Soft skills every employee should have

With the rise of technology and innovation, employees are padding up their skills with the likes of data analytics, user experience, artificial intelligence to help companies drive up productivity and profitability.

But, according to resources online, there is also more emphasis on soft skills in three specific areas that are trending in top workplace skills to have.

Being adaptive to change

As the saying goes, change is constant, and our skills and expertise need to be upgraded and expanded.

But other than these, being adaptive to change is also with regards to the environment. This can refer to scenarios such as the introduction of new technology, diverse workforce, acquisitions and mergers, or even retrenchments.

When confronted with change, it is said that many people will feel loss, fear, and even anxiety, that can eventually lead to stress.

But, if we accept that change is normal - we can practise to be adaptive and move towards being proactive and taking actions before the change takes place.

With an adaptive mindset, we can continually be learning, being open to new opportunities, keeping our skills relevant, and accepting new work experiences.

Learn empathy to build connections

Empathy is the ability to understand the situation from another person's perspective. Not just for managers, empathy is a key skill for all employees to have.

The skill allows employees to enhance their working relationship with their colleagues, clients, and stakeholders; and potentially improve the overall environment at their workplace.

With these skills, an employee of any seniority can approach another with the right approach through mindful words, thoughts, actions, and decisions.

With empathy, it can also allow you to observe your emotions, your thought process, and become a better teammate and build better working relationships to accelerate work productivity.

Give and accept feedback appropriately

With empathy, it can enhance your skills in giving appropriate feedback.

Constructive feedback is a useful and valued insight to foster greater work efficiency and relationships.

A soft skill that is seen in higher regard these days, feedback is no longer just limited between managers and their employees.

Nowadays, in the office or through social media platforms, people can share feedback on work and experiences. Feedback can also be utilised as a great motivating tool.

By learning how to communicate and accept feedback, we can tap into this useful information to improve ourselves and our work processes.