Social Skills: what they are and why they are important in business
Have you ever encountered individuals who are highly competent on a technical level but struggle to work with others? Or, conversely, individuals who are perceived as "good" at interpersonal skills but are unable to manage conflicts, negotiate priorities, or navigate ambiguous situations?
In both cases, the problem is most likely not a lack of skills, but rather an unclear understanding of what social skills really are in the workplace.
Social skills are not about being sociable or communicative in a general sense: rather, they concern how a person acts in professional interactions, especially when the context is complex (misaligned goals, time pressures, overlapping roles, implicit expectations).
The most critical aspect to manage, if you are involved in people management, is that social skills are often treated as if they were a label. For example, we often read phrases such as "good interpersonal skills" or "excellent communication" in CVs, without ever clarifying what behaviors to observe and what decisions to support. This makes it difficult to evaluate them in selection, develop them in growth paths, and use them as a serious criterion for internal mobility.
Social skills: what are they?
Social skills are observable abilities that manifest themselves in the way a person interacts with colleagues, stakeholders, and managers, especially when the context requires choices, negotiation, and adaptation.
To make them useful at an organizational level, the first requirement is to interpret them as work-related behaviors, not as generic qualities of the person.
In operational terms, the most relevant social skills in a company concern the ability to:
- understand relational and power dynamics in the workplace;
- communicate clearly even in situations of disagreement or pressure;
- handle confrontation without avoiding it or becoming tense;
- collaborate with different people and departments while maintaining focus on objectives;
- adapt your communication style to the context and your audience.
10 social skills that are important for work today
When talking about social skills, there is a risk of generically overlapping them with soft skills. In reality, social skills represent a subset of cross-cutting skills that specifically concern the management of relationships, interpersonal dynamics, and professional interactions.
In the methodology on which Skillvue is based, these dimensions are not measured as generic labels, but as scientifically validated constructs.
If we want to identify the skills that really affect the quality of interactions and decisions in the company, we can refer to these 10 dimensions, which can be observed in everyday work.
Emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence has to do with the ability to read the emotional dynamics that influence decisions, behaviors, and professional relationships.
We can observe it when a person:
- recognizes signs of tension or misalignment before they become explicit conflict;
- regulatesone's emotional response in situations of pressure or criticism;
- choose the right tone and moment to address a sensitive issue;
- distinguishes between objective facts and one's own or others' emotional reactions.
Orientation to the other
Orientation towards others is the ability to understand the needs, expectations, and priorities of others and to act accordingly.
At work, it manifests itself when a person:
- clarifies what the other party really needs before proposing a solution;
- adapts language and level of detail according to the role of the person in front of them;
- anticipates the possible impact of their decisions on others;
- builds relationships based on mutual attention and responsibility.
Negotiation
When we talk about everyday negotiation, we are referring to the negotiations that take place every day regarding priorities, resources, and deadlines. It can be observed in the ability to find sustainable compromises, taking into account both individual and organizational objectives.
Teamworking
By teamwork, we mean the ability to work together towards a common goal, even when individual or functional priorities are not perfectly aligned.
We can observe this when a person:
- shares important information without hiding it for personal gain;
- accepts contributions other than his own and integrates them into his work;
- takes responsibility for the group's results, not just for their own activities;
- intervenes to realign the team when operational misalignments arise.
Leadership
Leadership does not necessarily coincide with a hierarchical role. On the contrary, we can define it as a skill that involves the ability to guide people toward a shared direction, even in the absence of formal power.
It occurs when a person:
- clarifies objectives and priorities in ambiguous situations;
- makes decisions and takes responsibility for the consequences;
- supports the group in times of uncertainty or pressure;
- handles conflict without avoiding confrontation;
- promotes autonomy and growth, rather than centralizing control.
Goal orientation
Goal orientation is the ability to maintain focus on results even when relationships become complex or conflictual.
It is observed when a person:
- makes decisions consistent with organizational priorities, even under pressure;
- avoid wasting energy on pointless discussions;
- renegotiates times and operating methods without compromising the final result;
- maintains decision-making autonomy in the face of obstacles.
Cognitive flexibility
Cognitive flexibility is the ability to adapt one's way of thinking and acting to different contexts, interlocutors, and requests, without losing consistency in decision-making.
