1.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
The Hard Truth
And why they’re critical in today’s organization.
About Soft Skills

2.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Rusty Lindquist
Vice President, Thought Leadership
BambooHR
Michelle Reed
Chief Marketing Officer
SkillSurvey

3.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Hard Skills
Skills that are learned to
perform a specific job function
and are more easily identifiable
and quantifiable.
Mostly about “what you know”
VS
Soft Skills
Skills that are less tangible, and
more associated with one’s
traits or personality, that
determine how we interact.
Mostly about “how you act”.

4.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
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

5.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Soft Skills: What are they?

6.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Where hard skills are
about the what, soft skills
are about the how.

7.
The Rise of Soft Skills
& Why They Matter Now

8.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Hiring Managers Want More
* Source: CareerBuilder
Flexible
51%
Self
Motivated
66%
Strong
Work Ethic
73%Dependable
73%
Positive
Attitude
72%
Team-Oriented
60%
Organized
57%
Works Well
Under Pressure
57%
Effective
Communicator
56%
Confident
46%

9.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
77% of employers believe that soft
skills are just as important as hard
skills.
Almost 20% said they were more
important than hard skills.
According to CareerBuilder

10.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Resign yourself to this reality:
46%
of newly hired
employees will ultimately
fail within 18 months
* Source: “Hire for Attitude” Forbes, January 23, 2012 † Source: “Hiring for attitude: Research &
tools to skyrocket your success rate” Mark Murphy, Leadership IQ, 2012
89%
for lack of soft skills – such
as professionalism or ability
to get along with others

11.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Innovation:
The keystone of
differentiation

12.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Competitive Abundance
GLOBALIZATION
has shrunk the world
TECHNOLOGY
has leveled the playing field
LOW ENTRY BARRIER
has increased startups
@Rusty Lindquist

13.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Differentiation decay

14.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com

15.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Focus on Who You Are
PEOPLE
Relentlessly attracting, inspiring,
and empowering great people.
CULTURE
Creating a great place to work,
so great work can take place.
@Rusty Lindquist

16.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
| @RustyLindquist

17.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Ram Charan
Best-selling Author, Business Advisor

18.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com

19.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Soft Skills are the truest
predictors of success.
Professionalism
Interpersonal
Skills
Problem Solving
and Adaptability
Personal Value
Commitment
Managing
Others
Leadership
Proficiency in a short list of competency areas, which focus on soft skills, are the true
predictors of success in almost every job

20.
Hiring for Soft Skills

21.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Step 1:
Use job descriptions to
communicate required soft skills

22.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Identify the soft skills that matter
to the position you’re hiring for
• Talk to your hiring managers about what they look for
when they’re building a team
• Discover what behaviors make those teams work—and
fail
• Take a look at competitor’s job descriptions to see how
jobs are being positioned
• Rely on experts who’ve already done the legwork of
researching job-specific behaviors
• Use job descriptions to communicate the required soft
skills and detail what you’re looking for
67% of HR
managers say
they’d hire a
candidate
with strong
soft skills
even if hard
skills lacking.

23.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Step 2:
Source talent from places known for
cultivating soft skills

24.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
• Look to your competition or even across industries to companies with
similar organizational cultures
• Source creatively
• Employ popular channels already used by candidates to help
increase job advertising reach and applicant volume
• Encourage your current employees to share job posts to their
social networks
• Good people know other good people: leverage your current
employee’s networks – including their references and referrals – to
find top talent
Source talent from places known
for cultivating soft skills

25.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Step 3:
Include high priority soft skills in
recruitment campaign messages

26.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Recruiting Campaigns

27.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Recruiting Campaigns

28.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
“Nice work. Well done.
Mazel tov. You’ve made
it to Google Labs and
we’re glad you’re here.
One thing we learned
while building Google is
that it’s easier to find
what you’re looking for if
it comes looking for you.
What we’re looking for
are the best engineers
in the world. And here
you are.”
Recruiting Campaigns

29.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Step 4:
Pay attention to red flags

30.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
• Hiring the wrong person can cost a company
time and money
• Watch for red flags which might indicate a
candidate lacks the traits or behaviors you
identified as essential for the role
Pay attention to red flags!

31.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Step 5:
Prioritize soft skills in the selection
process

32.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Prioritize soft skills in the
selection process.
• Review job letters, resumes, and CVs for examples
of soft skills in action
• Practice behavior-based interviewing to uncover a
candidate’s past performance and behaviors
• Update the rubrics you use to evaluate candidates

33.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Traditional
Interviewing
Poses theoretical questions
Examples:
• Describe your strengths and
weaknesses.
• Describe what you liked about
your last job.
VS
Behavioral
Interviewing
Explores a candidate’s past
performance and behavior
Examples:
• Describe a situation where others
you were working with on a
project disagreed with your ideas.
• What was the most challenging
customer problem you had to
solve and how did you solve it?

34.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Rubric/Matrix

35.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Culture First
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

36.
VALUE VALUE VALUE
CHANNEL CHANNEL CHANNEL

37.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
18th Century 19th Century 20th Century 21st Century
Agricultural Age
(farmers)
Industrial Age
(factory workers)
Information Age
(knowledge workers)
Conceptual Age
(creators and empathizers)
Affluence
Technology
Globalization
High
Low
Abundance
Automation
Asia
Dan Pink
A Whole New Mind

38.
THANKYOU
BambooHR
You’re invited to Elevate Virtual
We will contact everyone within the next few days to set this up.
Receive a free trial of our software
SkillSurvey
The largest online HR conference, totally free, totally amazing.

39.
The Hard TruthAbout Soft Skills
bamboohr.com skillsurvey.com
Rusty Lindquist
Vice President, Thought Leadership
BambooHR
Michelle Reed
Chief Marketing Officer
SkillSurvey
Questions