REWARD
Soft skills signal success
Stuart Hall MA PGMdip MCIPPdip, non-executive director at the CIPP , highlights the differences between hard and soft skills, with a focus on the key soft skills payroll professionals require to be successful in their roles I ’m fortunate that I can look back over
What are hard skills? Hard skills are, quite simply, skills which are measurable. These are the skills we acquire through training, education and practice. Skills we can learn and perfect over time, to enable us to perform a specific job. What are soft skills? Soft skills, on the other hand, are a combination of: l people, social and communication skills l character or personality traits l attitudes l career attributes l social and emotional intelligence. They’re skills which allow us to navigate our environment, work with others and help us achieve our goals. In other words, soft skills are behavioural and interpersonal skills which relate to how effectively we interact with each other and how we handle situations. While it’s difficult to come up with a universal soft skills definition, think of them as skills that aren’t tied to one specific job. They’re general characteristics which help employees thrive in the workplace, no matter their seniority level, role or industry. They’re often called transferrable skills or interpersonal skills, and attaining them is more difficult, yet they complement our hard skills. For example, the hard skills necessary for a doctor to practise in medicine include the ability to interpret test results
and symptoms, as well as a thorough understanding of anatomy. The soft skills required for a doctor, however, would include empathy, understanding, active listening and a good bedside manner. “While it’s difficult to come up with a universal soft skills definition, think of them as skills that aren’t tied to one specific job” So, soft skills are who you are, your character traits and the interpersonal skills that define your personality. In fact, sociologists use the term ‘soft skills’ to describe someone’s emotional intelligence quotient (EQ) as opposed to intelligence quotient (IQ). Let’s look at some of the soft skills which have been important to me – skills that have helped me achieve success in both my personal and business life. Communication Effective communication is one of the most important soft skills you can have. Whether you work on a team or with clients, good communication is key. An effective
many years in business, and as I do, I recognise occasions when and how I’ve learned new skills. Some skills came about quite by accident, in fact, often a case of learning on the job. Others, I was fortunate to have a mentor or manager who helped me to learn or encouraged continued learning. From a young age, I learnt the importance of soft skills, even though at the time I didn’t know what they were called. We all know that in a work environment there are hard skills needed in order to carry out our daily tasks. However, most people overlook the importance of soft skills. There are four soft skills I consider to be essential in the payroll environment (actually, there’s more than four but space is limited). However, before we look at them, let’s clarify the difference between hard and soft skills.
Arguably, individuals need both hard skills and soft skills, but what are the differences?
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | April 2023 | Issue 89 40
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