The 7 key soft skills in the world of work

Each job profile requires certain characteristics, but there are a series of skills that are ideal for any type of activity.

Let's review some of them to know what they are the most valued and most useful soft skills to ensure a satisfying working life. We will see that some of them are also requested by personnel managers when they form their teams.

• Related article: "The 10 basic communication skills"

The importance of key soft skills in the professional field

Most of the jobs we do today require very specific skills for each position, but it is also essential that candidates demonstrate having the key social skills in the world labor. But why are these qualities so important?

First of all, These skills are a good guarantee of having an optimal work environment. If all or at least the majority of workers in an organization have some of the key soft skills in the world of work, the company will have most of the work done in terms of maintaining a pleasant work environment, without the proliferation of conflicts between workers due to friction and clash of personalities, something that is frequent both in companies and in any other human group.

It escapes no one that if the work climate is favourable, workers will be more comfortable and therefore perform better. The increase in productivity would therefore be another advantage provided by key social skills in the world of work.

Likewise, This has an impact on the company's internal communication channels, since the team members will be committed and the information will flow without difficulties., also avoiding incidents in this regard.

Of course, it should not be forgotten that if a person has key social skills in the world of work, he will automatically become a valuable asset for the company. In that case, the company will be more likely to allocate resources so that this person can further develop his characteristics and develop a long career working for this corporation. In this case, a symbiosis effect would be taking place in which both parties would benefit.

What are the most important soft skills in the world of work?

After knowing the importance of key soft skills in the world of work, the most logical question that most readers will ask is what these skills are. Therefore, at this point we are going to compile some of the main ones.

1. Empathy

Today empathy is a particularly valued capacity, both in the professional field and in other spheres of life. So it is not surprising that it is one of the key soft skills in the world of work. Thanks to empathy, workers will have the ability to recognize the emotions that people around you are experiencing, be it their own colleagues or the clients with whom the company works.

This capacity will favor interpersonal treatment and therefore the relationships between the people involved in the commercial activity of our organization.

2. Leadership

Another of the key social skills in the world of work that are valued in the current market are those that have to do with command or leadership skills. Authority is not sought, but the ability to be a leader and create a team, setting an example and knowing how to motivate colleagues to get involved in the tasks of the organization.

Therefore this will be one of the most demanded skills, especially for positions of a certain responsibility, such as middle managers, as it will make it more likely that the team in charge is correctly managed.

• You may be interested in: "Types of Leadership: The 5 most common types of leaders"

3. communication skills

Communication is a key dimension for any company and therefore knowing how to manage it will represent one of the key social skills in the world of work. For an organization to function properly, the messages it sends must be clear, concise, and not give rise to any kind of ambiguity. The people tasked with performing this task must be able to meet these criteria.

Likewise, when the company is not the sender but becomes the receiver, it must have workers who know interpret the information that reaches them and transmit it synthesized but without interference to the department that corresponds.

4. Listening ability

In line with the previous point but adding a dimension more oriented towards personal treatment. Knowing how to listen to others is another of the key social skills in the world of work. A group of workers that knows how to listen to each other will probably coordinate in a way efficient and therefore will achieve a very satisfactory level of operability and productivity for the company. company.

of course this It is also a highly demanded capacity for positions that involve direct contact with the consumer., especially if it is the customer service department. In these cases, the ability to listen is essential to be able to convey to the customer that the company fully understands your problem and does everything possible to solve the incident in a manner satisfactory.

5. emotional intelligence

The fact of knowing how to identify one's own emotions and having the ability to regulate them in such a way that we can always act rationally is what is known as having a good intelligence emotional. This is, without a doubt, another of the key social skills in the world of work. It is especially useful in demanding jobs where people are under a lot of pressure.

It is also a highly requested skill in customer service departments, just as we saw with the ability to listen. This is because these teams are the ones that usually receive complaints from dissatisfied users, who on some occasions can express themselves in a way that is too vehement and even disrespectful, so the recipient must be able to regulate their emotions and therefore their answer.

People with emotional intelligence will have the ability to remain calm at all times and not give up. driven by the impulses of the moment, which makes them the perfect candidates for this type of jobs.

• You may be interested in: "What is emotional intelligence?"

6. Persuasion

Another of the key social skills in the world of work is persuasion, a capacity that is very valuable in any section of the organization that has to do with commercial tasks, whether buying or selling. Having a particularly persuasive worker when negotiating with clients is synonymous with having the best possible agreements.

7. Creativity in teamwork

The last of the key social skills in the world of work that we incorporate into this list is none other than creativity. The ability to see beyond the rigid protocol and find alternative solutions that open new avenues for the company to achieve the goals that have been set, is another of the skills that is most sought after in certain sectors.

Bibliographic references:

• Golemman, D. (1995). emotional intelligence. Bantam.
• Moreno-Jiménez, B., Blanco-Donoso, L.M., Aguirre-Camacho, A., Rivas, S. de, Herrero, M. (2014). Social skills for new organizations. Behavioral Psychology / Conductual Psychology. Autonomous University of Madrid.
• Robbins, S.P. (2004). Organizational behavior. Pearson Education.