Beyond Skills: The Essential Qualities for Today’s Workforce
When selecting employees, every manager or HR specialist identifies the qualities they wish to see in their future staff. For each profession, there’s a unique set of requirements. It’s impractical to hold secretaries, programmers, and designers to the same standards. And it’s not just about their professional knowledge, but also about personal attributes. Among these qualities, the ability to organize one’s work and that of subordinates (if the position is managerial), responsibility for outcomes, and the ability to independently solve unconventional tasks are usually deemed most critical.
Professionals from various fields view the priorities of these qualities differently. Vage Zakaryan, Head of Development at Gem Space superapp, shared his opinion on the three most important qualities for IT professionals:
“Limiting to only three qualities is difficult because we assess candidates holistically. Sometimes, the presence of one very important skill can make a candidate an indispensable part of the team. However, we usually look for the following conditions: Relevant previous work experience, with the exception being candidates without experience applying for intern positions; Communication skills, as the ability to interact with the team, colleagues, and management is key to success and long-term cooperation; Personal qualities such as responsibility and determination. Everyone should understand their work’s responsibility within the overall project and strive to contribute as much as possible to the common cause. It’s also crucial to determine during the initial acquaintance whether the candidate truly matches what they claim in their resume. A more detailed interview can help with this.”
We also spoke with Angela Lowster, HR Director of the beauty salon chain “Radiance Retreats Co.”:
“Among our requirements for new staff, I can highlight two main ones: diligence and having abilities relevant to the work. Employees must precisely follow all instructions. Moreover, since our work is largely creative, alongside training, it’s important for our specialists to have a talent for this activity. And the third important quality is a positive character and the desire to interact with people. Because even if one can perform services at a high level, the ability to communicate with clients in such a way that they want to return to us again is crucial.”
Brandon Marsh, HR Director at the marketing agency “Vanguard Visions,” notes that creativity and erudition are also valued among future employees’ qualities:
“Communication skills and relevant education are assumed as mandatory and obvious qualities. But in marketing, besides analytical abilities, creativity is required – the ability to see trends beyond numbers, generate strategies, and find approaches to the audience. This also implies that such a specialist should be well-read and able to process a large amount of information quickly.”
The most important thing when hiring staff is to first identify the qualities that are important to you. This allows you to select the most suitable candidates at all stages, who will stay with the company for a long time. If you overstate or understate requirements when hiring, it can harm both the company and the employees. Setting the bar too high can scare off potentially suitable candidates. This not only fails to attract candidates who meet these high standards but also deters those who could have been a good fit for the position. Conversely, lowering the standards might lead to a flood of irrelevant candidates, making it hard to select those who are truly needed.
Maintaining a balance is key in everything. In small companies, managers may select employees themselves, but in larger companies, it’s best to entrust such tasks to HR specialists who have both psychological knowledge and understanding of your company’s field of activity.