When evaluating whether or not to hire a certain candidate, their skills should be a major factor in the decision. Of course, there are other factors, such as experience, how well they fit in with the company’s culture and their accomplishments in previous positions. However, a candidate needs to have the appropriate skills in order to succeed in a certain position. A candidate can be hired for soft skills or hard skills, although it is possible to hire a candidate because of both. Here are some tips on hiring for soft and hard skills and how this type of hiring can benefit the company.
Hiring for Soft Skills Improves Employee Retention and Workplace Productivity
There are many benefits of hiring candidates for their soft skills. One of them is that hiring for soft skills improves both employee retention and workplace productivity. A study conducted by Boston University, the University of Michigan and Harvard University discovered that training employees’ soft skills improved employee retention and workplace productivity by a total of 12%. As a result, the company receives a 256% return on investment.
Hiring for Soft Skills Allows One to Deliver Better Customer Service
Another benefit of hiring candidates for soft skills is that it allows the company to provide customers with better customer service. These soft skills include empathy, communication and active listening. Superior customer service is vital for a company’s success, especially those that operate in very competitive industries. Such customer service will help a certain company stand out from its competition.
When customers receive better customer service, the company enjoys improved sales. Customers who receive excellent customer service from a certain company are more likely to view that company positively. They may even advertise the company to their friends and family. Various studies support the connection between excellent customer service and increased sales. One such study done by Forrester found that businesses that concentrated on customer experience increased their revenue 1.4 times faster than companies that did not focus on customer experience. Companies that focused on customer experience also increased customer lifetime value 1.6 times as much as companies that lacked a customer experience focus.
Tips for Hiring for Soft Skills
The first thing that to do when hiring for soft skills is look at the company’s job descriptions. Evaluate whether or not the current job descriptions concentrate on various soft skills such as teamwork and communication. If this is not the case, carefully consider the competencies the job requires. After this is done, alter the job posting accordingly to reflect the focus on soft skills.
Structuring job interviews correctly can lead to more effective hiring for soft skills. One phrase that is quite common in business in general is that soft skills can’t be trained but hard skills can be trained. Due to this, make sure to structure job interviews so they provide insight into a candidate’s soft skills competencies. Standardize the job interview questions when structuring the interview process. Doing so is vital because it is useful in keeping any potential bias that an interviewer might have in check.
Hiring for Hard Skills Can Improve the Company’s Advertising
Advertising is one of the most important parts of any successful company. In this day and age, it is essential to hire employees who have strong digital marketing skills in order to promote the company and attract customers. Hiring candidates with hard skills can help the company market itself more effectively. This is due to the fact that digital marketing is one of the most common hard skills that candidates may have. Digital marketing includes a number of abilities, such as content creation, search engine optimization, email marketing and data mining. Hiring candidates with these skills can help the company refine its digital marketing strategy.
Tips for Hiring for Hard Skills
One tip that companies should heed if they want to hire candidates for their hard skills as part of their talent acquisition strategy is to emphasize the importance of the skills section on the resume. The skills section is the part of the resume that typically outlines a candidate’s hard skills. This section is typically at the side or top of the resume. These skills should also illustrate an achievement so they are actionable. When hiring for a candidate’s hard skills, put special emphasis on the skills section of the resume and what it demonstrates about the candidate in question.