Why soft skills are becoming the most valuable and sought after human asset

Soft skills have long been a desired leadership capability. However, in an age where rapid advances in technology are redefining how humans add value in the workplace, soft skills will increasingly become the most sought after employee capability, possibly eclipsing everything else. Glimpses of the new reality are visible right now. However, the whole picture is yet to be revealed.

Deloitte's 2019 study The path to prosperity: Why the future of work is human, predicts that, by 2030, around two-thirds of jobs will be ‘soft-skill intensive’. In another Deloitte study with DeakinCo in 2017 Soft skills for business success, evidence points to why soft skills are highly sought after and make great business sense. It argues that sound emotional judgement is good for fostering a positive culture, excellent communication skills foster better internal and client relationships, and individuals with strong selfmanagement skills are more selfreliant and need less management supervision. Critically, the report further highlights that communication skills, one of the most essential soft skills, are already in short supply, drawing on data from Workible, that shows demand at 71 per cent and supply at 26 per cent, a 45 per cent percentage point differential!

Sometimes, when change is so rapid, it can feel like a high-speed train bearing down on us, and the immediate inclination is to jump out of the way. However, the best response is to understand, embrace and run with it. Let’s see what that could practically mean when it comes to soft skills and the future of work.

How many times have you overheard one person saying this to another in a corporate elevator? Something along the lines of, “My boss is great technically, but has terrible interpersonal skills”. This is still a significant deficit for some leaders and continues to frustrate the growth and progress of individuals, teams and entire organisations. Leadership development programmes, for some time now, have sought to improve leaders’ ability to better connect with others. However, for many, this remains an elusive skill. Dial-up the need for this capability many times over and it doesn’t require much of a stretch of the imagination to see why this will become an absolute requisite and priority for effective leadership in the future.

My boss has terrible interpersonal skills.

The notion of soft skills also implies the existence of hard skills. So what are soft skills, and how are they different from hard skills? Let’s first take a look at the sources of soft skills. These can be found in personality traits, personal attributes and specific behavioural competencies. Hard skills, on the other hand, are developed through training and learning. It’s easy to see from this comparison why the nature of soft skills makes them much more difficult to impart to others. The exciting aspect of soft skills is that they are highly transferable. In a fast-changing employment landscape driven by technological change, that makes them an extremely valuable asset and a powerful differentiator when competing for jobs.

Daniel Goleman describes EQ competencies as "how leaders handle themselves and their relationships".

Why EQ matters Fortunately, the concept of emotional intelligence (EQ) harnesses the key suite of soft skill capabilities required by leaders and their followers. Put simply, EQ may be thought of as not letting your emotions stop you from achieving your goals. Although this descriptor neatly packages up EQ into a simple and easy to grasp idea, it doesn’t help with understanding how to develop and enhance your EQ capability.

In his book, The New Leaders, Daniel Goleman described EQ competencies as "how leaders handle themselves and their relationships". He explains EQ competencies in two domains, personal competence (selfawareness and self-management) and social competence (social awareness and relationship management).

It’s immediately apparent that EQ competencies cannot be ‘codified’ or automated and therefore replicated by AI or machines, making them solely the domain of human beings. However, if AI and robots take over routine tasks (e.g., technical support, bricklaying or administration) then non-routine roles (e.g., social workers, emergency workers, teachers or chief executives) become a natural place for human beings to gravitate towards, an essential transition for secure employment in the longer term.

Three steps to navigate towards the future workplace

There are three key steps to navigate and take advantage of the vast array of exciting roles that will open up as a result of technological change.

1. Understand and internalise the new reality of the transition that’s afoot, showing where human beings will add value in the workplace of the future. It’s just around the corner, so it’s worthwhile considering how this may affect your career in terms of risks, and more importantly, opportunities. Researching the changing world of work has never been easier with the Internet. A simple Internet search of keywords will reveal a plethora of studies and articles that will inform and inspire ideas. This is a great place to start brainstorming and developing career options. Researching and identifying options provides a sense of empowerment, freedom and self-determination. These insights, when combined with heightened self-awareness, can provide the basis for setting concrete SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attractive, Realistic and Time-framed) goals.

Individuals with strong self-management skills are more self-reliant and need less management supervision.

2. Reflect on where and how you add value now in your current work role. Understanding your current value proposition can provide an excellent springboard to the future, even if that means a dramatic shift in career. Current and future career satisfaction is largely dependent on motivational, career and cultural fit factors. These fitfactors are derivatives of our values and what fits our belief system and cannot be developed but instead identified and understood. For example, a science academic who loves playing the saxophone might find a high degree of motivational fit playing in a band, but that might not satisfy their need for a career in academia. This is an example of where hobbies or interests don’t always translate to careers.

3. Identify your transferrable skills and consider how you might align these to the jobs of the future. This includes exploring what further training and development may be needed to optimise these skills fully. The value you bring is based on your broad capability in dealing with all sorts of clients.The skills you're likely to be relying on are your ability to communicate, listen, read the customer and be resilient. These are all highly transferable soft skills that are valuable in most other settings requiring customer contact.

Career leadership levers

These three navigation steps, when applied in conjunction with the "Career leadership levers model" below my book Career Conversations (Wiley, 2019), show how leaders and their followers, through productive career conversations, can use vital soft skills to determine the career pathways of the future.

Communication skills, one of the most essential soft skills, are already in short supply.

This model shows the relationship and interdependencies between the levers and highlights the required soft skill capabilities described below.

• Self-insight facilitates goal and vison setting that provides the direction and meaning in our careers.

• Connectivity, which for leaders includes the application of deep listening skills to help their employees identify key transition points as well as patterns and themes in their careers. All of these will most likely be useful to their future career development.

• Managing our emotions, so that they don’t stop us from achieving our goals, is combined with fostering resilience. Resilience provides the strength to overcome setbacks, disappointments and other challenges in our careers.

• Self-efficacy, and adopting and encouraging a growth mindset and solutions focus through the considered reframing of thinking and communication techniques are a powerful tool to drive progress.

These levers provide a useful and simple framework with which to research, discover and action career options that satisfy individualised ‘fit’ criteria, set goals and put them into action. They require a high degree of capability in soft skills. Fortunately, these capabilities can be developed, even though some can be harder to grow than others, such as emotional control and resilience arising from the differences between individuals.

Fortunately, these capabilities can be developed, even though some can be harder to grow than others.

Start preparing now!

It’s highly likely that you could be drawing on soft skills to drive your future career even if you don’t use or need these skills in your job right now. My advice is to start preparing now for the future that lies ahead.

Greg Smith is an expert in career development, talent management and organisational leadership. The cofounder of HR consulting firm, deliberatepractice, he helps aspiring, emerging and experienced leaders to develop their everyday leadership skill set. He is the author of Career Conversations: How to get the best from your talent pool (2019 Wiley Australia). Find out more at www.deliberatepractice.com.au