We can observe this when a person:
- adjusts their communication style according to the role of the interlocutor;
- revises a decision in light of new information, without becoming inflexible;
- deals with unexpected situations while maintaining clarity and focus on results;
- integrates different points of view into their reasoning.
Problem solving
Problem solving refers to the technical resolution of a problem, but also the management of situations involving multiple actors, interests, and constraints.
We can see this skill when a person:
- analyzes the problem by distinguishing between facts, perceptions, and interpretations;
- identifies priorities without being guided by emotional pressure;
- involves relevant stakeholders before making decisions;
- develops viable solutions within timeframes compatible with the context.
Resilience
Resilience refers to the ability to maintain balance and effective relationships even when the context is particularly "critical."
We can see it when a person:
- after a conflict, quickly restore a functional relationship;
- accepts mistakes without becoming tense or shifting responsibility;
- maintains clear thinking under pressure;
- continue to collaborate even after negative feedback or moments of tension.
Organization and planning skills
The ability to organize and plan has a social component that is often underestimated. Managing time, priorities, and responsibilities not only impacts results, but also directly affects working relationships.
We can observe it when a person:
- sets clear priorities, avoiding overlaps and ambiguities;
- distributes tasks in a manner consistent with skills and workloads;
- anticipate possible organizational bottlenecks;
- communicates operational times and constraints transparently.
Social skills: concrete examples observable in everyday work
One of the reasons why social skills often remain vague in HR assessments is that they are described in abstract terms. From an operational point of view, however, they only become useful when you can link them to specific, observable behaviors. This is why it is very useful to talk about practical examples. Let's look at two.
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How well-developed social skills manifest themselves in meetings
In meetings, social skills emerge above all in behavior: it is one of the contexts in which, as HR, you can observe more clearly whether a person is able to navigate the social dynamics of work or whether they tend to react rather than respond.
In practical terms, well-developed social skills in meetings can be recognized when a person is able to:
- clarify or reiterate the purpose of the meeting before going into detail about the activities;
- bring the conversation back on track when it strays or drifts onto peripheral topics;
- allow for different positions without losing focus on the decision to be made;
- intervene at the right moment, contributing to the progress of the discussion rather than to confusion;
- Express disagreements or doubts in a functional way, without blocking discussion.
What to observe in moments of tension or ambiguity
Social skills are much more noticeable when the context ceases to be linear. In fact, it is not uncommon to measure them in situations of tension, conflict, or ambiguity, where it is easier to distinguish between skills that are declared on a resume and actual behavior.
In all these moments, you can observe whether a person:
- asks for clarification before reacting, avoiding automatic or defensive interpretations;
- explains constraints, limitations, or priorities instead of shifting responsibility onto others;
- address the disagreement without personalizing it, keeping the focus on the problem to be solved;
- renegotiate objectives or deadlines transparently when the context changes;
- is able to take a position even in the absence of clear indications, assuming the risk of decision-making.
How Skillvue supports the assessment of social skills
Social skills manifest themselves in the way a person manages work interactions: how they listen, how they take a stand, how they deal with conflict, how they negotiate priorities and expectations. Precisely because they emerge in dynamics, and not in statements, they are among the most difficult skills to assess with traditional tools or simple self-assessments.
Skillvue supports HR and organizations in making social skills observable, comparable, and usable in decision-making, preventing them from remaining subjective judgments or interview impressions.
Through skill assessments based on the most accurate psychometric methodologies and focused on constructing situational questions inspired by the BEI (Behavioral Event Interview) methodology, Skillvue allows you to observe how people act when faced with complex interactions: disagreements between stakeholders, role ambiguity, conflicting demands, and relational pressures. It is not "how a person describes themselves" that is assessed, but how they reason and decide in realistic social situations.
For those working in HR, this means being able to:
- distinguish between perceived pleasantness and actual social effectiveness at work (now and in the future);
- reduce biases related to communication style or personal affinity;
- compare social skills between different people and roles on a consistent basis;
- Support selection, development, and internal mobility with behavioral evidence.
If you want to make decisions based on real social skills rather than impressions, Skillvue's Skill Assessments are a concrete first step. Request more information: start here.
