In the first blog of this series we saw the potential opportunities that a skills-first approach can unlock. However, it is clear that a lot is left up to the implementation. One question that stands out is - what skills are truly essential for success? Given the rapid pace of change, leaders need to avoid preparing the workforce for these new demands only to have those demands change again. In fact, a recent report highlighted that 40% of tech professionals anticipate their skills will be outdated within three years (Kahoot, 2024).
In light of this challenge, organizations cannot afford to merely equip employees with the technical skills required for today. Instead, leaders must foster human-centric, soft skills that machines are unable to replicate. This blog explores why, in a tech-dominated landscape, it’s these innately “human” skills that organizations should be prioritizing in their skills transformation.
The threat of a skills shortage
Given the rapid integration of automation and AI into the workplace, leaders often gravitate toward addressing the highly emotive challenges. HR is therefore put under pressure to manage employee concerns about job displacement, ethical implications and data security.
As a result, organizational responses to the more nuanced dangers of AI tend to be lacking or ineffective. For example, preparing employees for the age of AI seems to be top of mind for all leaders, worldwide. However, in reality, there are only a few organizations taking fully comprehensive and sustainable steps toward preventing the otherwise inevitable skills shortage looming in the future. This lag persists because this challenge is multidimensional:
Deskilling - Employees are becoming increasingly over-reliant on AI tools which can trigger a decline in critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity, all of which are critical skills for a successful human-AI collaboration. This is all happening while some organizations do not yet have policies for the acceptable use of AI at work!
Skill obsolescence - Automation stands out as both one of the greatest benefits of AI at work, but it also poses a great challenge within the skills environment. Automation leaves many skills redundant as machines either take over or fundamentally alter tasks. Skill obsolescence leaves workers unprepared for evolving roles thus creating an urgent need for continuous upskilling and, potentially even, reskilling.
Skill Polarization - The presence of AI at work has enhanced the divide between high-skill, high-wage jobs and low-skill, low-wage jobs while middle-skill roles are left in decline. Skill polarization limits career mobility for lower-skill employees, who face growing barriers to transitioning into high-skill roles. This simultaneously creates labor market imbalances as companies struggle to fill the growing demand for high-skill positions.
Are soft skills the answer?
According to Forbes, soft skills are a set of personal attributes that allow individuals to effectively interact with others in a professional setting. This includes capabilities such as effective collaboration, creative thinking, clear communication and many more, all of which, in this AI-driven world, are more important than ever before. Here's why:
Collaboration with AI - The future of work is not the replacement of all humans by AI but rather the rise of a new form of collaboration between humans and AI. While AI excels at processing large amounts of data and identifying patterns, it lacks the creativity of thought and nuanced understanding required to effectively interpret and act in complex situations. This is what employees with soft skills can bring to the equation. AI is therefore only half of the equation, employees’ soft skills will make up the other half.
Skills that stay - As we touched on above, organizations cannot afford to prepare the workforce for emerging demands only to have new challenges, requiring new skills, to surface. Take technology as an example: with technology evolving at such a pace, specific tech skills will become obsolete within a few years. Soft skills help to balance out the more transient nature of tech skills as they help to foster adaptability and resilience by enabling a mindset grounded in collaboration and problem-solving.
Shifting Role Requirements - As AI reshapes the structure of work and job roles, there will be an increasing demand for employees who can adapt to the growing demands of strategic and planning responsibilities. Workers with a highly specialized skillset may struggle to meet these new demands, while soft skills will not only remain relevant but also rise in demand. A focus on soft skills therefore allows employees to stay flexible as organizations’ structures adapt to the changing nature of work.
Soft skills are essentially a long-term investment. These capabilities, including traits such as adaptability, creativity, and critical thinking, will continue to emerge as the defining traits of a future-ready workforce as they not only complement technology but will also help employees to stay resilient through change.
Balance, Not Replacement
According to a recent Workday research report, 83% of HR and Business leaders agree that the growing use of AI will make human skills more vital. However, it is not as simple as completely prioritizing soft skills over technical ones. Rather it is important to recognize their synergy; soft skills are not just complementary to technical expertise, they form a lasting foundation that transcends specific technical abilities.
Let’s take the example of a data scientist with strong soft skills compared to one who has not developed them. The data scientist with strong technical skills excels in their current role but the one with strong soft skills in addition to their technical capabilities is able to stay good at his job as it evolves. This highlights the power of soft skills: adaptability enables employees to pivot and remain productive during uncertainty, creative thinking fosters innovative thinking and problem-solving as their roles inevitably evolve, and strong communication helps to foster collaboration which is especially important during periods of change.
It is therefore clear that employees equipped with both skillsets are better prepared to navigate evolving roles and complex challenges. Organizations need to develop soft skills for technical and nontechnical employees alike so that everyone can be prepared for the work of today and that of tomorrow. By taking this approach leaders will be able to create well-rounded professionals that will stay resilient to deskilling, skill obsolescence and skill polarization.
How to Develop Soft Skills
Unlike technical skills, soft skills are difficult to measure or quantify. Therefore, before launching any new training and development initiatives, HR and business leaders need to outline what soft skills mean within your specific organizational context.
Define soft skills - Leaders must clearly articulate what soft skills mean within your organization, specifically how they align with its mission, values and strategic objectives. This must not only address the broader organizational agenda but also the specific ways soft skills contribute to business outcomes in daily operations. The initial step toward this is developing a shared language of these skills to promote a comprehensive understanding among all teams.
Outlining a soft skills maturity model - After integrating soft skills into the organization's competency frameworks, HR leaders must map out how these skills align with a maturity model. Leaders must develop a framework that outlines the desired progression of soft skills in the organization. This should first be embedded into internal job descriptions and performance reviews before expanding externally by means of hiring criteria. This is necessary for employees to feel a sense of progression given the shifting focus on various skillsets.
Establish feedback mechanisms - In combination with the definitional and framework requirements outlined above, soft skills must form a non-negotiable element of what defines success at every level of the organization. To support this, a new system for feedback and evaluation is needed to effectively incorporate soft skills into performance reviews, peer feedback, and self-assessments.
It is nothing new to say that soft skills are important, however, with the emergence of AI at work, the stakes are much higher. According to the World Economic Forum, collaboration between humans and AI could generate up to $15.7 trillion by 2030. The human-AI connection will continue to define the future of work and so we must understand what makes humans uniquely valuable. Next time, we’ll dive deeper into how this dynamic influences core HR practices, specifically the recruit vs. reskill debate.
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