For many years now the recruitment and staffing industry has long been driven by CVs, often necessitating strict criteria and tough requirements for education, background and “hard” skills.
At Clevry, we believe there are many benefits to recruiting based on soft skills (check out our What are Soft Skills? article to gain a deeper understanding of the subject).
Which is why we have decided to take a closer look at which soft skills are most in demand from recruiters around the world in 2023:
Growth mindset
Again and again we see recruiters and businesses demand a growth mindset from their candidates and any potential new employees.
People and individuals who are not afraid to fail and see setbacks and challenges as opportunities for further learning and development are increasingly in demand. Having a growth or entrepreneurial mindset is more about openness to change, receiving feedback constructively, being resilient and continuous learning.
Communication
Recruiters often tout communication as being one of the most highly sought after soft skills in their candidates.
The ability to easily grasp and then disseminate information to others in a way that is easy for them to understand is a skill that has far reaching benefits, even outside of a work environment.
Creativity
Creativity is a powerful tool for gaining new ideas, finding new ways to innovate above your competitors and having a highly engaged set of employees.
Innovation can be an essential factor in creating a competitive advantage that helps your organisation stand out from its competitors.
Focus
Social media, mobile technology and the advent of the internet have shortened all of our attention spans and made being able to focus deeply on work tasks more of a challenge than in the past, therefore having the ability to focus well on what you’re doing will become more important.
Cultural awareness
Becoming more aware of other cultures is an important part of increasing diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Something that will become more and more important as digital technology continues removing our remaining degrees of separation.
Critical thinking / problem solving
Critical thinking is the ability to think outside the box to come up with new solutions and help solve problems more effectively. As the world of work becomes more and more digitised the ability to think critically and solve problems in new and novel ways
Leadership
Whether it’s a new manager, team leader or an experienced CEO – leadership is always critical to leading effective teams and navigating the current market conditions to deliver business growth.
Remember you don’t actually have to be a business leader to display good leadership qualities!
Emotional intelligence
Generally speaking, high performers typically have high emotional intelligence, which includes empathy, self-awareness, and cooperativeness.
Having a high EQ allows you to be better at understanding other people and thus make better decisions. The more you know about your people, the better you can help them perform.
