Jun 10, 2014 | Blog

Predicting New Hire Success: The Four Key Areas of Soft Skills to Evaluate

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“Well-rounded employees are worth their weight in gold.”

 

“Well-rounded employees are worth their weight in gold” according to Kyle Lagunas for a recent HRO Today post, and I would be inclined to agree. While we see a lot in the blogosphere today about soft skills, it is not a recent phenomenon.   Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People has been teaching “people skills” for almost 80 years now.  So why does this topic persist?

 

A recent survey delivers some eye-opening statistics:

  • “Nearly one in five employers (19%) say candidates lack the required employability skills or ‘soft skills’”
  • “Nearly three in ten (28%) hiring managers—a percentage unchanged when compared with 2012—cite a shortage of soft skills as a factor contributing to the skills gap in their labor markets.”
  • “Almost three in ten (29%) say that existing candidates lack experience (up from 24% in 2012). A lack of soft skills among candidates is also becoming more common this year, with 15% of employers encountering this compared with 11% in 2012.”

 

With the evolving talent landscape, most people don’t expect to work the same job for an entire career and retire with a gold watch.  Millennials in particular are likely to remain in a position for only two years.  The stigma of job-hopping is also changing as Gen Y workers focus on acquiring new skills to continue their career development.  The focus for companies shifts to sourcing candidates with both technical and transferable skills. 

 

The Four Key Areas of Soft Skills to Evaluate                   

 

According to research from SkillSurvey, the four areas of soft skills that are predictive of new hire success are professionalism, interpersonal skills, problem-solving, and personal value commitment.  A few of these may be self-explanatory, but let’s dive in just a bit further.

 

Professionalism equates to dependability or work ethic and probably doesn’t need much explanation to the HR crowd.  Interpersonal skills involve the ability to actively listen and support relationship-building, not just simply hearing the conversation and moving on.  Problem-solving is adapting to changes and challenges, while analyzing information and making decisions that impact the business.  (Does multi-tasking mean completing five tasks an hour past deadline, or does it instead mean evaluating and prioritizing the four most important tasks to be completed on time?)  Personal value commitment relates to integrity, respect for others, and values and ethics.  (What is the risk of sharing sensitive data with this employee?)  How a candidate performs in these four areas shows he can overcome adversity, get along with peers, and do the right thing for the company.

 

That Makes Sense, Now What?

 

According to a recent study, “46% of new hires fail within 18 months.”  What is the best way to assess for soft skills before making a hire so you can improve the retention rate at your company?  HCI recently explored this topic in the webcast Soft Skills, Hard Benefits: Assessing the Key Predictors of Hiring Success.  Predictive analytics are changing the way HR approaches the recruiting process and how the skills that matter most are measured pre-hire.  Firms that can learn how to assess candidates for the key predictors for success will be at a distinct advantage.