What are Soft Skills?

People differ in their social, emotional, and behavioral skills. These skills are often referred to as Soft Skills. Soft skills are interpersonal skills that characterize a person's relationships with other people. In the workplace, soft skills are considered to be a complement to hard skills, which refer to a person's knowledge and occupational skills. Soft Skills like, for example, Social Engagement and Cooperation Skills can help people maintain satisfying relationships and attain higher social status.

How do we assess Soft Skills?

We assess Soft Skills with the Behavioral, Emotional, and Social Skills Inventory by Soto and colleagues (2022) (short: BESSI).

The BESSI is a comprehensive, reliable, valid, and efficient measure of social, emotional, and behavioral skills. It measures five major skill domains, which quickly summarize someone’s soft skills: Self-Management Skills, Social Engagement Skills, Cooperation Skills, Emotional Resilience Skills, and Innovation Skills

Across these five domains, the BESSI measures 32 specific skill facets:

Example

Skill domain: “Social engagement”

Facets:

• Leadership Skill: Asserting one’s views and speaking in a group
• Persuasive Skill: Presenting arguments effectively
• Conversational Skill: Initiating and maintaining social interactions
• Expressive Skill: Communicating one's thoughts and feelings to other people
• Energy Regulation: Channeling energy in a productive way

How does this look like for the candidate?

There are six Soft-Skill modules to be rated:

1. SELF MANAGEMENT SKILLS
2. COOPERATION SKILLS
3. SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT SKILLS
4. EMOTIONAL RESILIENCE SKILLS