When it comes to hiring new people, one of the easier aspects of the process is identifying those with the right technical experience and qualifications to do the role.
What’s less easy, however, is recognising when a candidate has the ‘soft skills’ to thrive within your existing team, the organisation and the profession generally.
But what are soft skills, and how can you build a team that has the right ones?
Read on to discover:
- Why soft skills are so important in social care
- The 5 soft skills every great social care worker needs
What are soft skills?
Soft skills are general abilities that anybody can develop, separate from any job-specific qualifications they might learn through formal education or training.
Soft skills can be thought of as personal qualities that influence someone’s suitability for a particular role, and their chances of succeeding in it.
Often, but not always, soft skills are related to the way a person interacts with others.
Soft skills examples
You and your team use a wide range of soft skills every day, probably without much thought for how vital they are to the demanding work you do.
These are general, transferable skills that would be useful in any profession, such as:
- Empathy
- Collaboration
- Time management
- Communication
- Passion.
Why are soft skills important in social care?
As you can see, many soft skills are simply interpersonal skills – the abilities that shape the quality of our relationships with the people around us.
It would be hard, then, to think of a sector that relies on soft skills more than social care. Let’s look at how just two of the skills listed above are used in delivering care:
- Communication: effective sharing and receiving of information with colleagues, residents/patients and their families to achieve positive outcomes
- Collaboration: understanding how your work complements your colleagues’ work to deliver high quality care, and then working with them to achieve it
They might not be part of any formal entry requirements for jobs in the sector, but soft skills are a key factor in whether someone will succeed at, and enjoy, a career in care.
So, what qualities make a great social care worker?
The qualities of a great care worker: 5 Essential soft skills for social care teams
In addition to the examples listed above, there are five soft skills that stand out to us as ‘essential’ for social care managers who want to build and lead a successful team.
How many of these five qualities do you see in your team today?
1. Resilience
Resilience allows us to respond constructively to setbacks and failures. An unexpected decline in health or mood, a sudden death, an angry family member, some ‘negative’ performance feedback – difficult situations are a daily occurance in social care work.
Why it matters
A lack of resilience could make somebody more likely to feel overwhelmed, or less able to picture a positive future beyond their current setback. This could negatively impact their mood and wellbeing, making them less able to perform their role as a carer.
2. Adaptability
When things don’t go to plan and change is needed unexpectedly, do you have the flexibility, calmness, and problem-solving skills to react? Adaptability could be thought of as the practical sibling of resilience, which is typically more about the emotional response.
Why it matters
Social care can be unpredictable. A situation that seems under control can quickly become otherwise. When a change of approach is needed, a lack of adaptability could prevent an employee from reacting and taking action – leading to poorer-quality care
3. Empathy
Are your employees good at understanding the feelings and perspectives of others? Empathy may be the most important soft skill of all, given its impact on your relationships with managers and peers, as well as those within your care and their families.
Why it matters
When somebody is unable to fully hear and engage with the feelings of others, they can become critical and dismissive of their needs. In a care setting, this would have serious negative effects on the provision of care, family interactions and teamwork.
4. Time management
Managing time isn’t about getting everything done. It’s about knowing what to get done, how much time you have for each task, what the priorities are, when to re-order those priorities, and how to provide high-quality, compliant care within a limited timeframe.
Why it matters
Very few care providers are over-resourced. In a sector that is notoriously short on budgets and people, it’s critical that your team members know how to use the time they have to maximum effect. If they don’t, important jobs can be missed and standards can slip.
5. Patience
Patience is the ability to remain calm, composed and in control of your emotions. Being able to take a breath and keep a clear head is an important part of good decision making, where moving fast is not always moving smart.
Why it matters
Social care workers have their patience tested every day, by residents and family members, colleagues and managers. Staff who can stay patient in even the most challenging situations will help you keep a positive working environment and encourage better teamwork.
Can soft skills be learned?
Yes. Although soft skills are often described as ‘personality traits’, in reality we acquire them the same way as we do any other skill – through instruction, repetition and experience.
The Care Quality Commission’s assessment framework wants you to be a ‘capable and compassionate’ leader. Continuously developing your team’s soft skills alongside their technical qualifications – that’s a great way to meet the CQC’s expectations.
