What are soft skills? Definition, types, and tips

Soft skills, an essential element in the professional world, complement technical skills in a harmonious way. Now just as important as hard skills, soft skills play a key role in workplace fulfilment and are often a decisive factor in recruitment processes. Discover everything you need to know about soft skills and how to highlight them.

Understanding and Showcasing Soft Skills at Work

What exactly are soft skills?

Soft skills refer to the set of behaviors and attitudes that reflect the way you interact in a professional environment. They include qualities such as active listening, empathy, adaptability, diplomacy, and stress management. These interpersonal skills, also known as behavioral skills, support good integration within a team and harmonious relationships between colleagues. Soft skills have a real impact on a company’s environment and productivity. At Club Med, behavioral skills are highly valued for both G.Os (Gentle Organizers) and G.Es (Gentle Employees). They foster respectful relationships, a friendly atmosphere, and high-quality service to offer everyone a memorable experience.

What soft skills are needed to work at Club Med?

Embodying the Club Med spirit means doing your job with passion and professionalism, paying attention to detail, and creating unforgettable moments for guests. It also means expressing your individuality within a team and revealing your potential. To work at Club Med, several values are essential.
- Freedom: taking every opportunity to learn and grow in your role while being the driver of your own life, choices, and development. Embracing Club Med culture and spirit helps you thrive in your relationships with guests and colleagues. Everyone must cultivate self-confidence to develop autonomy, learn from experiences, and turn them into lessons for progress.
- Kindness: being welcoming, warm, friendly, and supportive toward everyone. It means giving your best through your professionalism and enjoying interactions with others. Providing sincere feedback is also fundamental to help others grow.
- Responsibility: carrying out your mission professionally and setting an example at all times. It is essential to offer concrete solutions to each identified problem, take ownership of your responsibilities and decisions, acknowledge mistakes, and address them quickly.
- Multiculturality: respecting others regardless of their values, beliefs, origins, or language. It means reaching out, being welcoming, especially to those who are different from you, and seeking to know them better. Differences should be seen as opportunities for growth. Learning foreign languages and seeking to communicate in another person’s language is important.
- Pioneering spirit: continually improving requires taking thoughtful initiatives. It also means anticipating guests’ and colleagues’ needs and viewing change as an opportunity. Proposing relevant ideas, staying aware of client expectations and market trends, and questioning our practices all help guide continuous improvement.

What are the four types of knowledge?

The four types of knowledge are essential for developing within Club Med. Each type helps individuals improve and contributes to a company’s success.
- Knowledge: theoretical and academic knowledge acquired through study, observation, learning, and training. These foundations are essential for working in a specific field.
- Know-how: technical skills and practical abilities required to carry out tasks in a specific area.
- Soft skills behavioral and interpersonal skills such as autonomy, adaptability, communication, empathy, and a positive attitude. Soft skills help you adapt to professional situations and interact effectively with others, supporting collaboration and emotional regulation.
- Growth capability: the ability to anticipate, adapt, and evolve with changes and new trends in order to remain effective. The individual becomes the author of their own professional path.

What are soft skills at work?

Soft skills are crucial in the professional world. Active listening, empathy, patience, and team spirit have a real impact on performance and workplace atmosphere. Soft skills support communication and collaboration within a team. They help improve conflict management and problem-solving, creating a positive and motivating work environment.

For example, when a colleague remains calm and composed during a conflict, problems can be resolved more quickly. Today, soft skills are increasingly valued by recruiters and have become a determining factor in recruitment and job interviews.

How can you highlight your soft skills in an interview?

Preparing for a job interview requires careful planning. Beyond showcasing your technical abilities, you must also highlight your soft skills. To demonstrate them effectively, prepare concrete examples of situations where your soft skills made a difference.

For instance, explain how you handled a conflict by listening to both sides with empathy and encouraging constructive dialogue. Another example: as a manager, you created a motivating work environment by celebrating the daily achievements of new team members transitioning into a new career. Use clear and positive communication with the recruiter and connect your soft skills to the role’s requirements to show you're the ideal candidate.

The role of soft skills at Club Med

At Club Med, soft skills are essential for success within the company. They support career development and open doors to positions with greater responsibility. Soft skills strengthen both individual and collective performance and contribute to efficiency by fostering an environment that encourages collaboration, motivation, employee satisfaction, and productivity. Club Med values soft skills to create a positive and dynamic workplace atmosphere.

Soft skills are a major asset in personal and professional development. They help build a caring and productive work environment. Highlighting behavioral skills promotes good team integration, better performance, and professional growth. For Club Med, valuing soft skills is essential to maintaining an inspiring and welcoming work environment.

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