“The importance of soft skills in SME recruitment”
An article for Osavus.
Why do SMEs need their teams to be their competitive edge?
Think about the last time you chose a local café over a big-chain coffee shop. Why did you do it? Maybe it was the friendly banter or the barista remembering your name. That's the power of soft skills in action, which can set an SME apart in a crowded marketplace.
SMEs, or Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, face unique challenges in the marketplace, often competing against larger entities with more resources, broader reach, and greater brand recognition. In this David vs. Goliath scenario, SMEs must leverage every possible advantage to discover their niche and succeed. Having a happy, high-performing team is essential for gaining a competitive edge - especially when over a quarter of failed startups state that their primary reason for failure was a lack of team cohesion.
What are soft skills & why are they in higher demand?
So, what exactly are soft skills?
Soft skills are also known as interpersonal skills or people skills, and they're all about how you communicate and navigate the world around you.
On the other hand, hard skills (or technical skills) are quantifiable and measurable - some examples of hard skills include coding, data analysis, and copywriting.
Specific skills are in higher demand than others, and current research consistently shows that soft skills are now ranking higher than technical skills. In 2024, LinkedIn used millions of data points to determine the skills that are in the highest demand at the minute, and they found that the top ten in-demand skills were:
Communication
Customer Service
Leadership
Project Management
Management
Analytics
Teamwork
Sales
Problem-solving
Research
Notice that the top five are all soft skills?
Of course, this isn't to discount the importance of technical skills - for example; you'll probably want the person building your website to be a trained software engineer, not a trained car mechanic – it's simply bolstering a growing recognition in the modern workplace: the ability to navigate complex interpersonal dynamics, lead with empathy, and communicate effectively is just as crucial as technical proficiency.
The demand for soft skills is snowballing, too—according to a McKinsey survey, the emphasis on empathy and interpersonal skills among companies doubled in 2020. The survey also reported that the period between 2019 and 2020 saw a significant shift in prioritising leadership and management skills, with a notable increase of ten percentage points, from 40% to 50%.
How can employees with high levels of soft skills help SMEs to grow?
Having a team with a wide range of skills and experiences is important to the long-term success of a business. Specifically, teams with higher levels of interpersonal skills have lower employee churn and higher rates of happiness and are even more successful. According to LinkedIn's 2019 Global Talent Trends report, 89% of recruiters attribute unsuccessful hires primarily to deficiencies in soft skills.
We're all aware that the way we work is changing constantly, and with this comes the need for employees to be adaptable and resilient. For example, it's important to have emotional intelligence when you work remotely (and nearly 74% of companies are transitioning to some remote or hybrid work right now) or across borders. When we work together in person, you can rely on things like body language to help you read a situation, but when moved to a virtual setting, you must rely on other cues to understand the nuances of a conversation.
Besides emotional intelligence (or EI), remote workers working across borders must be culturally literate or sensitive. NoHQ, a strategic consultancy for remote businesses said "Remote workers with cross-cultural literacy will find common ground with others, be open to diverse viewpoints and listen to their co-workers. It's also characterized by not making assumptions about other places and cultures."
An in-touch and empathetic team is also crucial to ensuring your top talent performs well and sticks around. Research by Businessolver found that 82% of employees would "consider leaving their job for a more empathetic organization," - and a study by Yale found that "supervisor emotionally intelligent behavior was linked to employee creativity/innovation through its effect on employee opportunity to grow and higher experience of positive affect."
So, there's a strong business case to consider soft skills to build a high-performing, happy team.
How can you recruit employees with better soft skills?
Firstly, you need to look beyond the CV. While it can be tempting to immediately shortlist the candidates with dozens of qualifications, try to read between the lines for examples of candidates who display strong leadership or teamwork skills. Be open-minded, and understand that a person's essence stretches far beyond the confines of paper (or PDF!).
When interviewing, test for soft skills with targeted tests and conversation starters designed to unveil their proficiency in empathy, teamwork, and communication. You can also utilise data-driven recruitment tools that give you much deeper insight into a person's holistic skillset than you would typically get. After all, while it's essential to be open-minded, it's also vital to make informed and strategic decisions that will help your company grow long-term.
Another thing to remember is to maintain interpersonal skill development once your dream hire is on the job. While it can be enticing to have your team load up their LinkedIn with technical skill badges, ensure you're also investing in their soft skill development. Plenty of courses and workshops are designed to help you and your team flourish in areas like communication, leadership, and teamwork.
The ending note
Now you're clued up on the importance of soft skills and the traits to look out for – sign up for early access to Osavus today, and get ready for a new world of hiring insight to help you recruit with confidence and grow your business.
