Do You Include Soft Skills in Your Job Description?
Your job descriptions and interview questions are likely specific about the hard skills you need to fill your positions. You probably include some adjectives about being organized, focused and a multitude of other attributes you value in an employee. But, are you detailed when it comes to the soft skills that make your employees priceless assets?
Obviously, most employers understand that customer service staff should be good with people. Less obvious are the specific attributes that make an outstanding customer service person. How about patience, empathy, a good listener, someone who truly cares about helping people and knows how to calm an angry customer? A good voice/tone and the ability to match the pace of the customer makes for smoother interactions. Customers should feel that they are the only thing that is important at that moment. Do you make customers feel they are interrupting your other work?
It’s not just customer service staff that needs soft skills
Technically, almost everyone is a customer service person simply because they may have some contact with clients. Even if they don’t, they have contact with internal customers and co-workers and soft skills make for a better work environment.
For some employees, the soft skills come naturally and all they need is a little coaching on how to best represent your company. But for many of us, it is a work in progress. If you are lucky, you have a positive manager that coaches and encourages.
Whether you have a great manager or have to go it alone, here are a few tips to help you improve your soft skills:
- If you are having a bad day, leave it at the door. Pick up your worries and think about them on your way home if you need to
- Put yourself in the other person’s shoes and treat them as you would want to be treated
- Consider the best possible outcome and strive to achieve it
- Talk to your supervisor about what you are empowered to do for clients
- Always practice active listening
- Even on the phone, try to smile while you are talking to clients, your voice sounds friendlier when you are smiling
- For managers: take the time to coach your staff. Try some role playing to get everyone up to speed!
Remember, unless your company is selling a product or service that is not available anywhere else, customers typically have a lot of choices of where to buy. Use your staff’s soft skills to earn customers that will stay loyal even when there is a problem.
As always, do everything possible to bring in the best hire for your position
Partnering with a CRA (Consumer Reporting Agency) with the services you need to fill in your HR gaps can be an economical solution. The right CRA partner can help you recruit, integrate your system, perform background screening, provide education and license verification, drug testing at convenient locations, and support throughout the process. Feel confident that you are bringing the best hire into your company by having done due diligence both legally and ethically for your employees and customers. A professional CRA partner pays for itself by avoiding costly hiring mistakes. For a free consultation or more information, contact Genesis Background Screening Services at 866 944-0041 ext 101. Online: email or visit www.genesisbackgroundscreening.com. You can sign up to be emailed whenever we post a new blog at https://genesisbackgroundscreening.com/subscribe-to-the-blog/
Genesis Background Screening is not a law firm and provides our blogs for informational purposes only. Blog should not be considered as a substitute for experienced legal advice. Any laws or regulations mentioned in our blogs need to be researched by your company and questions you have need to be answered by your legal counsel to be sure your organization is within the law and compliant with regulations.
Jacqueline McClure
Genesis Background Screening Services
