Soft Skills in Most Demand

In a recent and insightful LinkedIn blog, they talk about the skills companies need most in 2019 –based on their 2018 survey data.

It’s not surprising that 57% of leaders say soft skills are more important that hard skills these days. Soft skills are what differentiate us from artificial intelligence, so if we can upskill ourselves in the most desired soft skills, then we are increasing attraction to employers.

The number one soft skill employers want is “creativity”. People tend to think they are either creative or not and that is the way it is. However creativity is a learnable skill. The biggest barrier to creativity is ourselves – our self-belief and the limitations we put upon ourselves in terms of our mindset to being creative. There are workshops and online tools to improve our creativity.

Second most desirable soft skill is “persuasion”, again another learnable skill. The art of persuasion is based around the language we use, the questions we ask and the types of words in our vocabulary. So much of this is coachable and then planning it. It is also the non-verbal cues we give off. Here we need self-awareness or feedback from others.

Third on the list is “collaboration”. No surprises here, that employers want team players, who know how to work synergistically with colleagues for the betterment of the organisation.

Ironically in this era of online learning, these people skills are all still best learned through face to face training and coaching – nothing beats “being in person”.

To enquire how our Master Trainers in EDISC can help you tap into your creativity, persuasiveness and collaborative techniques, contact us here.