Now Can We Stop Calling Them ‘Soft Skills’?
This article was originally published by Procurious in 2016.
The English language is full of misnomers. Just ask the killer whale (actually a dolphin), or the horny toad (actually a lizard). Once a word or phrase has entered common usage, it’s nearly impossible to change it, even if the population generally understands that the term is misleading.
Which brings us to the term ‘soft skills’. Work in any organisation for any length of time and you’ll hear this term bandied about fairly frequently. In the very unlikely event that you have no idea what a “soft skill” is (where have you been for the past 10 years…?) here’s a quick summary.
Soft skills are those used in dealing with other people. These include skills such as communication, language, influencing, critical thinking, emotional empathy, creativity and conflict resolution. They are hard to define, are not tangible or easy to measure, and difficult to train or teach as they tend to be naturally occurring in an individual.
This is in contrast with ‘hard skills’ – in Procurement these would be tendering, negotiation, or IT competence – which are readily measurable and (importantly) easier to train.
Our argument is that defining these skills as ‘soft’ actually devalues what is an essential part of every procurement professional’s toolkit.
How Did They Come to be Called Soft Skills?
The origin of the actual term, ‘soft skills’, is unclear. The first application of the concept of these skills can be attributed to Dale Carnegie’s famous self-help book, ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People‘, which was published in 1936 (and has sold well in excess of 30 million copies). Many of the key ideas in Carnegie’s book tie in with the idea of ‘soft skills’, though the work stops short of actually using these words.
More recently there has been an increase in the number of articles and training courses focusing on ‘soft skills’ in Procurement, and new articles on the subject still pop up relatively frequently. The continuing focus on ‘soft skills’ in Procurement and Supply Chain could be seen as a result of the profession moving from a back-office function to strategic business partner in the past decade. There is a sense that Procurement is, in effect, late to the party and still playing catch-up with other areas.
It’s also possible that the term ‘soft skills’ simply came about as an antonym to the concept of ‘hard skills’. It may be reflective of the idea of a more measured approach, where people choose to influence, rather than confront, and make suggestions, rather than issuing orders.
These Skills are Anything But Soft
Whatever the reason, there’s still a strong feeling that it’s a misleading term due to the immediate connotations most people will have with the word. If you think about the word soft, you think easy, comfortable, pliable, or something that yields readily to pressure. Yet a Procurement Professional with excellent communication skills, who is adept at reading people, will be a tougher prospect in negotiations than someone without these skills.
Similarly, the idea of soft being easier, especially when it comes to trying to train skills like change management or leadership, is also deceptive. In fact, more and more employers are placing a premium on new hires who can demonstrate these skills (cultural fit; communication; flexibility), recognising that ‘hard skills’ can be picked up on the job. This is seen in many job interviews where the emphasis is less on technical skills and experience, and more about how individuals react in certain situations.
It’s worth considering how much of a premium will continue to be placed on these skills, especially in a Procurement context. If people can be trained to develop active listening skills in the same way as using an ERP system, then it will enable Procurement to develop alongside other professions where people and communication skills are highly prized. This will, in turn, help to challenge the idea that these skills are “fluffy” or solely in the realm of departments such as HR.
Three Alternative Names for Soft Skills
As we said at the top of the article, it’s nigh-on impossible to change a term or definition once it’s part of the common understanding. However, if organisations, training providers, consultants and others were to consciously phase out the term ‘soft skills’, we might see the phrase disappear in favour of something more accurate. Here are a few of our possible options:
- Essential skills: ISM CEO Tom Derry, also not a fan of the term “soft skills”, used the term “essential skills” when launching ISM’s Mastery Model to describe the many interpersonal attributes required on the journey to achieving accreditation.
- EQ: “Emotional Intelligence Quotient” is the technical term for soft skills. While the use of the word ‘emotional’ is good in summing up what they entail, calling it a “quotient” raises the argument that EQ, like IQ, is something you’re born with, and can’t be improved upon.
- People skills: The simplest, and possibly the most accurate alternative for soft skills is ‘people skills’. After all, every one of these skills involves dealing with people, while hard skills can generally be put to use sitting alone at your computer.
The final part of the discussion is if there needs to be a change at all. We all know what these skills are and what they entail, and have worked on developing them to use in professional situations. If we get hung up on the term, particularly one so embedded and understood, do we detract from other discussions. After all, what’s in a name?
