Why are soft skills crucial in the business world?

Let's take a look at what soft skills are and why they are so influential in the way companies operate.

A few decades ago, simply having a university degree was enough to earn respect and special treatment. Today, for better and for worse, being a qualified professional no longer means being above the rest, and this is not only because the number of people who have completed university studies is much higher than it used to be.

It is also the consequence of a new way of operating in the labor market: degrees are fine and indicate a minimum of technical skills, but what makes the difference in companies is the fact that the qualifications that make the difference in the labor market are not the same as the qualifications that make the difference in the workplace. what makes the difference in companies are soft skills.. In this article we will see what this is all about.

What are soft skills?

If there is one thing that characterizes companies, it is the division of laborThe division of labor: the principle by which each member of the organization is assigned a series of specific responsibilities for which he or she is personally responsible, with a certain degree of independence from what the others do.

This seemingly simple and easy to understand way of organizing is what allowed the emergence of the first civilizations, since it allows everyone to develop skills and knowledge that fit the tasks to be performed, assuming that the others work by taking care of the rest. In fact, in Western cultures, one's technical skills can be demonstrated through degrees and diplomas, which put this reality on paper.

In recent decades, however, organizations have reached a new paradigm, organizations have arrived at a new paradigm. Since the most successful companies are those with the ability to adapt flexibly to changes in the environment, the value of each professional can no longer be measured only through qualifications. Beyond the skills that these documents reflect, there are other characteristics that are highly valued or even necessary in the context of organizations. These are what are known today as soft skills.

Soft skills are skills that are somewhere between the psychological and the technical, which means that they cannot be acquired simply by reading manuals and studying theory, and at the same time they are focused on specific goals, so they are not personality traits. Specifically, they include skills that have to do with communication and managing emotions, two crucial aspects in the business context.

Given that soft skills are a reality, the organizations that do best are those that do not deny the emotional and intuitive side of the human being, but rather look to it to create teams that function and perform well.Instead, they look to them to create teams that function and perform well. Assuming that workers are like robots who simply perform the tasks listed on their resumes is a trap that organizational psychologists have been warning about for decades.

Examples of key soft skills in the workplace

These are some soft skills that greatly influence the dynamics of work in companies. Many of them overlap in certain aspects, but it is possible to differentiate them in many ways.

1. Presentation of ideas

This is the fundamental pillar of communication skills.It consists of knowing how to explain more or less complex ideas to others, minimizing the risk of misunderstandings. It is a particularly useful skill in everything that has to do with the instruction and training of workers, but it is still very important in virtually all social interactions in general.

2. Conflict management

This soft skill has to do with finding solutions in cases where there is a clash of interests. This is particularly important in companies, since everything is based on coordination and collaboration, and it is important to avoid creating a bad working environment.

3. Persuasion

Persuasion involves the ability to to capture the interest of others and to arouse their motivation at the prospect of performing a certain task.. It is especially important in negotiations.

4. Creativity

Creativity is the ability to to stop reasoning from conventional frameworks of thought and to come up with original solutions and to come up with original solutions adapted to a specific situation.

5. Goal orientation

This soft skill includes the ability to make operational decisions without being paralyzed by indecision, assuming that the simple fact of making a choice implies taking risks, but making sure that these are worthwhile, taking into account the goal to be reached.

Leadership is the union of all of them

Good leaders are those who are able to master most of the relevant soft skills in the organizational context, since in their work all of them are very important.

Leadership involves, among other things, inspiring by example, getting everyone committed to achieving a goal, and establishing clear roles and maintaining a proper flow of communication. maintaining a proper flow of communication. If this piece of the equation fails, there is a risk that the only thing that keeps team members in their jobs is the fear of authority or the inertia to mechanically perform a certain job, without being interested in the overall result.

How to train in leadership?

If you are interested in enhancing your soft skills and reinforcing your leadership skills, you may be interested in training through the Leader Coach Online Executive Coaching Program of Escuela Europea de Coaching (EEC).. This online training program is organized by one of the leading entities in coaching, and is designed especially for professionals who work in the management and supervision of teams: CEOs, managers, middle managers, Human Resources professionals, etc.

It consists of 46 hours, and includes a coaching process carried out in a personalized way by one of the EEC experts, as well as constant technical support and theoretical and practical learning sessions through live classes and materials available on the intranet. You can find more information about this course on the Escuela Europea de Coaching website.