What Are Soft Skills?

Soft skills are the attributes and behaviours that describe how a person approaches their tasks. You likely use soft skills across all areas of your life, such as communication, critical thinking, problem-solving, and other interpersonal skills. These skills are particularly valued in the workplace.

Soft skills are commonly referred to as transferable skills, human skills, or workplace skills. These alternative names can be a bit more descriptive when you’re thinking about and discussing your skill set.

Explore the high-value soft skills employers look for and discover some tips for improving yours.

Hard skills vs. soft skills

Hard skills (technical skills) are specific, teachable abilities that are directly related to a job or task, while soft skills (workplace or human skills) are personal qualities and interpersonal skills that impact how you work and interact with others.

Some examples of technical skills are data analysis, computer programming, writing, and UX design. Some soft skills are communication, teamwork, time management, and integrity. When you complete a task, you often use a combination of hard and soft skills—technical skills to guide your process, and workplace skills to encourage effective outcomes.

What workplace skills are employers looking for?

Workplace skills can offer insight into a person’s approach to work beyond the technical or context-specific aspects of their role. For many employers, how you do something is just as important as what you are doing, especially when it comes to long-term learning, growth, and success.

A study by Yale University found that managers who had soft skills relating to their emotional intelligence had happier, more creative staff than those without those soft skills [1]. Bloomberg's analysis of Reed Recruitment's data in early 2024 reveals that more employers are looking for soft skills over experience and technical skills, noting that mention of "excellent communication" in job adverts increased by 18 per cent compared to pre-COVID levels [2]. 

Employers often consider workplace skills to forecast a person’s future potential. This type of character analysis may come into play when choosing the leads for a new project or deciding whether an employee is ready for a promotion. Hiring managers also assess workplace skills to determine whether a job candidate will be a good fit for a specific team.

Soft skills examples

Different employers will value workplace skills differently. Some examples of desirable workplace skills include:

• Active listening

• Adaptability

• Communication

• Creativity

• Critical thinking

• Empathy

• Leadership

• Organisation

• Problem-solving

• Resourcefulness

• Strategic thinking

• Teamwork

• Time management

Ways to improve your workplace skills

Since workplace skills are largely tied to behaviour, improving them may involve shifting your regular patterns, approaches, or thought processes. This type of work tends to require practice and patience, but over time, you’ll likely notice more ease as you tap into your workplace skills.

If you have a specific skill in mind that you’d like to improve, think about ways you can implement that skill into your daily life. You can also consult a life coach for help developing a personalised plan of action, read helpful books and publications, and take courses relating to developing soft skills.

Consider the following ideas for improving your workplace skills:

1. Practise different communication styles.

People tend to prefer different communication styles, whether that’s delivery methods—such as conversation, email, or text—or the manner of the delivery, like passive or assertive communication. In addition to your communication skills, considering how you might approach communicating in different situations can be an opportunity to practise adaptability, critical thinking, and strategic thinking.

To practise different communication styles, you might try to express the same idea in various ways, such as writing it down, describing it aloud, putting it into a presentation, or delivering it to various audiences.

Read more: 10 Tips to Improve Public Speaking Skills

2. Join a group project.

Beyond demonstrating your ability to take the initiative, joining a group project can offer opportunities to practise several workplace skills, such as teamwork, time management, and active listening. As a bonus, group projects can enable you to bring your technical skills into a collaborative environment.

To join a group project, take an interest in what colleagues are working on and offer your help where it may be beneficial or look for opportunities within your local community.

3. Learn something new.

Learning something new can expand your typical way of thinking and encourage growth. Strong links exist between learning and creativity, so whatever you decide to learn, you may stand to gain technical knowledge and enhance your creative thinking and problem-solving skills.

To learn something new, check out the class offerings at your local community centre, college, or art centre, or browse popular courses on Coursera.

4. Socialise with teammates.

You use workplace skills in every interaction. Simply getting to know your teammates, whether you are part of a team or workmates and colleagues, can be an effective way to practise your communication and active listening and can create opportunities for future collaboration.

If it feels appropriate, approach socialising with your teammates or colleagues with an interest in their lives and a willingness to share about your own.

5. Suggest improvements to processes.

As you build your technical and workplace skills, you may notice some opportunities to improve how things are done in your workplace. Thinking critically about processes, recognising problems, and finding viable solutions are all valued workplace skills.

To suggest improvements to processes, you may want to ask your manager about their preferred process and what information they’ll need to assess your suggestions.

6. Ask for feedback.

Many workplace skills have an element of interactivity, and sometimes an outside perspective can help illuminate things you are doing well and areas you may want to focus on improving. Similarly, offering feedback to others can be an opportunity to practise active listening, leadership, and teamwork.

To ask for feedback, turn to your manager, recent project collaborators, or other colleagues with whom you’ve built relationships.

How to include workplace skills on a CV

Consider including your workplace skills on your CV within your summary or profile, or in a special skills section. Additionally, you can select action words that align with the skills you want to demonstrate within your work experience section. Then, you can use your cover letter to share further details.

Remember that workplace skills are reflected in how you approach your work, so when you discuss your successes, share what you did, how you did it, and your impact.

Read more: Skills for CV Writing: Top Skills to Include on Your CV

Keep learning with Coursera.

Soft skills, like communication and teamwork, are essential for workplace success. Employers value these transferable skills because they impact how you approach your work and interact with colleagues. Strengthening your soft skills, also called workplace or human skills, can help you become a more valuable asset in any work environment.

Continue working on your workplace skills with Coursera. Browse popular workplace skills courses from top institutions and industry leaders, or check out IBM’s People and Soft Skills for Professional and Personal Success Specialization. Sign up for a free seven-day, all-access trial and start learning today.

Give your team access to a catalogue of 8,000+ engaging courses and hands-on Guided Projects to help them develop impactful skills. Learn more about Coursera for Business.