Essential Soft Skills for Workplace Success: A Comprehensive Evaluation

Employers nowadays do not require the education qualifications, experience, or skills in employees but also are in search of soft skills. A workforce with soft skills makes a dynamic and productive workforce (Binsaeed et al., 2016). Many people may have soft skills that employers are in search of and fail to know it. Soft skills are also known as people skills and are personnel attribute-driven general skills, which could be the ability to manage time, work collaboratively, or ability to communicate effectively (Tribble, 2020). For employees to be successful in their careers, they need to have more than technical skills. Soft skills generally help employees to have meaningful interactions with their colleagues. Soft skills help build professional relationships and increase productivity in the workplace; thus, they are critical to employers. The essay evaluates ten soft skills that employers look for in employees.

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The first soft skills required by employers is communication. An excellent communicator can express and argue their ideas effectively that does not offend the opponents. Communication skills is not only speaking but also listening and writing. Employees with communication as a soft skill can collaborate with others, socialize, write understandable emails and reports, and share ideas with others in presentations (Ibrahim et al., 2017). Good communication in the workplace reduces contradictions, increases operations efficiency, and increases worker satisfaction. The second critical soft skill is problem-solving. Problem-solving is the ability to analyze challenging workplace issues and come up with creative solutions to overcome them. Employees who are problem solvers are critical thinkers, explorative, decisive, and have the courage and willingness to ask questions. Employers like problem solvers because they can discuss problems in the workplace objectively, analyze and examine the effects of a problem on the organization, develop possible solutions, and implement the solutions (Ngang et al., 2015).

The third soft skill is confidence. Confidence involves having a belief in fulfilling the roles assigned. Therefore, an employee should trust themselves that they can deliver as required by the employer. Confidence is critical to each employee for them to solve problems persistently without giving up (Tribble, 2020). The importance of being confident is; that having a positive perception under challenging circumstances helps maintain assertiveness and politeness in conversations and enables the employees to play a role of leadership effectively. Besides, confidence allows employees to communicate their opinions without fear. The fourth essential soft skill is self-awareness—an employee who is self-aware aims at continuously developing their professional and personal skills. Employees can use self-awareness skills to self-reflect and correct their previous mistakes, provide effective customer service, and have an excellent long-term relationships with team makers (Ngang et al., 2015).

The fifty crucial soft skills to employers is creativity. Creativity is the ability to develop innovative solutions for problems present in the workplace (Binsaeed et al., 2016). The ability to be creative includes continuously learning new aspects and wanting to try new things. The employees need to be creative for them to; brainstorm ideas and solutions for the organization, generate original ideas to improve productivity, and provide solutions during challenging situations (Ngang et al., 2015). The sixth modern soft skill is digital proficiency. Digital proficiency is critical in this digital age and helps employees use modern technologies to achieve the business's goal. An employee with digital ability can use the internet to reach and communication, develop productive software, and can use desktops and other technologies to make operations more efficient (Tribble, 2020).

The seventh critical soft skill is productivity. For an employee to have the skill, has to be able to strategize, plan, organize, and deliver results. A productive employee adds value to the organization and facilitates the achievement of goals. People need productive skills to manage deadlines and stay focused, undertake multiple projects at a time, address constraints that cause delays, and develop project plans (Ibrahim et al., 2017). Also, productivity skill enables employees to utilize resources and shift priorities. The eighth soft skill is punctuality. Punctuality means doing tasks within the given time (Tribble, 2020). Furthermore, punctuality can include time of reporting to work or attending meetings. No one likes to wait, or delay as it will interfere with the planned schedule and can lead to a loss of opportunities. Employees who are not punctual, especially in sensitive projects, can lead to significant losses in an organization or ruin their names.

The ninth soft skill is adaptability, which means an employee's ability to adapt to changes made by the organization. Change in the modern world is inevitable and requires a flexible workforce to shift to the new market requirements. The business environment is dramatically changing due to technology changes and customer preferences (Ibrahim et al., 2017). The employer has to ensure the employees can adapt to changes more quickly than competitors for it to remain competitive. The tenth soft skill is teamwork. Teamwork skill is the ability to interact and cooperate with other team members to carry out necessary work for goal achievement efficiently. An employee with teamwork skills works effectively with workmates to achieve team goals, helps others, and is an asset to the team (Binsaeed et al., 2016). Employees should have a positive contribution to their respective teams.

Conclusion

In conclusion, employers are more concerned with soft skills than educational qualifications for better production and successful organizations. One person cannot possess all the soft skills; they will be vital and weak in others. I am good with creativity, self-awareness, confidence, self-awareness, and punctuality. However, I am weak in communication. I like to innovate new production facilities and processes, I believe in myself, and I like to follow schedules. Communication is a bit challenging aspect to me in terms of persuasive power. Soft skills promote efficiency in the workplace, maintain healthy relations, and increase general organizational productivity.

References

Binsaeed, R. H., Unnisa, S. T., & Rizvi, L. J. (2016). The big impact of soft skills in today's workplace. Review of Public Administration and Management, 400(4289), 1-6. http://www.arabianjbmr.com/pdfs/RPAM_VOL_5_10/14.pdf

Ibrahim, R., Boerhannoeddin, A., & Bakare, K. K. (2017). The effect of soft skills and training methodology on employee performance. European Journal of Training and Development. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/

Ngang, T. K., Hashim, N. H., & Yunus, H. M. (2015). Novice teacher perceptions of the soft skills needed in today's workplace. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 177, 284-288. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Hashimah_Mohd_Yunus/publication/275670759

Tribble, L. S. (2020). The importance of soft skills in the workplace as perceived by community college instructors and industries (Doctoral dissertation, Mississippi State University). https://ir.library.msstate.edu/handle/11668/17062