
More companies are beginning to see that the ticket to performance, productivity and profit is delivering value through ‘human capabilities’ or soft skills to build the organization and its results. They are reshaping the way we view soft skills, especially as businesses and universities continue to prioritize them in their recruitment and admissions processes. According Deloitte Insights, 92% of companies surveyed reported that people skills or soft skills are as important or more important than hard skills in today’s business world. In a recent piece in Fortune, even Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella insists that calling empathy “soft” understates its importance. She doesn’t see empathy as a soft skill, instead saying, “It’s the hardest skill we learn.”
I spoke via email with Dr. Kelly Dore, co-founder and vice president of science and innovation at Acuity Insights and associate professor of medicine at McMaster University. He told me via email that soft terms are often called non-cognitive, which evokes the inaccurate sentiment of “not thinking” – when in fact, hard skills are the key differentiator that influences what we bring to the table as humans. If everyone in the room is given the same access to artificial intelligence and knowledge bases, then what can we add to the room?” he asks, adding, “Of course successfully navigating the courses is important, but the ultimate goal is to create compassionate, thoughtful leaders who can collaborate and solve the complex problems in our communities.”
Dore recognizes that the focus in competitive markets is shifting from mere technical proficiency to the ability to adapt and prosper with evolving technology. “In our rapidly evolving technology landscape, the spotlight is shifting away from today’s workforce having only traditional technical skills and more towards the true adaptability and flexibility required to thrive within these technological advancements,” he notes. “For example, AI and big language models like ChatGPT exemplify this shift, signaling to the world that reliance on book smarts, background information, or context-specific dominance cannot be our sole focus. Instead, the emphasis is on the ability to synthesize information, ensure its accuracy, collaborate with others with different life experiences or skill sets, and bring the human element to creative problem solving.”
A survey of 5,164 talent professionals and hiring managers by LinkedIn Global Talent Trends Report, reported that 80% of respondents said soft skills are increasingly important in today’s business world, 92% said people skills and soft skills are more important than hard skills, and 89% said when a hire doesn’t work, it usually results in a lack of soft skills. Deloitte predicts that soft-skill-intensive occupations will account for two-thirds of all jobs by 2030 and grow at 2.5 times the rate of jobs in other occupations.
Dor agrees. “Knowledge and technology continue to expand at an accelerating pace, which only increases the complexity of our problems,” he explains. “Specific technical skills can become less important over time, underscoring the value of fundamental and resilient skills such as empathy, ethics, flexibility, collaboration and maintaining a growth mindset. Especially in diverse teams, creatively addressing unforeseen challenges and innovatively applying knowledge is essential. Not only that, but durable skills serve as transferable skills across industries. These will be the determinants of success in today’s world.”
Dore further emphasizes the importance of elevating language to these skills, stressing their importance and giving more power to core competencies in durable skills. “It is vital that institutions elevate the language around hard skills and emphasize its importance in today’s workforce, as it profoundly affects our perception of success,” he states. “Traditionally, the emphasis is mostly on more quantifiable and quantifiable hard skills. This in contrast to ‘soft skills’ inaccurately suggests that more holistic skills are easy to acquire and less important. Even institutions that have recognized this challenge have struggled with the complexity of measuring attributes such as communication and teamwork because they haven’t had the systems in place to address them – integral to developing a holistic and integrated future workforce.” .
According to Dore, hard skills like empathy are key, especially in solving complex problems in various fields. They must be given the language that emphasizes this power and their importance. “All of this starts at the education level, where universities and other institutions need to rethink their recruitment, admissions processes and courses,” he concludes. “While standard metrics like GPA or SAT are also an important qualification, they don’t always directly correlate with success in various course metrics or in the professional world. The skills that translate are those holistic and enduring characteristics that go beyond academic achievement and instead place greater emphasis on life experiences and scenario-based assessments.”
