1. INTRODUCTION 

 

Currently, the significance of soft skills in the world of work and in recruitment processes is recognised. Today, soft skills are not only a plus in a job application but are more and more considered as a key factor for professional success. They are even referred to as 'employability skills'.

This is reflected in the statistics and surveys of employers. In a comprehensive article on the lack of soft skills, Dana Wilkie, teaching in the US education system, points out that nearly 3 out of 4 employers have difficulty finding graduates with the soft skills their companies need. In this regard, a study by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training Germany reported that professional success depends in 40 % of cases on soft skills.

The interest in and the increased demands on soft skills as well as the increase in employers' expectations of soft skills is related to the social developments of the last decades. In our society, which is characterised by a certain complexity and constant change, soft skills are expected from employees.

In this chapter we will present why soft skills are so important for employers today.

In the first chapter we discuss why soft skills influence business success and are relevant for employers. Furthermore, we show the importance of soft skills for the personal development of employees. 

In the second chapter we will show how soft skills differ according to work sector, professional position, or hierarchy in the company.

In the third chapter we deal with the job interview as important instrument for employees to present their soft skills and for employers to check if the applicant's soft skills fit the company.

 

2. WHY ARE SOFT SKILLS ARE SO IMPORTANT FOR EMPLOYERS?

 

1. SOFT SKILLS OF EMPLOYEES DETERMINE THE SUCCESS OF A COMPANY

 

The valorisation of soft skills is strongly linked to the transformation of the structure of the economy and organisations during the 20th century. The transition from an industrial society to a service-oriented society - also sometimes considered as a science or information society - has consistently contributed to a revaluation of soft skills: 

Nowadays, soft skills belong to the key qualifications. Our labour market requires variety. Success depends on how well a company can present itself and on a good working atmosphere. An open communication culture between colleagues paves the way for productive exchange and corporate success. In addition, the complexity of the labour market also requires managers who can adapt flexibly to problems in different situations to cope with the challenges of modern working environments. Here, soft skills play an important role for success. 

Soft skills are important for employers because they facilitate and improve team collaboration. In particular, the ability to work in a team, to take criticism and to cope with stress play an important role. In this way, the performance of the team and thus also the success of the company can be positively influenced.

Furthermore, it can be emphasised here that an employee's ability to develop further in other specialist areas and to acquire new hard skills depends strongly on his or her soft skills: For example, is he or she open to new things and willing to learn?

Many employers also see soft skills as an important factor for digitalisation or shaping the digital future, as employees increasingly work with digital technologies. It is important for the company's success that employees face such challenges with an open mind, in a positive way and with a willingness to learn. 

In the long view, soft skills determine an employee's future flexibility and willingness - whether they want to develop further in their job or become geographically mobile later, for example.

Soft skills are not only relevant for the success of the company, but also for the personal development and professional success of the employee. According to a study by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training Germany, professional success depends on soft skills in 40 % of cases.

In summary, soft skills are important for the success of a company and thus for employers as well as for the personal development of employees. However, the importance of soft skills varies from sector to sector and according to the level of responsibility in the company.

 

2. THE IMPORTANCE OF SOFT SKILLS FOR EMPLOYERS DIFFERENTIATES ACCORDING TO PROFESSION

 

Soft skills are not equally valued in the world of work: Their importance can be differentiated both horizontally - by work sector - and vertically - by professional position or hierarchy in the company. 

 

On the one hand, soft skills are not equally valued by employers in all professions: Their specification and their significance differ depending on the occupation and the job sector. For example, an applicant for a craftsman's job is expected to have very different or fewer soft skills than an applicant in the sales sector, even if the applicant is not necessarily expected to work in direct contact with customers. 

It also seems self-explanatory that soft skills are especially demanded by employers when the employee must interact with a team. Overall, it can be said that in all areas of work in the service sector or in fields of work with customer contact, soft skills play a significant role.

However, the service sector does not necessarily expect the same soft skills. In some professions, more statistical soft skills are expected, which correspond more to following an instruction within a given framework. This is the case, for example, in transport and security occupations, where there is a high demand and emphasis on the statistical dimension of the expected soft skills.

In contrast, professions in commerce and sales, service clerks and management are found to have a strong requirement for dynamic soft skills - including strong communication and adaptability skills, organisational skills and a certain assertiveness and motivational strength. 

Interestingly, Alexander Salvisberg notes that occupations with requirements also show much greater soft skills requirements - management, service clerks, engineers, commercial clerks and in the fields of education, science and culture.

Based on the developments of the 20th century, project management nowadays plays an essential and increasingly important role in the behaviour of organisations and companies. And especially in this field, the importance of soft skills is clearly recognised. Although almost every organisation nowadays talks about applying project management, a considerable number of projects still fail. Various reasons are given for this - the extreme complexity of the projects, the time pressure, etc. - and more and more often the lack of soft skills is also mentioned.

