Soft skills: the keystone of customer service recruitment
Recruitment in the field of remote customer service is undergoing a profound transformation. Until recently, a degree was the main filter in recruitment processes. If a candidate had the required technical skills, then the rest was considered. Today, this trend is reversing. Companies are now looking for individuals who can evolve with their role and future changes, thanks to their attitude and personal qualities.
For decades, technical skills were the cornerstone of recruitment in the customer service sector. Companies operated in relatively stable and predictable environments, where technology evolved gradually. Today, we live in a world where technical skills have lost their relevance. The rapid pace of technological transformations makes these skills quickly obsolete, with a validity period of less than five years according to some experts.
Automation, robotics, and artificial intelligence make the mastery of hard skills less strategic. Machines now perform many tasks more reliably than humans. Cross-functional skills, which cannot be replaced by new technologies, have become the new holy grail. In the field of remote customer service, care, and emotional intelligence, these skills are even more essential.
To address the obsolescence of skills, two complementary levers are necessary: recruitment and training:
- Recruit differently to meet new customer service needs, going beyond CV notions and adopting an inclusive and responsible approach.
- Train customer service teams in new key skills, investing in the company's human capital.
Rather than hiring for a fixed position, recruiters are betting on a mix of skills that allow for the completion of a specific mission now and can be used in another role tomorrow. This new approach values personality and individuality, favouring innovation and diversity in approaches. Soft skills thus become a primary criterion for evaluating talent and relational potential.
Developing soft skills allows candidates and employees to maintain legitimacy in the face of technology by cultivating human, relational, and creative skills. They are also essential for adapting to the current changing context. The idea, in short? Hire hearts rather than brains, EQs rather than IQs, personalities rather than degrees. This paradigm shift is very positive, as it reconnects with the essence of the customer service profession: care.