Skillsurveyfeb4fnl-160204205629 1

How Soft-Skills Power Organizational Performance
How soft-skills power

organizational performance
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Rusty Lindquist Michelle Reed

VP Strategic HR Insights Chief Marketing Officer
BambooHR SkillSurvey
High
Conceptual Age
(creators and empathizers)
Information Age
(knowledge workers)
Affluence Abundance
Technology Automation
Globalization Asia
Industrial Age
(factory workers)
Agricultural Age
(farmers) Dan Pink
A Whole New Mind
Low
18th Century 19th Century 20th Century 21st Century
Hard Skills Soft Skills

Skills that are learned to Skills that are less tangible, and
perform a specific job function VS more associated with one’s
and are more easily identifiable traits or personality, that
and quantifiable. determine how we interact.
Mostly about “what you know” Mostly about “how you act”.
EQ
Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the “something” in each of
us that is a bit intangible. It affects how we manage
behavior, navigate social complexities, and make personal
decisions that achieve positive results.
Emotional intelligence is your ability to recognize and

understand emotions in yourself and others, and your
ability to use this awareness to manage your behavior and
relationships.
Travis Bradberry
Author, Emotional Intelligence 2.0
Soft Skills: What are they?
Soft Skills:
An Economic Necessity
–Ram Charan
Best-selling Author,
World-renowned Business Advisor
–Bersin by Deloitte
According to CareerBuilder:
77% of employers believe that soft

skills are just as important as hard
skills.
Almost 20% said they were more

important than hard skills.
Studies have shown that a high emotional quotient (or EQ)

boosts career success, entrepreneurial potential, leadership
talent, health, relationship satisfaction, humor, and happiness.
It is also the best antidote to work stress and it matters in every
job — because all jobs involve dealing with people, and people
with higher EQ are more rewarding to deal with.
-HBR
Soft Skills: Cultural Fit
“The Multi-Generational Job Search”
Following a national survey of job

seekers and HR professionals, 43%
said that “cultural fit” was the single
most important determining factor
when making a new hire.
-Millennial Branding & Beyond.com
Hiring Managers Want More

Strong
Flexible Work Ethic
Dependable 73%
51%
73%
Effective
Communicator Positive
56% Attitude
72%
Organized Team-Oriented
57% 60%
Works Well Confident
Under Pressure 46%
57% Self
Motivated
66%
* Source: CareerBuilder
Resign Yourself
to This Reality
46% of newly 89% for lack of soft

hired employees skills – such as
will fail within 18 professionalism or ability
months to get along with others
* Source: “Hire for Attitude” Forbes, January 23, 2012 † Source: “Hiring for attitude: Research &
bamboohr.com
tools to skyrocket your success rate” Mark Murphy, Leadership IQ, 2012 skillsurvey.com
Hiring Well is Hard

This has probably happened to you before…
Person appears perfect…
 dressed well
 great answers
 a sense of confidence
You hire him in your

organization ….
…and he poisons it
Hiring Well is HARD

• And you inevitably end up saying…
…the thing is,

he interviewed
really well.
What Went Wrong?

- Resumes
“Over 50% of candidates lie on resumes…”

Steven D. Levitt – co-author “Freakonomics”
What Went Wrong?

- Resumes
- Interviews
“81% of people lied about themselves during job interviews…”

Brent Weiss & Robert Feldman, U Mass
What Went Wrong?

- Resumes
- Interviews
- Self-Assessments
“Research consistently demonstrates that candidates are able

to fake personality measures …”
International Journal of Selection and Assessment
“Cognitive ability tests have a high adverse impact for

minorities…”
SHRM Foundation’s Effective Practice Guidelines
“Soft Skills” proficiency:

the truest predictors of success
True Predictors of Success

Proficiency in a short list of competency areas, which focus on soft
skills, are the true predictors of success in almost every job.
Interpersonal Problem Solving

Professionalism
Skills and Adaptability
Personal Value Managing

Leadership
Commitment Others
Professionalism
It’s the “price of entry” and consists of
a wide variety of behaviors and skills.
Some apply to jobs across the board:
- Dependability
- Following instructions
- Work ethic
Professionalism
Chemical Engineer Sales Professional
- Develop and implement - Accurately prepare customer
comprehensive safety orders, proposals,
procedures for workers who presentations and out-ward
handle chemicals and operate facing communications to
equipment customers
- Ensure compliance with all - Consistently meet or exceed
relevant safety and sales goals
environmental regulations
- Comprehend the sales cycle
(e.g., follow all rules for
and follow best practices
disposal of hazardous
throughout the entire process
materials
Interpersonal Skills
Having interpersonal skills like the
following will make a candidate far more
likely to succeed:
- Listening
- Relationship-building
- Collaboration
Interpersonal Skills
Housekeeper Registered Nurse
- Provide a high level of service - Provide others with personal
to all guests assistance, medical attention,
and emotional support in a
- Remain calm and helpful
caring and compassionate
when handling complains
manner
from guests
- Listen carefully to patients
and co-workers, taking time to
understand and ask
appropriate questions without
interrupting
Problem Solving
and Adaptability
Every job essentially requires the ability to assess
and analyze issues as well as adaptability to changing
conditions:
- Analyzing and summarizing information