Soft skills play a crucial role in project management and more generally in leadership culture. They can even strongly influence the outcome of a project. Key elements of a project's success in this context can be quoted as cooperative management, clarity of project goals, risk assessment, handling the flow of information in the project, encouraging employees to participate in the project and dealing diplomatically with those involved in the project. 

The importance of soft skills in project management is already clearly recognised by universities and business schools. Project management courses are often combined with a psychological approach. For example, Dutch business professor and psychoanalyst Manfred Kets de Vries designed specific seminar formats and tools for INSEAD Business School to help students build their soft skills. 

On the other hand, the expectation of soft skills by employers can also be differentiated vertically - according to the position the applicant is supposed to possess. Soft skills naturally tend to be more important to employers in senior and management positions. A survey of recruiters conducted by iCIMS proved that most recruiters consider soft skills of a candidate much more important in a senior position than in an entry-level position. Indeed, today's managers are confronted with many different situations arising from the complexity of a modern working environment and should be able to deal with them flexibly. 

However, there are hardly any professions and sectors in which soft skills can be dispensed with. In all areas, well-developed communication skills and a willingness to network increase the chances of professional success.

Despite the differentiated assessment of soft skills by employers - horizontally or vertically, - in practice soft skills are often addressed in the application process. Namely in the job interview.

 

3. WHEN THE EMPLOYERS CHECK SOFT SKILLS?

 

Hard skills of potential employees are easy for employers to check through diplomas, training certificates and CVs. Whether an applicant has the soft skills that fit the company culture and are needed is much more difficult to check. 

Therefore, the soft skills as personal abilities and qualities of the individual employees are researched, assessed, and tested by the employers especially during the job interviews.

In all fields and jobs, soft skills represent an important element of job interviews in that they can convey a positive impression and a feeling of sympathy about an applicant through communicative signs - expression, attitude, self-confidence. Human resource managers and employers want to know who is applying as a person through an interview to ensure that their values and ways of doing things are in line with the company and the rest of the team: Nowadays, the CV alone is no longer crucial! This is summarised by Human resource experts under the term 'cultural fit': To what extent does the employee fit the company in terms of values, working methods and his or her whole character. It must be considered that soft skills can be perceived and evaluated very differently and are also very subjective. Whether a person is sympathetic, for example, is a subjective decision. 

Soft skills distinguish oneself from the other potential applicants, especially if they have almost the same hard skills. 'According to a study by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training Germany, professional success depends on soft skills such as social competence in 40 % of cases. Soft skills are crucial factors in an application to stand out from the competition'. Soft skills play an even more important role for applications for management positions. 

Often mentioned soft skills that are important to employers are problem-solving skills, adaptability, time management, teamwork skills – which is often quoted as the most important soft skill –, critical faculties, stress management, personal initiative, and analytical-thinking skills.

 

4. HOW TO TEACH SOFT SKILLS WITHIN A COMPANY

 

Teaching hard skills within a company is not an easy task, because you are dealing with people who have already developed their own personal traits. Changing personal abilities is an extremely difficult operation, so it is very important in the phase of recruitment where the recruiter has to choose people who have the most fit skills for the job.

 

Once the employers and employees are hired, it should be proper management involving different ways of developing soft skills. For example, the training process has to be personalised and differentiated according to the different level of experience. Moreover, one of the best practices, in order to help interns getting better, is the use of case studies connected to the process and tasks.

 

It is also important to underline the significant change that has been introduced recently; enterprises moved from the concept of fidelity to the more profitable focus that is the relationship between the employer and employee. Moreover, soft skills are not a knowledge which is required by the only workers who have administrative functions because manual labour needs a quite well arrangement of soft skills.

 

3. CONCLUSIONS

 

In summary, the significance of soft skills for employers mainly results from the social development of the 20th century, which has led to big changes in the structure and distribution of work in organisations. The new demands on employees in the labour market have increased the importance of soft skills. However, the importance of soft skills for employers must be differentiated according to professional sector and job position.

In very concrete terms, the soft skills of employees have an impact on the success of the company. It is important that employees have soft skills that fit with the company culture and their colleagues.

In addition to the importance for the company, soft skills also have an important meaning for the employees themselves. They support their personal development and professional success. Additionally, the increasing importance of soft skills for employers gives employees the opportunity for deeper personal development through their profession. 

Soft skills are not an innate skill, even if an important foundation is laid by the family and social environment in childhood and youth, soft skills can be learned and trained. 

Soft skills can be consciously trained in daily business life as well as in personal life. In addition, various trainings and seminars on soft skills are offered. Especially mentoring programmes can support the development of soft skills.