Soft skills in different professional environments

• Main Author: Pinto, Paula
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: eng
• Source: Repositórios Científicos de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP)
• Download full: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.15/3522
• topic: Soft Skills

Nowadays’ workplace is constantly changing due to increasing knowledge and technology. Individuals must adapt to different working environments and new ways of thinking, which involves a wide set of “soft skills”. A recent study with employers from several sectors ranked communication, teamwork, and being committed to work as the most important skills to enhance graduate employability [1]. This review aimed to add knowledge on the types of soft skills more required by employers in different professional areas. A search on Web of Science was performed for the last two years with the search terms: “soft skills” OR “transferable skills” OR “transversal skills”. A total of 143 papers were retrieved, and 109 relating to adults were selected for further analysis. Skills most required by employers from different professional settings were: i) business: integrity, communication, courtesy, responsibility, social skills, positive attitude, professionalism, flexibility, teamwork, work ethic; ii) research: inspiring trust, emotional intelligence, strategic thinking, empowering others, flexibility; iii) food industry: listening effectively, team-work skills; iv) sport industry: social skills, teamwork, self-confidence, being proactive, ethics, problem solving skills. With the levelling of technical skills in European labour market, soft skills emerge as an essential factor in career development. The most required skills from employers were interpersonal skills such as communication, social skills, and teamwork, and intrapersonal skills such as ethics and flexibility. Coaching is a valuable resource to develop these soft skills. Coaching practice focus on people, instead of only on tasks, and has been shown to provide a practical way to raise confidence, awareness, and build supportive and collaborative skills within a team [2]. [1] Succi, C., & Canovi, M. (2020). Studies in Higher Education, 45(9), 1834-1847. [2] Thompson, S. International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching & Mentoring, 2019: p. 4-15