Nearly
60% of employers say that what their organization lacks is soft
skills.
Hiring
managers today mourn the increasing soft skills gap in IT but as you navigate
through your career, it is easy to focus on the hard skills that are required
for tech roles. After all, it is your core technology skills that decide
whether you’re qualified for a job or not. While it’s true that tech skills are
important if you want to stand apart in today’s highly competitive workplace,
either as a leader or an individual contributor you need more.
Today’s
well-rounded professional cannot be a one trick pony. Even the tech expert must
possess some key soft skills to be truly valuable to modern-day organizations.
Here
are 5 key soft skills even experts must possess if they want to really get
ahead in their professional career, no matter how technically capable they are:
- Interpersonal
skills: It takes all
sorts of people to make a world, especially the tech world. From geeks to slow
learners, entrepreneurs to strong-minded individuals – if you want to move
ahead in your professional career, you need to be able to work alongside all kinds
of people, and yet stick to your sense of perspective. Although as a technical
expert, you might be a master at coding, but to advance as a leader, you need
to hone your ability to work with and through others. Not just that, you should
also be capable of understanding the nuances of the culture and workstyle of
your co-workers. This is essential if you need to inspire your teams, manage
conflict, cultivate diverse perspectives, and give the feedback necessary to
rapidly move your team towards shared goals.
- Creativity: Several technology functions, like coding,
today require out-of-the-box thinking. In that light, creativity is the skill that
differentiates between those who merely follow the book, and those who
genuinely think solutions. The impactful employee is one who can consistently
invent new solutions or make new connections. This is not possible without creativity.
The business environment in general and the technology world, in particular,
are constantly evolving. Businesses need a lot of imagination and creative
problem solving to keep up. The best solutions are often not obvious. This is
why businesses are on the lookout for experts who are able to conceive unique
solutions for the unforeseen problems of the future. If you want to be a
professional who is an asset to the organization of tomorrow, then you must
possess the power of creativity.
- Empathy:
Developers, and engineers who have a high degree of compassion use
it to empower those around them. This is the age of collaboration and any
business solution will involve many people. This means a coming together of
people from different backgrounds, and different working styles. To be
effective in such a scenario, it is critical to be able to walk in other
people’s shoes and understand their challenges. Empathy is a must-have for
those aspiring for functional or managerial leadership today. It increases the contribution
you can make to your team while driving up the likelihood of collective
success. You will also be in a better position to manage expectations and
collaborate with stakeholders with different views on the best solution. By
being open to different thoughts and alternative ideas, you can become the
bridge between people and the catalyst to progress -an essential ingredient of
the recipe for success of the whole organization.
- Collaboration
and communication: Collaboration
and communication are critical at all levels. No matter what role you play, you
will always be working with people toward a collective goal. You will always
need to explain your position and objectives to colleagues from backgrounds
different to yours and come to an agreement on the vision, design or
functionality of the task at hand. The ability to communicate effectively is supremely
important, not just with your team, but also your clients, and even the top
management. The successful professional of tomorrow knows that being able to
articulate reasoned opinions is essential to being able to establish a strong
personal brand within an organization. Another key to success is being open to work
with and learn from others. This mix is essential to being a great asset to any
organization.
- Adaptability: In the tech-driven business world, disruption
is always lurking just around the corner. With customer expectations, technological
progress, market trends, and the competitor landscape constantly evolving, businesses
need to be Agile. Perhaps the most valuable skill you can exhibit as an
employee is adaptability. Understanding that change is an integral part of your
work, and successfully navigating through the constantly changing landscape is
vital. Plans can, and will, change, projects can change trajectory without
notice, and business objectives may transform. To be successful, you need to be
flexible, accept the changes and immediately look for creative solutions – without
apprehension or resentment. Employees who have a thirst for knowledge and who
are open to change will really excel.
Get ahead
According to a recent
study, 94% of recruiters believe
that an employee with stronger soft skills has a better chance of being
promoted to a leadership position as compared to one with more years of
experience but poor soft skills. Although hard skills are the foundation of the
value you deliver to your company, they will only get you so far in today’s
organization. You need to develop people skills, creativity, empathy,
communication and collaboration, and adaptability. This is not just to qualify
for a job, but to be successful in whatever you do. The message for even tech
and functional experts is clear -complement your technical skills with soft
skills and enhance your value beyond specific job responsibilities. The
question you have to ask yourself is, are you ready?