Hard skills

Hard skills are the competences which individual possesses can be quantified. Both hard and soft skills are necessary in manager's work. However importance of each group differs depending on the job. Some managerial jobs are related more with hard skills (e.g. related to accounting or programming), others more soft skills (e.g. related to marketing, selling or designing). It is worth to bear in mind, that soft skills are more difficult to check than hard skills. Recruitment process for positions based on soft skills should be wider and include different methods of assessment (A. Doyle, 2018).

Definition of Hard Skills

According to Alison Doyle, hard skills are group of abilities, necessary for a specific job, demanded from employee. That skills are not connected with personality, its possession require experience and knowledge in particular field or time spent on education. Hard skills could be learned on college, training classes, online trainings or workshops. They could be also obtained during work, internship or projects. The proofed of hard skills could be diploma, certificate, license or portfolio (A. Doyle, 2018).

Examples of hard skills

Examples of skills demanding specific knowledge and abilities are (A. Doyle, 2018):

• computer programming in particular language, e.g. C++ or Java
• knowledge of accounting in GAAP standard
• driving license
• knowledge of certain computer programs
• master's degree in specific field

Soft skills

The soft skills are another category of skills demanded by employers. Those skills that are difficult to measure and depends on personality. It is hard to learn it, so employers often looking for persons with specific group of soft skills in order to learn them hard skills. Soft skills are essential in many jobs. They are necessary to work in efficient way in every company. Examples of soft skills are (M. M. Robles, 2012):

• effective communication and cooperation with team,
• time management,
• listening and empathy,
• abstract or creative thinking,
• ability to work under time pressure and deadlines.

Advantages of Hard skills

Hard skills have various advantages in the workplace. Some of them are:

• They provide a clear view of the employee's qualifications and expertise. By having a thorough knowledge of the required hard skills, employers can easily assess the level of technical abilities of the potential candidate.
• Hard skills are relatively easy to measure, as they are typically acquired through formal education or specific training. This makes it easier for employers to identify the most qualified person for a job.
• Hard skills also provide tangible evidence of an employee’s qualifications and abilities, which can make them more appealing than applicants with less concrete qualifications.
• Hard skills are often required to perform specific tasks, which can help make employees more efficient and productive in their roles.

Limitations of Hard skills

Hard skills are important to be successful in work, however they have some limitations. Those are:

• Lack of flexibility: hard skills are based on knowledge and skills which are learned once and are not necessarily updated over time. This may cause difficulties in adapting to changing environment and create difficulties in adapting to new technologies or processes.
• Lack of creativity: hard skills are based on logical and rational thinking, therefore they cannot be used to address complex problems which require creative thinking.
• Ineffective communication: hard skills are not necessarily related to communication skills, which are necessary for effective communication. Moreover, hard skills cannot be used to solve conflicts or build effective relationships with people.
• Lack of soft skills: hard skills are not enough to be successful in work. Soft skills like teamwork, problem-solving, leadership are also necessary for a successful career.
• Highly specialized: hard skills are usually very specialized and limited to a certain area. This can limit the ability to apply those skills to other areas and can make it difficult to adjust to new roles.

Other approaches related to Hard skills

To summarize, hard skills are important competences in the managerial job. There are other approaches related to hard skills which can help evaluate the individual's skills, such as:

• Analyzing past successful projects - this involves looking at the individual's past successes and failures to determine what skills and strategies worked for them and which ones did not.
• Assessing the level of expertise - this involves looking at the individual's current level of knowledge and experience to determine how well they are able to apply their hard skills.
• Evaluating the quality of work - this involves looking at the quality of work produced by the individual to ensure that it meets the necessary standards.
• Testing for specific skills - this involves assessing the individual's skills in specific areas, such as programming or analytics, through a series of tests.

Overall, hard skills are important competences for a manager to possess and there are various approaches which can be used to evaluate an individual's hard skills.

Hard skills — recommended articles

Profile of qualifications — Team selection techniques — Job specification — Level of experience — Letter of advice — Job scope — Work sample test — Skills and competencies — Predictive Index System

References

• Doyle A. (2018). The Hard Skills Employers Seek. The Balance Careers
• Doyle A. (2018). What Are Soft Skills?. The Balance Careers
• Hendarman, A. F., & Tjakraatmadja, J. H. (2012). Relationship among soft skills, hard skills, and innovativeness of knowledge workers in the knowledge economy era. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 52, 35-44.
• Nonaka, I., & Johansson, J. K. (1985). Japanese management: what about the "hard" skills?. Academy of Management Review, 10(2), 181-191.
• Robles, M. M. (2012). Executive perceptions of the top 10 soft skills needed in today’s workplace. Business Communication Quarterly, 75(4), 453-465.
• Zhang, A. (2012). Peer assessment of soft skills and hard skills. Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, 11, 155-168.

Author: Artur Kopera