Word of the Day: soft skills

Word of the Day Daily updates on the latest technology terms | February 12, 2020 soft skills A soft skill is a personal attribute that supports situational awareness and enhances an individual's ability to work well with others. The term soft skills is often used as a synonym for people skills or emotional intelligence. Business executives and leaders are making soft skills more of a priority when hiring, as they are often essential for workers to succeed in modern organizations. Unlike hard skills, which describe a person's technical ability to perform a specifically-defined task, soft skills are broadly applicable across job titles and industries. It's often said that while hard skills might get someone an interview, soft skills will help that person get (and keep) the job. In 2018, LinkedIn listed leadership, communication, collaboration and time management as the top four most in-demand soft skills. Technology company iCIMS Inc., which develops recruiting and other employee management-related software, analyzed its proprietary data and found that problem-solving, adaptability and time management were the top three soft skills that recruiters sought in candidates. Other important soft skills include adaptability and the ability to be diplomatic and respectful, even during disagreements. Soft skills in demand   When an employee with a high level of emotional intelligence has good communication skills and interpersonal skills, they are more likely to be able to clearly articulate goals and lead a team in a positive manner. This is especially important for multimember, multidisciplinary teams that are geographically and/or cultural dispersed.   For businesses that have a customer service/relations component, strong soft skills are a way to ensure a positive relationship between customer and company without providing extensive training. Here are several other examples of soft skills that company leaders value: creativity appropriate use of humor confidence honesty and integrity friendliness ability to manage time effectively good manners enthusiasm positive attitude good listening skills attention to detail self-motivation common sense ability to make good decisions empathy for others communication skills willingness to see a difficult job through to the end willingness to change direction when something isn't working ability to negotiate ability to deal with conflict gracefully Continue reading... Quote of the Day "It's not, 'Let me find just deep technical experience or an experienced technologist;' it's also augmenting that technology expertise with soft skills." - Anjali Shaikh Trending Terms emotional intelligence hard skills personality profile IT skills gap cultural fit T-shaped employee Learning Center How can CIOs improve their IT mentorship programs? Anjali Shaikh, who leads the research and insights team for Deloitte Consulting LLP's CIO program and is the author of a recent report on IT mentorship programs, lays out specific ways in which CIOs can improve IT mentoring. Step 1: Accountability is key. Software tester roles must embrace code focus As IT works together on QA and continuous testing takes hold, software tester roles must adapt to understand code and catch bugs early in the process. However, some worry that an overemphasis on code will erode traditional QA expertise. New ERP skills needed to staff today's cloud systems With the cloud mitigating technical challenges surrounding ERP, manufacturers are now shifting internal focus to soft ERP skills, while letting outside partners handle technology and integration. HR must reevaluate the vetting process to find new talent A talent shortage is forcing organizations to rethink how they vet job candidates. Learn how new approaches, like using AI to reduce bias and weighing the benefits of nontraditional skills, can help companies fill open positions. Adjust IT operations roles and responsibilities for cloud When there's a paradigm shift in IT, organizations retool operations to take advantage of new opportunities. With the cloud, IT operations roles and responsibilities change drastically, with a greater need for communication and soft skills. Quiz Yourself A manager's level of emotional intelligence _______ the entire office. a. affects b. effects Answer Stay in Touch For feedback about any of our definitions or to suggest a new definition, please contact me at: mrouse@techtarget.com Visit the Word of the Day Archives and catch up on what you've missed! FOLLOW US About This E-Newsletter This e-newsletter is published by the TechTarget network. To unsubscribe from Whatis.com, click here. Please note, this will not affect any other subscriptions you have signed up for. TechTarget, Whatis, 275 Grove Street, Newton, MA 02466. Contact: webmaster@techtarget.com Copyright 2018 TechTarget. All rights reserved.