Why Soft Skills Are Important For Career Success?

By Dr.shivakant Upadhyaya-director-academics, Fazlani Altius Business School

Communication is an important aspect in everyone's life. A doctor, a lawyer, an engineer, teacher or as a matter of fact any individual cannot work or get work done without this important element. It is very essential to have good communication skills to deal with one's colleagues, clients, subordinates and friends. For an individual to effectively perform at his or her workplace, he or she needs to have a specific and unique set of vital technical skills.

 

However, is it enough to be just technically efficient? If one looks around, why are great businesses helmed by people with great communication skills rather than technical skills? Let's go step by step to decode the importance of soft skills in today's corporate world.

Companies in the IT, BPO, KPO, Biotech, and Pharmaceutical industries have found that their people need soft skills to work effectively in cross-functional or project teams, local teams or global teams. Soft skills are just as crucial to business success as hard skills. When one is hiring a new employee, what is it that he or she looks for? One wants someone who is capable of completing the tasks one assigns them. In this case the skills of a person come into the picture. You might want to read our Tips on the qualities that employers look for while hiring a candidate.

Technical skills are extremely important as illustrated by a truck driver who is only valuable to his company, if he has the technical knowledge necessary to operate a truck and a surgeon who lacks fundamental understanding of surgery is a danger to his or her patients. Hence, at no point I would suggest that technical skills are not important.

However, a successful CEO has the right combination of technical & soft skills due to which he/she has the ability to manage so many tasks within a day. How can you acquire soft skills? The best thing about soft skills is one doesn't need a qualification to acquire such skills. One can start working on them right now, whether one is at a B-school, in training or at work.

However, for every good element, a bad element always follows. Gaps do tend to appear when one deviates his attention from the very basics of life. When a workforce has a lot of technical skills but an absence of soft skills, one has a soft skill gap. Soft skills are what accompany the hard skills, and help one's organization use its technical expertise to full advantage.

If one is really good at getting clients and not so good at retaining them, chances are one has a soft skills gap. If you have an army of staff turnover and have to keep retaining people, chances are one has a soft skills gap. When one has a lot of managers but no real leaders - that's a soft skills gap.

In difficult situations, while one's technical skills may get one's foot in the door, one's people managing skills is what helps resolve major organizational issues. One's work ethic, attitude, communication skills, emotional intelligence and a whole host of other personal attributes are the soft skills that are crucial for career success.

The principal issue now-a-days is that soft skills are highly valued and cannot be ignored. Organizations expect people to know how to behave on the job. They often have a wrong notion that everyone knows and understands the importance of being on time, taking initiative, being friendly, and producing high quality work. [In this context, you might want to read our article on - Is the acquisition of skills really the point of education?]

We can briefly highlight a few soft skills that will surely take you places in your corporate career. Below are a few must have skills for guaranteed success.

Importance of soft skills for career success

Time Management

Time management clearly shows that one can take responsibilities and manage work efficiently. It is the most important skill one can have at workplace. This skill is what differentiates a leader amongst freshers. Learn to optimally utilize your time & understand how to prioritize your work. This will help you gain a competitive advantage over your other colleagues. [Must read is our article on tips for time management at work place.]

Confidence

This is yet another imperative skill required for a person to be successful in life. At work, always have a strong & positive body language throughout the day. This helps you portray yourself as a strong & energetic person capable of completing any task & always active to solve problems. Organizations love confident people as compared to a person who is always tired and having a frown on their face. [Here's what our beloved Prime Minsiter has to say to about confidence to students, during a radio porgramme.]

Communication

One of the much needed skills by every professional, communication plays a key role in day to day activities. Strong communication skills involve communicating the right thing in the right way at the right time. Client meetings, new business pitches, prospective client setups etc. name it and you need communication skills to win hearts and the business. Great communication skills get one's job half done. [You might want to read an interesting article on the importance of English fluency]

Personal presentation

Do you know why your boss always wins more brownie points each time he meets his client and colleagues at a presentation? The reason is simple, his/her presenting and dressing style. Investing in good clothing and proper presentation techniques will help you create a great impression amongst your colleagues & friends.

Soft skills are increasingly becoming the hard skills of today's work force. It's just not enough to be highly trained in technical skills, without developing the softer, interpersonal and relationship-building skills that help people to communicate and collaborate effectively.

One needs to identify the shortcomings and deal with it on time to avoid future severe consequences that may ruin an image of the company or an individual. Buck up, roll up your sleeves and get ready to master soft skills as it will either break you or make you.

Also read:

About Fazlani Altius Business School

Fazlani Altius Business School (FABS) is an academic institution with a revolutionary blend of corporate interface. FABS has been envisaged, developed and nurtured with the sole vision of being the link of the corporate / academia world and aspiring graduates.

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