When it comes time to hire a new employee, most hiring managers focus on a candidate’s technical skills. However, while these are important, they are only part of the broader picture, and hard skills alone don’t always determine whether a new hire will be successful.
Instead, you also need to seek out valuable soft skills that could help the employee thrive in your workplace. Whether you use a candidate skills assessment provider or rely on your own evaluation mechanisms, here are some key skills you should identify when hiring a new employee.
Critical Thinking
As a manager, you want to know that you can rely on the decision-making capabilities of each of your employees. Without critical thinking skills, it’s difficult to review a situation accurately to find the best possible solution.
When you are seeking out exceptional candidates for any role, you need to review their critical thinking skills and to select job seekers who have demonstrated the ability to make good decisions when left to their own devices.
Collaboration
Few employees are genuinely on their own. Instead, they work as part of a team, often on tasks that intertwine with those of their coworkers.
Strong collaboration skills allow workers to navigate group projects with greater ease, allowing them to overcome differences, find compromises, and work effectively together. Without these skills, your new hire may struggle to integrate with their team and could even drag everyone else down.
Leadership
Even if the role is non-managerial, choosing a candidate with leadership skills is beneficial. Often, this means that they can effectively motivate, coach, or teach others, something that can be valuable in any position. Additionally, leaders are also capable of identifying priorities and adequately managing resources for optimal results, making this skill a valuable asset.
Time Management
Nearly every job involves deadlines and schedules. If a candidate can’t manage their time effectively, they might delay projects by repeatedly falling behind the target, hurting their own productivity as well as causing others to fall behind.
Time management skills ensure the employee can oversee the timing of work on their own and properly schedule tasks to meet important deadlines. It also lowers the burden on management, as they know they can rely on the worker to stay on top of matters without direct oversight.
Adaptability
Over time, nearly every role changes at least a little. Additionally, companies bring in new tools that can increase efficiency, requiring teams to embrace a new procedure to manage their tasks.
If a candidate isn’t adaptable, they may resist even the most necessary of changes. This can create tension in the workplace as well as harm productivity, particularly if they convince others to embrace their stance simple as a way of avoiding having to change.
Adaptable professionals are willing to embrace change when the need arises. This can lead to a greater sense of harmony, even if it takes time to get used to the new approach, making it a great skill to look for when you are hiring.
If you are interested in learning more, the professionals at Vector Technical Inc. can help. Contact us to speak with one of our knowledgeable team members today and see how our workplace expertise can benefit you.
