Soft skills that every employee needs

3 skills every employee needs in their toolbox

May 20, 2024 2:48 PM

Male employee speaking to group in conference room

Professional skills development is often industry-specific, but particular soft skills enhance any employee's ability to perform.

In a recent study by BusinessNameGenerator, 71% of employees believe soft skills (also called durable skills) will be equally or more important than they are now, and nearly half of companies reported plans to expand their workforce's skill sets. Respondents reported the top soft skills for recruits as communication, problem-solving and time management. While these obviously benefit employees, having a workforce adept in these skills also improves outcomes for organizations — but data shows a gap in these areas, especially among younger workers.

"Skills that apply across domains make employees extremely valuable," says Sasha Thackaberry, SVP of Wave and D2L Business, a professional development and learning component of online learning platform D2L. "Durable skills are most closely associated with career progression and career success. They are also the skills that are critical for high-performing teams."

Employers can assist in the development of soft skills with digital training options, workshops and interactions with leadership. Communication skills, for example, should be demonstrated by employees' own managers. Learning opportunities, Thackaberry notes, can be small and informal as well as on a larger, more organized scale. She recommends managers work to build trust by sharing their personal upskilling experiences, and continually nurture their team's efforts to improve.

Here are three transferable soft skills that make employees better at their jobs.

An interest in continual learning

Thackaberry points out that while it is critical for employers to provide access, funding and ongoing professional development for their workforce, employees should take it upon themselves to devote time each day to staying up-to-date on advances within their industry.

"If you have any natural talent in any domain, it's the work and effort you put forth that defines your boundaries," she says. "Committing to a practice of 15 minutes to a half hour of reading about what's going on in your field, making sure you understand developments so you can contribute in a very valuable way, that is the responsibility of each person."

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Creative problem solving

Along with innovation comes the need for increased creativity, says Thackaberry. She notes that base knowledge is essential before this skill becomes highly usable, but thinking outside the box is more important than ever when it comes to making strong contributions to a team.

"Truly novel solutions are exceptionally valuable, though sometimes far too rare," says Thackaberry. "If there is a base knowledge from which information comes, you can knit ideas or concepts together from different places and think about things in new or different ways."

Communication and collaboration

Though the new age of work relies heavily on communicating with technology, Thackaberry reminds employees of the importance of simple but vital face-to-face (or phone) communication skills.

"Knowing when to actually call someone is a bit of a lost art these days," she says. "If you need something done fast, you need an answer right away and there are some things you just can't Slack. Sometimes collaboration comes down to being willing to talk to someone."

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