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Soft Skills: The Intangible Qualities Companies Crave

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Introduction

Having pertinent soft skills is paramount for employment candidates as it reinforces the
chance of having a triumphant career as well as good relationships with colleagues. They are
advantageous even to job seekers with satisfactory knowledge and practical skills. Hamid &
Younus (2022) argued that soft skills are capabilities that are unique to individuals and they
define the individual’s qualities, personal behavior, and a person’s temperament. Jadko &
Bezrukikh (2022) highlighted that they include particular potentials such as time management,
decision making exemplary communication, and self-inspiration. Having these skills gives the
candidates for employment or promotion a competitive upper hand since contemporary
companies and organizations search for and employ persons who have extra abilities to add merit
to their cooperation (Chin, 2020). Therefore, is paramount for candidates who have the urge to
have superiority and stay ahead of their colleagues to acquire or sharpen up the required soft
skills. This is because most proprietors and managers are more likely to favor persons with
superb integration of these soft skills. However, Hamid & Younus (2022) affirmed that soft skills
should not be used as a cover-up for inadequate hard and technical skills. Thus, both hard and
soft skills should be used concurrently to reinforce high performance while handling tasks at
work. Morgan (2022) highlighted examples, the significance, and some of the tactics to improve
soft skills in the article, https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220727-soft-skills-the-
intangible-qualities-companies-crave

Essentiality of Soft Skills at Work

Maintenance of Relationships

Good relationships among the members of staff and between employees and customers or
clients is a chief facet for the growth and development of the cooperation. Shafie et al. (2020)
ascertained that soft skills determine the level of success and cement the relationship when
undertaking day-to-day businesses. Employees who can combine practical skills in their
specialty can have quality interrelationships with their colleagues and the customer or clients that
they handle. For instance, personnel with elevated communication skills are more likely to
understand the needs of the client since they significantly involve them in conversations. It,
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therefore, becomes easier to full fill the clients’ necessities thus fortifying the interconnection
between the involved parties. On the other hand, staff members with the soft skills of emotional
intelligence (EQ) understand the value of acknowledging their colleagues’ sentiments as argued
by (Hamid & Younus, 2022). Henceforth, there is a positive environment of uprightness which
generates unity and minimizes the chances of wrangles arising in the organization. With these
qualities at work, the handling of tasks, customers, and fellow workers becomes smoothened.
Thus, the human resource management of a company should hire candidates with appropriate
soft skills since they can easily and professionally represent the company at any level.

Endurance and Permanence at Work

The capacity to stay in a workplace for a long period is a crucial aspect that employers
pay attention to since it eliminates the usage of resources during the hiring of a replacement.
When employers are hiring a new workforce or elevating the working class of the existing
human resources, they are most likely to recommend applicants who are willing to stay in the
company for a long time (Jadko & Bezrukikh, 2022). Moreover, Chin (2020) highlighted that
possessing soft skills such as devotion, inspiration, and conflict discord resolution makes the
candidate or staff member an interminable asset to the employer. Committed staff members show
that they are useful by making sure that their objectives are aligned with those of the
organization they behave like leaders, take charge, and are mindful of others. On the other hand,
motivated employees are hardly absent, take responsibility, and take the initiative in handling
critical tasks. Additionally, workers with conflict resolution capabilities have exemplary listening
skills, do not make complaints, and honestly share feedback with the involved parties. Laborers
who have a satisfactory point of view towards work indicate longevity and have a higher chance
of promotion. Henceforth, the managers should hire and retain candidates with endurance and
permanence soft skills for the long-term advantage of the organization.

Procurement of Leadership Skills

Candidates who are more likely to get hired to fill a vacant position in a company are
those who indicate soft skills in their resume. Bates & Morgan (2018) argued that indicating job
seekers who indicate that they are mindful of how their behaviors and actions affect others
exhibit leadership soft skills. Additionally, Chaudhari (2021) asserted that persons who can
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remodel themselves and alter their way of thinking with the aim of adapting to various types of
personalities from other employees display leadership skills. Moreover, simplistic remodeling
according to the type of setting is one of the features that employers look for in candidates.
Flexibility is fundamental in the modern world due to unpredictable changes in the working
environment and technology. For instance, employees needed to alter their traditional way of
handling tasks due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic (Shafie et al., 2020). In such a
scenario, the human resource management would have recommended employing candidates who
stipulated skills such as versatility and ability to work under pressure. For the employees who are
looking forward to promotions, the managers look for soft skills such as strategic thinking, the
potential to evaluate the strengths and flaws of their colleagues as well as simplification of
complicated for everyone to understand. Henceforth, having the suitable soft skills that designate
leadership is principal in giving dominance over other staff members or candidates.

