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Career Development Behavioural skills: definition, importance and examples

Behavioural skills: definition,

importance and examples
Indeed Editorial Team

Updated 13 March 2023

Behavioural skills can help you develop professionally. Skills related to your behaviour and
how you form relationships with people can be an important component of your personality
both at work and in your personal life. Having these skills can provide you with greater job
satisfaction and be valuable in helping you progress in your career. In this article, we discuss
what behavioural skills are, explore examples of key skills, show how to improve your skills,
examine how you can use them in the workplace and provide tips for highlighting them.

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What are behavioural skills?

Behavioural skills are the abilities you have that influence how you interact with other people
and how you respond to certain situations. They direct aspects of your behaviour, such as your
emotional responses, how you think about things, your capacity to socialise and your actions
and reactions. Many skills that inform your social attributes and how you connect with people
and form relationships are behavioural. This can include your communication and empathy
skills, for example. Many people naturally have these skills, though it's also possible to learn
and improve them to help you progress in your career.

Examples of these skills

Here are examples of skills related to behaviour:

Communication
Communication covers much more than simply how you talk to people. Writing, active
listening and picking up on non-verbal cues are all part of this behavioural skill. Effective
communication involves being able to present ideas, feelings and information while also
properly understanding and appreciating what others are saying to you. Being a strong
communicator can help improve your confidence and your efficiency at work.

Related: What are communication skills?

Empathy
Connecting with other people and forming strong relationships with them often requires
understanding how they're thinking and feeling. Having well-developed empathy skills allows
you to understand the perspective of others and recognise and appreciate their viewpoints.
You may be able to tell if a colleague is feeling stressed, for example, even if they don't say so.
Empathy is a key skill in effectively collaborating with others and making them feel
comfortable connecting with you.

Related: Empathic skills: definition, examples and how to improve

Conflict resolution
Disagreements and disputes may arise in the workplace. Being able to handle them positively
and mitigate any potential negative outcomes is key to working effectively. This is where
conflict resolution skills can be an important part of your behaviour. This can involve
impartially assessing the dispute and suggesting solutions or simply acting as a mediator and
facilitating positive communication between the disputing parties as they work towards a
solution themselves. Effective and responsive conflict resolution can be a valuable skill in
driving collaboration.

Related: What are conflict resolution skills? Definition and examples

Time management
Time management is a key behavioural trait to help ensure you work productively and
efficiently. This can involve scheduling your tasks to ensure you have enough time to complete
them. You might set goals and objectives to work towards, such as delivery deadlines, to keep
you on track and identify strategies to achieve these goals. Prioritising work to ensure you
complete the most important tasks first is also an important aspect of effective time
management.

Related: 12 strategies to help you overcome procrastination

Decision making
The ability to make decisions effectively can be an important skill in many jobs, particularly
those that involve leadership. Positive decision-making behaviour may involve seeking input
from others and gathering as much relevant information as possible. You can then use these
inputs to devise possible courses of action, assessing each to identify the most effective
solution for the challenge you face. Decision makers often accept ultimate responsibility for
the chosen course of action and its consequences, so there's often a close link between
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decision-making behaviour and responsibility and accountability.

Related: The difference between responsibility vs. accountability at work

How to improve your skills

Here are steps you can follow to improve your skills:

1. Focus on a specific skill

Many skills can be valuable to you professionally. The best way to learn these skills, though, is
to focus on one at a time. Pick a skill that you believe can be of most value in helping you
succeed in your role. For instance, if you have a customer-facing job, you may wish to improve
your communication skills. Focusing on one aspect of your behavioural skill set at a time when
first developing your skills may improve your chance of successfully developing them.

Related: How to identify skill gaps in the workplace (with tips)

2. Set goals
Setting yourself short-term goals can help you achieve the long-term, overall aim of learning a
new skill. Having a series of smaller achievable targets can keep you motivated as you learn
and allow you to see how you're progressing and improving. If your overall aim is to improve
your communication skills, a short-term goal could be to initiate a conversation with a
colleague you haven't spoken to before or to volunteer to lead a group presentation.

Related: How to set goals for yourself (and why it's important)

3. Find chances to practise

Practising the skill you're trying to develop can help you improve and develop habits that can
help you learn something new to the point where the skill becomes second nature. Look for
opportunities to use the skill you're learning practically in your work. For example, if the
behaviour you're trying to develop is time management, set a schedule for your work. Skills
training sessions may also be available to you where you can practise the skill you're
developing in training scenarios or role-playing exercises.

Related: Role play scenarios and a guide for their application

4. Watch others
You may have colleagues who have a natural ability in the skill you're trying to develop. Watch
how they act and how they employ this skill. It may be beneficial to try and analyse and imitate
their behaviour. For example, if you have a colleague who is a strong communicator, observing
them may reveal how they use active listening. You can then imitate this and try using active
listening when you communicate with people.

Related: How to improve your active listening skills

5. Keep your skill sharp

Once you've learned a new skill, the best way to effectively keep this skill is to use it as often as
you can. Continually using your skills in a practical setting can also help you improve them
further. The more experience you're able to draw on when using a skill, the more effective you
may be at using it. Having a strong, well-practised set of skills can help improve your
productivity and overall job satisfaction.

These skills in the workplace

Here are some ways to practically apply your skills to help you in the workplace:

Collaboration: Improving certain skills related to behaviour can make it easier for you to
collaborate with colleagues. Effective collaboration towards achieving a shared goal can be
key to succeeding in many jobs.

Improved productivity: You may be more productive if you're skilled in interacting with
others and reacting positively in certain situations. A well-developed set of behaviour-
related skills can also make you feel more confident and comfortable at work, improving
your productivity.

Good working culture: Many of these skills relate to your capacity to have positive
interactions with other people and build strong relationships with them. This can help foster
a positive working environment, which can help improve job satisfaction.

Showing your leadership capacity: Additionally, several of these traits demonstrate an

aptitude for leadership. Strong leaders tend to have good decision-making and conflict
resolution skills.

Career progression: Skills related to behaviour can often be transferrable to other roles. A
strong behavioural skill set can also show employers that you have a certain level of
maturity and are ready for career advancement.

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How to highlight your skills

Here are tips for presenting and highlighting your skills in different situations:

1. CV and cover letter

Your CV and cover letter are your first chance to show employers your behavioural skill set. In
addition to just listing your skills, use your job history to give examples of how you've
practically applied them. Consider using examples of situations where you were able to
overcome a specific challenge or add value by using your skills. Reinforce your most valuable
skills by highlighting the relevant examples in your cover letter, allowing potential employers
to see these examples immediately.

Related: CV vs cover letter: what's the difference between the two?

2. Interview
Consider using practical examples in answers to interview questions about your skills. Think of
anecdotes of how you used your skill set effectively in a work setting. Consider these
examples before the interview, but don't prepare a verbatim answer to memorise. Natural,
conversational answers that respond directly to the interviewer's question are often better
received than overly rehearsed answers that perhaps don't flow as well in an interview.

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