Sound technical knowledge and solid job-specific skills will undoubtedly put you at an advantage in front of recruiters. However, in process of acquiring these job-specific skills, we tend to overlook the simple people skills that are equally important to emphasise in the workplace.
Even though most organisations still focus on tasks that drive profits, and rightfully so, modern workplaces are slowly paying attention to these skills that contribute to a healthy and pleasant working environment. Ultimately, it’s the people that build a healthy work environment.
And nurture a great working environment, you need the right people skills, some of which are discussed in this blog.
1. Communication Skills
Having strong communication skills is vital in any profession, even if you’re someone that naturally prefers working alone. You may be sending out email communications to your customers, liaising with company management or negotiating a promising deal with a potential client.
There are various forms of communication but generally having impeccable written and verbal skills enable you to share information with everyone in a coherent manner. By maintaining strong communication, you’re also likely to find networking with new people comes easy to you.
2. Active Listening Skills
In a world that just wants to be heard, the ability to really listen is a virtue you must strive to achieve. Through the ability to listen to other people’s perspectives and ideas, you get to focus more on the tasks and projects that may be brewing in the pipeline. Being an active listener also means, hearing the concerns of others and letting their voices be heard.
Later in life, when you take up managerial positions, you’ll most likely be faced with people in your team who confide in you about issues that arise within the workplace. That’s when you need to listen with great tact and empathy for any individual in a specific situation.
3. Accountability
Nobody is perfect at their jobs from the start and in case mistakes happen, it’s in your best interest to understand how it happened in the first place. Showing accountability is what propels your career growth because it gives you the push to find ways to improve how you carry out different tasks. This also prevents further mistakes from creeping in.
Accountability in the workplace means owning your work and understanding that mistakes do happen but there’s always scope for improvement. It also means you taking the necessary steps to move forward with your projects and unlocking milestones you hadn’t thought were possible.
4. Solid Work Ethic
Having a strong work ethic isn’t about working 10+ hours a day without taking any breaks. It’s about being able to meet deadlines while also providing quality output with every task you take on at work. It’s never about who can work long hours but rather knowing how to be productive with your time and creating a positive impact through your work ethic.
Additionally, maintaining healthy boundaries at work also means elevating productivity levels, and making sure that the responsibilities you undertake are in line with your professional values.
5. Empathy
Reading and deciphering the emotions of others and responding in a manner that shows you understand is an important quality. In the workplace. Exhibiting sympathy and support for team members assists in creating stronger relationships.
This skill can also be important if you plan to apply for leadership positions. You can mention how you helped teammates by understanding their concerns.
6. Self-confidence
It’s essential to keep yourself in check while achieving milestones in your professional life, as imposter syndrome can get in the way of your self-confidence. Having confidence in your skills is reflected in the output of your work and this can greatly impact the people you work with on a regular basis.
When you have confidence in your work, you create a positive energy that allows you to motivate others to do the same when approaching the tasks at hand. This also helps you encourage others to work on their career strengths if you’re in a position where you manage others.
7. Collaboration
Another useful skill to acquire is collaboration. Many jobs require employees to work together as a unit to complete projects and provide solutions to overcome challenges.
The skill to work together with other people by sharing responsibilities, giving input and listening to the ideas and suggestions of coworkers are all excellent ways to utilise this skill. You can highlight your ability to effectively collaborate with a team on your resume by listing team projects as part of your work history.
8. Adaptability
Adaptability is a crucial trait to possess in the workplace. The requirements from clients may change at any time. Modifying your approaches to a specific task and realigning your objectives and organisational changes makes you more productive and helpful to any business.
Show this trait on a resume with an example of how you adopted your plans in the workplace with an emphasis on a successful outcome.
9. Honesty
There is no room for deception in the workplace and if there is, you’ll end up working in an environment that’s toxic and hinders professional growth. Whether you’re leading a team or having a meeting with your superior, it’s crucial that you communicate with all honesty.
Being transparent promotes trust in your professional connections and lets people know that you can be trusted in matters where discretion is required. In leadership positions. You may face situations where you have shared information in confidence because they know that you can be trusted owing to your honest and upfront nature.
10. Positivity
Numerous studies have shown that happy employees have higher productivity levels at work. Maintaining positivity doesn’t necessarily have to mean being happy all the time. However, being passionate about what you do is a great start. There comes a point where you need to set healthy boundaries for yourself to set yourself to truly flourish in your work.
In doing so, you’ll avoid overwhelming yourself with work that feels menial. You’ll rather embrace tasks that make you feel you’re creating an impact and worthy of the job position.
Parting Thoughts,
It’s common for most job seekers today to look for companies that provide a great working environment. And great work environment is built with people who nurtured the necessary skills to ensure a healthy workspace. This is the reason it’s imperative to focus on acquiring these valuable skills to maintain a nurturing work environment and ensure better output.