Whether it’s trying to hire top talent or finding the perfect employee for that promotion, it’s about whether you’ve got the skills.

Stats show that employees who, after being with a company for two years, are able to get a promotion and progress internally, are much more likely to stick around for the long haul. We get it - career progression is key for a lot of us when it comes to keeping interested at work.

Whether you want to make moves at your current workplace or you’re ready for a change of scenery, it’s essential to keep up with your ongoing education.

But there’s so many possible skills, what should I even focus on? We hear you!

Generally the most vital human skills companies need from their employees (and therefore you should consider focusing on) are management, communication, teamwork and leadership. These are what we’d call soft skills.

Soft skills are skills that are transferable and can be used and applied across a number of different occupations and industries. They generally revolve around people’s personalities and the traits they need to succeed in the workplace - things like being able to communicate with clients and other team members, mentoring, negotiation skills, etc. They’re typically the skills that will increase productivity and efficiency.

As a little side note - with AI functions potentially taking over some of our more hard skill functions in the future, getting your soft skills in tip top shape is becoming increasingly important.

So, how do you expand your soft skills and snag that dream job?

Are they really that important?

Short answer. Yes!

Strong soft skills typically translate to positive outcomes for businesses.

Great presentation, networking and sales skills, along with an ability to influence, can mean you’re strong at up-selling, cross-selling and winning new business. Who doesn’t want someone who can boost their bottom line.

Strong problem solving, customer service and conflict resolution skills can mean you’re great at building relationships and rapport with customers and potential prospects, as well as your colleagues and leaders. We all love a team player.

Find your strengths and skills

Whether you’re ready to go it solo and upskill yourself or you want to approach your employer about expanding your skills, the first thing you probably want to do is identify your strongest soft skills and what needs some improvement. There’s a few easy ways to do that aside from simply sitting with yourself and making a list.

• You can get feedback from family, friends and colleagues about where they feel your strengths lie.
• Something a little left of field, but personality tests can also be a great basis for identifying your skill sets. This article links to a number of great options. Once you know what you have, you can figure out what you don’t have and need to improve on.

Time to go to work

Alright, so you know what you want to work on. What exactly should you do to develop these skills? We’ve got a few ideas.

• Get feedback - ask colleagues and team leaders their opinion on where they think you could use some development.
• Partner up - find a contact or mentor who has a set of strong soft skills you’d like to improve and ask them for feedback. Spend time chatting with them about how you can enhance your skills and even shadow them in certain situations to get some first-hand experience.
• Practice makes perfect - find a friend who you can roleplay various sales situations or negotiations with.
• Get coached - if you’re looking to work on specific soft skills in a short period of time, coaching is a great option, especially for all our leaders out there.
• Online courses - there’s also plenty of online learning you can do while you’re laying around on the lounge. Sources like LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, edX and Udemy are a great start.

Ready to make some moves?

As we mentioned earlier, soft skills are typically those that work across any and all industries. If you’re looking to develop and utilise your soft skills specifically for the purpose of making moves into something new, here are a few ways to go about it.

• Assess the soft skills you're strongest in and the areas you enjoy working in most. Combine that with any hard skill sets you already have and then make a map of any potential roles that match up with you and your skills.
• If you’re really not sure where you want to move, find just a few areas that interest you and figure out what soft skills are important in that field. Then, find some of your own personal examples that demonstrate your competency in these and make them a talking point in any of your applications and interviews.

Show ‘em what you’ve got

Alright, so you’ve found the job of your dreams and you want to make sure your skills really stand out. What are some of the ways you can make sure you're seriously showcasing what you have to offer?

• Serve some stats - people love to see the numbers. Maybe you can show how many of your presentations have resulted in sales or the size of the teams you’ve previously managed and what they achieved.
• Communicate - this seems like a pretty simple one but execution is key here. Make sure you show off your skills in your cover letter and/or your resume. Also, when talking about examples in an interview, whip out the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result). This will really help highlight not only what skills you have, but how you’ve used them before.
• Watch your language - speaking of communication, the way you talk can be another really simple way to highlight your soft skills. Use your action verbs - things like, “I analysed” and “I researched”.
• Spruce up your social media - potential employers will no doubt be checking your online presence, so get things like your LinkedIn up to date. Make sure you have your skills noted on your profile and highlight your areas of expertise.

Let your soft skills shine

If you’re ready to stretch your wings and try something new or make moves internally, soft skills are where it’s at.

Take some time to identify your skills, where you might need to put in some work and gather feedback from others. Learn how to articulate what you do best and don’t be afraid to show off those stats. You’ve got this!