Can soft skills transform a barren talent landscape?
- Friday, February 9, 2024
- Octavia Veny
How to hire when the talent pool is dry? Leveraging human qualities could be the key to addressing the employability challenges of millions of workers. Let's decode.
Are soft skills a miraculous solution to the employability deficit? It certainly seems to be one of the compelling perspectives put forth by the book authored by Jérémy Lamri, Michel Barabel, Olivier Meier, and Todd Lubart, titled "The Soft Skills Challenge - How to Develop Them in the 21st Century."
By 2025, half of the global workforce will need to redefine their professional profiles to remain employable. This transformation will undoubtedly reshape the landscape of recruitment and human capital management.
Prioritizing Personality over CV
The criteria for employability have undergone a transformation. The automation of numerous simple and repetitive tasks is guiding us towards activities that are less routine and more complex. Employability is now defined by the ability to adapt, think critically, and exhibit behavioral traits, surpassing the importance of technical skills.
This is where the concept of soft skills takes center stage. Representing, to some extent, what could be termed "situational intelligence," soft skills are characterized by the ability to adapt and leverage thinking and communication skills to achieve goals. It is through this lens that potentials will now be observed, analyzed, and cultivated.
Impact within Organizations
It is imperative to grasp that the soft skills discussion, beyond resolving current employability challenges, should also be a catalyst for establishing goals that allow individuals to fulfill their potential based on their unique "sensibilities."
Developing skills such as communication, influence, anticipation, team management, or creative processes also resonates with the personal development of individuals, particularly when rooted in their inclinations.
The development of soft skills can thus prove to be a potent tool for those who embrace it, contributing not only to their personal growth but also to the overall advancement of the organization in terms of capabilities. Whether a manager, recruiter, or decision-maker, this evolution will undeniably have a tangible impact on how we approach human capital management within the company.
The book "The Soft Skills Challenge - How to Develop Them in the 21st Century" is available for purchase at online bookstores.