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Image source: Pixabay.com
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In the work environment that demands well-roundedness and continuing development, technical skills aren’t the only currency of good employees. Soft skills are also highly sought after – they’re people skills or emotional intelligence that establish one’s ability to interact with others. Here’s why soft skills are more important today than ever.
Soft skills are personal attributes that can shape and affect relationships, communication, and interaction with others. They include traits such as presentation, problem-solving, creativity, teamwork, negotiation, and working under pressure. They are an essential component of finding, attracting, as well as retaining clients and customers, and surviving in business, especially in cutthroat industries where service can make the difference.
Soft skills matter because they are harder to learn. While they are teachable and can be learned over time, they are more challenging to develop given the fact that they have little to do with knowledge or expertise but are closely linked to the character. Hard skills are also deemed useless without soft skills – technical know-how alone isn’t enough to be truly effective in most jobs out there.
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Image source: Pixabay.com
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The modern workplace is also highly interpersonal, where soft skills such as collaboration, listening, and communication are all greatly valued. Also, customers have begun to demand soft skills, as technology has brought about more competitive prices and convenience and customer service is usually what influences the choice to use or support a particular product or service.
Soft skills are in-demand today more than ever for these reasons and this: the workplace of the future will rely on them, as they fast emerge as the differentiator in the digital economy.
Bharti Jogia-Sattar is a financial executive in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area with a broad expertise in financial and corporate management. Read more about her expertise in financial and corporate management on this page.
