The current hybrid work model has a combination of face-to-face and remote, with special relevance to soft skillsthat is, the interpersonal skills related to the way employees interact and interact.
In 2022, the challenge for human resources professionals is to identify employees who are capable of building critical skills and competencies, as stated in the latest Gartner report. At this point, the firm emphasizes structuring talent strategies around skills and not just professional roles.
Skill profiles have evolved in recent years in response to today’s changing environment. In this context, the experts at Netmind, a digital transformation consultancy, bring together The Most Wanted Qualities on Resumes by Recruiters in order to identify those most popular soft skills. Analytical and critical thinking skills, problem solving, flexibility and adaptation to change, leadership skills, communication and social skills, creativity or teamwork will be some of the skills most sought after by human resources professionals over the coming months .
“Companies need to incorporate professionals with great human skills and soft skills, that is, intangible qualities that are more difficult to develop, but highly relevant and impactful for the development of business activities”, points out Aleix Palau Escursell, CEO of Netmind. “The X-shaped skills profile is the most complete: these are professionals with training to function in social environments, whose work is carried out with various people in different industries or areas of a company”.
The X-shaped skills profile
The X-shaped individual is a professional with the ability to work in multiple areas. These are open profiles that not only integrate breadth and depth, but also coexist with diversity and the ability to expand into new domains as needed. This term is used, for example, to refer directly to those employees who are excellent at converging on practices such as HR, Design, Innovation, NWoW, etc. That is, they manifest social skills and can work with different people in different industries or areas of a company. They are also able to bring together very different groups (indicated by the cross section of the X) so that they can collaborate effectively.
Among the skills of this type of profiles, the following stand out:
- Critical thinking. These professionals are capable of critically and objectively analyzing different situations, in order to make decisions without risk, as well as prioritize tasks in projects of various kinds.
- Problem resolution. A detailed analysis of the situation is essential to face daily obstacles with resilience. Remote work has highlighted the difficulties in solving certain day-to-day problems. In the interviews, talent professionals will be interested in practical examples in which it is evident that the professional is a resolute, independent, initiative person who finds creative solutions to problems.
- Flexibility. The pandemic has demonstrated the high degree of flexibility between companies and their employees. A trend that will remain in force in the coming months. And it is that recruiters will value more than ever the ability to adapt, tolerance to stress and unforeseen changes, as well as the degree of adaptability to new work environments.
- Leadership. An ability to persuade, motivate, organize and carry out different actions within the organization. Leaders are generally charismatic people, with values, who know how to actively listen to the team and motivate them to enhance their talent.
- Communication and social skills. Among the many communicative skills, active listening, empathy, non-verbal communication, negotiation skills or a sense of humor stand out. On the other hand, social and group integration skills are basic to guarantee proper teamwork and a good atmosphere within the company.
