Brought to you by EmployTest:
Workplaces nowadays are getting more and more competitive. It’s important that you have the right team under your wing that will help drive your company’s success.
A good start to establishing this team is picking the right candidates during hiring. Aside from industry-specific expertise, soft skills like communication, teamwork, and problem-solving skills should also be a priority when you’re shortlisting candidates.
It’s easy to overlook soft skills as there’s a perception that these don’t contribute much to work success. However, it’s more important than you think. Soft skills also help employees work well with others, make judgment calls, and build strong work relationships.
In the age of AI, soft skills offer a strategic edge that technology can’t replicate. “Finding leaders with strong soft skills is a challenge AI can’t solve,” says Richard Jefts, EVP and GM at HCL Software.
As AI advances, skills like critical thinking, logical reasoning, interpersonal intelligence, and organization will become even more valuable, notes Frederico Braga, Head of Digital at Debiopharm. Given this, assessing soft skills should be a priority in hiring decisions.
Understanding Soft Skills
Soft skills are personal and social traits that affect how people interact at work. Skills like empathy, leadership, and problem-solving help create a productive and positive workplace.
Here are some important soft skills that employees should have:
- Interpersonal skills: These include active listening and empathy, which help employees connect with their teammates and understand what clients need. People with strong interpersonal skills build good relationships and work well in teams.
- Communication skills: Being able to speak confidently and write clearly helps people share their ideas and avoid misunderstandings.
- Adaptability skills: Employees should be flexible and able to adjust quickly to new situations and challenges. They should also be willing to learn new things.
- Problem-solving skills: Skills such as critical thinking, creativity, and research help employees figure out problems, come up with solutions, and find ways to make things work.
- Leadership skills: Good leaders inspire and guide their teams. They make decisions and understand the feelings of others to encourage new ideas and improve performance.
- Work ethic: Reliable and hardworking employees help get things done and reach the team’s goals.
Why Soft Skills Matter in the Workplace
Soft skills are really important because they help people work better together. They make the workplace nicer and help everyone get along. Here’s how soft skills can help:
- Solve problems: Skills like thinking carefully and solving problems help workers figure out hard situations.
- Talk clearly: Good communication helps everyone share ideas clearly, especially when things get a little stressful.
- Be kind: Understanding how others feel makes the workplace friendly and happy, which is good for everyone.
- Welcome everyone: Strong people skills help make the workplace a friendly place for everyone, no matter where they come from.
- Get ahead: Workers with soft skills can better use their job skills, which can help them be happier at work and get promotions.
The Role of Pre-Employment Tests
Pre-employment assessments help employers find the right people for the job. These tests help check if candidates have the needed skills and qualities. They are fair and help avoid mistakes when hiring.
Using these employment skills assessment tests has some great benefits:
- Fewer mistakes: The tests make sure the hiring process is fair and based on facts, not just opinions.
- Saves money: Each test costs money, but you don’t need to sign long contracts, so it’s easy to use them.
- Helpful support: Getting expert help makes the testing process easier for both the company and the job applicants.
Types of Soft Skills Assessments
Different tests help see how good someone is at working with others:
- Workplace personality test: This comprehensive test checks different behavioral traits that are important for a broad range of jobs, such as reliability and teamwork.
- Job-specific aptitude test: This test checks if someone has the right skills for a certain job. Here are some examples:
- Customer service aptitude test: It measures how well someone can help customers and fix problems while being nice and clear.
- Managerial aptitude test: This checks how well someone is at leading a team and making difficult decisions that help the company as a whole.
- Sales aptitude test: This test measures how well a person can present buying options assertively and build relationships with customers.
- Cognitive aptitude test: This test checks how well someone can solve problems and think logically. It looks at how they use numbers and words to understand things.
Effective Methods for Assessing Soft Skills
There are different ways to check a candidate’s soft skills, which are non-technical abilities. These methods help you see how well someone can handle challenges, work with others, and fit into the company. Here are some techniques:
Structured interviews
A structured interview follows a clear pattern. All candidates are asked the same questions in the same order. These questions are chosen ahead of time based on the job. The goal is to understand the candidate’s skills, experience, and how they’ve handled situations before. For example, a common question might be, “Tell me about a time you solved a problem at work.”
Situational judgment tests (SJTs)
In SJTs, candidates choose the best answer to hypothetical work situations. These tests can include multiple-choice or rating scale questions. SJTs help show how candidates solve problems, make decisions, and handle challenges. For example: “What would you do if you had to finish tasks with tight deadlines?”
Role-playing exercises
In role-playing exercises, candidates act out job situations to show their soft skills, such as communication and leadership. They solve real problems, such as handling customer complaints or resolving team conflicts, while being watched. For example, “How would you solve a team conflict as a manager?”
Behavioral and emotional intelligence assessments
Behavioral and emotional intelligence assessments are questionnaires about how candidates react to different situations and emotions. Behavioral assessments focus on personality traits, while emotional intelligence tests look at how candidates manage stress, relationships, and conflicts. For example, “How do you handle stress at work?”
Challenges in Measuring Soft Skills
Measuring soft skills can be tricky. These non-technical abilities are often based on personal opinions, making them harder to measure than hard skills. Employers need to make sure their tests are fair and accurate.
Here are some common challenges in checking soft skills and how to solve them:
- Subjectivity in evaluating soft skills – Soft skills are different from technical skills because you can’t measure them exactly. They rely on personal judgment, so there isn’t one standard way to evaluate them. Using competency frameworks can help because they provide clear guidelines for judging these skills.
- Potential for bias – Sometimes, employers might be biased when they look at soft skills. To reduce this bias, they can use blind assessments, where the person evaluating doesn’t know who the candidate is. This way, they can give a more fair evaluation.
- Ensuring fairness and reliability – Employers should use simulation exercises and real-life situations to measure candidates’ soft skills. These methods let employers see how candidates act in practical situations, leading to better hiring decisions.
Best Practices for Employers
Employers can make hiring better by following these steps to get a good idea of candidates’ skills:
1. Add soft skills tests
Employers should check for both soft and technical skills. Tools like self-assessments, peer reviews, and supervisor evaluations help them see a candidate’s abilities more clearly.
2. Keep improving job descriptions
It’s important to regularly update job descriptions to match what each role now requires. Job roles can change over time, so make sure descriptions attract the right candidates.
3. Match soft skills to each job
Think about the best soft skills needed for each role. This way, employers can be sure candidates have the right skills.
4. Check hiring tests regularly
Tests like personality quizzes and interviews should be reviewed to make sure they measure the skills needed for the job accurately.
5. Keep improving after each hire
After hiring, gather feedback to improve the job description, soft skills tests, and assessments for future hires. This makes hiring better each time!
Beyond the Résumé
Hiring people with both technical skills and soft skills, like communication, teamwork, and problem-solving, helps build strong teams. Testing for soft skills before hiring can find the best talent, making sure everyone works well together. As AI technology grows, soft skills — which could only be provided by humans — stay important for success.
Leave a Reply