- Making decisions
- Adapting to change
If you can determine problem solving and

adaptability of a candidate based upon the
challenges of a specific job, you will get insight
into the candidate’s likely success in your organization.
Problem Solving
and Adaptability
Help Desk Support Payroll Clerk
- Remain flexible and adapt to - Make high-quality decisions
variety on the job (e.g., based upon facts and
effectively handle unexpected business priorities
situations and changing
- Know when to escalate
conditions)
issues to manager in order to
- Handle multiple projects ensure prompt resolution to
effectively in a fast-paced problems
environment
Personal Value Commitment

A candidate’s commitment to values and ethics is a key
driver of your own risk exposure. It’s important to know to
what degree and applicant possesses:
- Integrity
- Respect for others
- Adherence to standards
and policies
There are positions that provide

employees with access to sensitive
personal, financial or security data.
Personal Value Commitment

Controller Graphic Artist
- Act with ethics and integrity, - Ensure that all aspects of a
ensuring that the project meet or exceed
organization’s financial industry standards
activities and records meet or
- Act with ethics and integrity,
exceed accounting standards
maintaining confidentiality
- Maintain confidentiality and and privacy of client and
privacy of company and client company information
information
Hiring Someone to Be
in a Position of Power?
If so, you’re probably going to
need to understand two additional
competencies and apply them
to determine job success.
Managing Others
While many jobs clearly demand management skills,
many others will call on them at times.
Skills needed include:

- Selecting and retaining talent
- Leading a team
- Holding others accountable
Leadership
The truly high profile positions
call for an even larger set of
competencies.
Skills needed include:
- Setting direction
- Managing change
- Motivating others
Leadership
Chief Financial Officer
- Work with the executive team to develop short and long-term
financial plans, objectives, policies and actions
- Serve as a trusted advisor to the President and others on challenging
solutions
Chief Information Officer

- Act as a catalyst, communicating the need for change and inspiring
action
- Create the vision to master information technology as a competitive
tool
True Predictors of Success

Proficiency in a short list of competency areas, which focus on soft
skills, are the true predictors of success in almost every job.
Interpersonal Problem Solving

Professionalism
Skills and Adaptability
Personal Value Managing

Leadership
Commitment Others
Soft skills are

important
Resumes, interviews,
personality assessments
Soft skills are

important
Resumes, interviews,
personality assessments
Feedback related
to past work
performance is
the single best
predictor of future
job success
“When the criterion was academic

achievement or job performance,
other-ratings yielded predictive
validities substantially greater than
and incremental to self-ratings.”
Connelly & Ones, 2010, p. 1092
“Nothing in the science of prediction

and selection beats observing actual
performance in an equivalent role.”
Peter Cappelli, Director, Center for Human Resources, The Wharton School
A Different Approach
Job Specific Insights from References
Better Compliance
More Informed Hiring Decisions
Studies and Published

Reports are Proof
Bottom-Line:
Soft Skills Matter
“ While leaders need analytical competencies such as those

associated with strategy, finance and all the planning
processes, research on Emotional Intelligence suggests it is
increasingly the "soft" skills that differentiate those who are
highly successful from those who just get by.
- “What makes a leader” HBR
“ What can’t be replaced in any organization imaginable in the

future is precisely what seems overlooked today: liberal arts
skills, such as creativity, empathy, listening, and vision. These
skills, not digital or technological ones, will hold the keys to a
company’s future success. And yet companies aren’t hiring for
them. This is a problem for today’s digital companies, and it’s
only going to get worse.
- Tom Perrault, Chief People Officer
Soft-Skills Identification & Hiring
Soft-Skills Alignment
Soft-Skills Development
Thank you!
Follow BambooHR and SkillSurvey on social media:
bamboohr.com/blog | skillsurvey.com
Questions?
BambooHR
Receive a free job posting on our ATS and full HRIS for one week.
We will contact everyone within the next few days to set this up.
SkillSurvey
Download our free eBook: Soft Skills, Hard Benefits: Assessing the key
predictors of successful hires

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How Soft-Skills Power Organizational Performance

How soft-skills power

Rusty Lindquist Michelle Reed

Hard Skills Soft Skills

Emotional intelligence is your ability to recognize and

Soft Skills: What are they?

77% of employers believe that soft

Almost 20% said they were more

Studies have shown that a high emotional quotient (or EQ)

Soft Skills: Cultural Fit

“The Multi-Generational Job Search”

Following a national survey of job

-Millennial Branding & Beyond.com

Hiring Managers Want More

46% of newly 89% for lack of soft

Hiring Well is Hard

Person appears perfect…

You hire him in your

Hiring Well is HARD

…the thing is,

What Went Wrong?

“Over 50% of candidates lie on resumes…”

What Went Wrong?

“81% of people lied about themselves during job interviews…”

What Went Wrong?

“Research consistently demonstrates that candidates are able

“Cognitive ability tests have a high adverse impact for

“Soft Skills” proficiency:

True Predictors of Success

Interpersonal Problem Solving

Personal Value Managing

- Analyzing and summarizing information

If you can determine problem solving and

Personal Value Commitment

There are positions that provide

Personal Value Commitment

Skills needed include:

Chief Information Officer

True Predictors of Success

Interpersonal Problem Solving

Personal Value Managing

Soft skills are

Soft skills are

“When the criterion was academic

“Nothing in the science of prediction

Job Specific Insights from References

More Informed Hiring Decisions

Studies and Published

Soft Skills Matter

“ While leaders need analytical competencies such as those

- “What makes a leader” HBR

“ What can’t be replaced in any organization imaginable in the

- Tom Perrault, Chief People Officer

Soft-Skills Identification & Hiring

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