“Soft skills are not nice to have’– they’re a must-have!” says Dr Olebogeng Selebi, Deputy Director of UP’s Centre for the Future of Work, who writes about the increasing importance of these skills in the current and future workplace.

One of the first things I did when the COVID-19 curfew was lifted was go for a hike with friends. During this hike, I had a conversation with someone who is the chief financial officer of a multinational. I knew very little about what he did for a living, but my fascination with high-performing individuals made me ask him: “What are some of the skills you think elevated you to the CFO position within your organisation?” Surprisingly, he made no mention of his technical skills as a chartered accountant. “Communication and people skills,” he said.

Not one person that I’ve posed this question to has ever mentioned their technical skills as the differentiator in their career progression. They always emphasise their soft skills. For many years, soft skills have been considered to be a female trait. A 55 000-person study conducted by global consulting firm Korn Ferry across 90 countries found that women outperformed men in 11 out of 12 emotional competence skills. We can save the debate on why this is (nature vs nurture) for another date. The point is, soft skills transcend emotional competence and consist of a vast array of skills that should be mastered by anyone who wants to be impactful in the current and future workplace.

The World Economic Forum has indicated that four types of skills will be essential in the future work environment: problem-solving, self-management, working with people, and technology use and development. Three of these four skills groupings are considered soft skills. Considering that technology will automate many of the functions we perform on a daily basis, it’s easy to see that soft skills are essential skills!

Our soft skills affect how we express ourselves and our ability to be correctly understood by our audience. For instance, how we communicate is important not only for our own reputation but also for the reputations of our organisations. Warren Buffet very famously said, “Lose money for the firm, and I will be understanding. Lose a shred of reputation for the firm, and I will be ruthless.” Our social capital is directly linked to our financial capital and our overall career and personal success. It’s important as professionals that we change our perception of soft skills and understand that they are essential skills. They’re not nice to have – they’re a must-have!

While it has many benefits, interacting with technology has made us forget our need for human interaction. Soft skills are important because they are the personal attributes and abilities that enable individuals to interact effectively and harmoniously with others in the workplace and in life. While technical skills and knowledge are essential for success in many fields, it is often soft skills that determine how effectively individuals can communicate, collaborate and solve problems – which is at the heart of many organisations.

Working in a higher-learning environment has many benefits, one of which is the ability to interact with (and hear the thoughts and opinions of) experts from practically any discipline you could dream of. Part of our duty as academics is not only the creation of knowledge but also to communicate that knowledge inside and outside the University environment in a way that various audiences can understand and connect with. This will contribute greatly to the advancement of knowledge, the institution, our students and various other stakeholders. To echo the words of author Simon Sinek: “I really reject the idea of soft skills. There is nothing soft about them. We have hard skills and we have human skills. We need more human skills in business today.”