The term soft skills is often used in practice when it comes to human skills in connection with social interactions. Soft skills, however, are not characteristics of a personality. Because “skills” mean abilities. The term “ability” thus differentiates itself from personality characteristics, such as “ability to work in a team” or the qualities of Big Five personality model. According to research from Harvard University, the Carnegie Foundation, and the Stanford Research Center, 85% of professional success is due to soft skills.
The fact that “ability to work in a team” is not a skill at all is an obvious contradiction. The only apparent contradiction is resolved when the term is understood as a simplified summary that does not refer to competencies, but to a bundle of personality traits. The “ability to work in a team” consists of a combination of several personality traits (such as empathy, willingness to communicate, willingness to cooperate, ability to deal with conflicts, etc.). Further examples of abilities that are not “real” skills but a bundle of different personality traits: communication skills, adaptability, critical skills, etc.
As part of personnel selection, the vast majority of companies focus on hard skills. Hard skills mean qualifications and work experience which, according to the cited study, account for only 15% of professional success. Qualifications and professional experience are also understood by many to mean professional competencies. Competencies go far beyond the hard skills proven in the application documents. It is more about how this knowledge is applied in practice. This also makes it clear that soft skills are crucial. Qualifications and professional experience proven in documents are in no way a guarantee of professional success. A variety of scientific studies show that extensive knowledge and many years of professional experience are massively overestimated by those responsible for predicting the quality of professional success.
Teamwork and the ability to act in a team has become increasingly important in recent years because modern work structures are increasingly based on complex, interdisciplinary tasks that individuals can barely handle alone. With globalization, digital change and the increasing flexibility of workplaces (e.g. remote work), it is crucial that employees can work together efficiently and harmoniously in dynamic teams. This increases the importance of corporate culture in the competition for the best specialists and managers. This will focus on soft skills when recruiting new employees. Professional personnel diagnostics help companies identify, systematically record, compare and develop a person's soft skills.
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