When hiring new members of staff it is essential to consider what you and your workplace value for your customers. What skills should your staff have when approaching situations, particularly difficult situations? Testing what you and your brand value may be the key to a productive and rewarding workplace.
Collaboration Working with and for a team is essential for most workplaces. Expressing ideas and information clearly during a collaborative process can ensure that your new employees are working to their best ability. Some aspects of collaboration can involve working through conflict management, and collaboration can also prove reliability to coworkers, working together, not against each other.
Creativity Thinking outside the box and unconventionally for your team may set you apart from your competitors. Approaching tasks ‘differently’ across all sectors. For creative art jobs, such as directing, creativity is what will make your film, for example, be remembered and loved by your audience. It's not only creative roles that benefit from a creative mindset and even regulation filled sectors and scenarios can always benefit from creativity as long as it is expressed in the right way and at appropriate times.
Adaptability Regardless of your sector, adaptability is key. This skill has been particularly prevalent during COVID-19, where many staff members worked additional hours to help their workplace. Other styles of adaptability can include ‘digital fitness’, for example, as the employee may be able to work from home as a result of this skill, and so if needed can adapt to different environments if a lockdown, for example, was to happen in the future. Adaptable people that can cover different roles and who have a strong understanding of key areas are useful components for any successful business.
Emotional Intelligence Emotional intelligence helps develop and deal with challenges both inside and outside the workplace. General intelligence is sometimes not enough, self-management of emotions is key for your employees - particularly in customer-facing jobs. Managing their interaction with others, such as coworkers, can help get the best out of that relationship and out of that situation.
Persuasion Persuading your customer, or even your team, to change their viewpoint may be key to workplace success. A change of mindset for many sectors, such as law, is essential to see another perspective that could change your customer/client's experience. Another example is within the sales sector, having the ability to sell any product to any customer! This can include changing a customer's view of what product they didn’t think they needed to one which becomes essential. They could do this through their key skills within friendly and approachable body language, or even having a way with words whether that be verbally or when written.
On the whole, soft skills are essential in almost all major industries. A lot of these skills are transferable, and so you could employ someone with the right skills that have not necessarily worked within your industry. Skills can be more important than experience, and allowing your employee to grow this knowledge with your company may lead to a long-term employee who delivers exceptional value to the business.