Personal Growth and Development of a Network

Creation and expansion of the personalized network of an individual and making an

executive approach to relevant persons are significantly aided by the possession of soft skills.
Chaudhari (2021) ascertained that the ability to receive feedback and respond to it accordingly is
a soft skill that most employees struggle with. This is because most of them only anticipate
positive comments and disvalue critiques that may make them improve certain traits. Thus, the
candidates who can accept and manage criticism have the prospects of checking their downsides
and improving them to facilitate connectivity. More to that, Camerlink et al. (2019) indicated
that some of the most crucial networking skills include active listening, empathy, non-verbal
communication, and social skills. Having these skills would significantly elevate the ability to
network with individuals with whom the employer shares particular objectives. Employers can
on that account cement the networking of their companies or organizations by hiring persons
with robust professional networks as they rely on them in making business connections. Thus,
networking soft skills can come in handy during employment when candidates highlight that
they can provide unique assistance due to their networking.

Acquiring and Maintaining Soft Skills

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Soft skills come naturally and highly benefit some workers compared to others who only
have exemplary technical skills. However, Gilmore et al. (2020) indicated that these are skills
that any individual can acquire through learning and extreme practice. Most of the employees
quite acknowledge their practical skills, but barely recognize the flaws in soft skills. Therefore,
they have to sharpen their soft skills by first detecting them and vigorously solving them. For
instance, Virtanen & Tynjäl, (2022) argued that emotional intelligence can be nurtured by
advancing social awareness and controlling ones feeling in any situation. Exhibiting empathy
while responding to workmates can also help grow emotional intelligence. On the other hand, it
is predominant to identify the skills that need urgent development depending on the day-to-day
tasks. After the identification of the skills that the organization pays much attention to, it will be
easy to identify ways to tackle them. Over and above that, it is essential to ask for genuine
feedback from trusted colleagues. This will disclose the areas that need more work and also help
keep n keeping track of the progress. It will also encourage the employee to step out of any form
of comfort and face the problem with utmost courage. Finally, as argued by Voukelatou (2019) it
is paramount to work on communication and critical thinking skills as they assist significantly
when coming up with ways to gain soft skills and when asking for feedback. Thus, soft skills are
achievable through gaining knowledge and training just like practical skills.

Conclusion

It is evident that soft skills are crucial to all individuals seeking employment and
employees without compromising the protocol. Since it is easy to learn these skills, individuals
should constantly master how to acquire them mainly for their benefit. Consequently, the persons
who are already in employment should constantly update themselves to stay relevant in terms of
competition. Moreover, just like knowledge and practical skills, soft skills should be included in
the student’s school curriculum to facilitate personality development. Thus, with a considerable
portion of job seekers and employees possessing soft skills, both individuals and companies
would benefit from the tremendous improvements. More to that, all the society members should
know the significance of these skills for easy incorporation at work.
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References

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Reading Teacher, 72(3), 412-415. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1755

Camerlink, I., Turner, S., Farish, M., & Arnott, G. (2019). Advantages of social skills for contest
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Chaudhari, T. (2021). Soft Skills: Types, Characteristics and Importance. Journal Of Commerce
&Amp; Trade, 16(2), 9-12. https://doi.org/10.26703/jct.v16i2-2

Chin, S. (2020). Influence of Soft Skills during Challenging Situations. Journal Of Advanced
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Morgan, K. (2022). 'Soft skills': The intangible qualities companies crave. Bbc.com. Retrieved 4
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Shafie, S., Majid, F., & Damio, S. (2020). The Importance of Determining Approaches to
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Virtanen, A., & Tynjälä, P. (2022). Pedagogical practices predicting perceived learning of social
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