You Could Be Overlooking Human Skills In The Workplace

Photo: Getty Images.

BY SARAH LYNCH

In discussing emerging technologies like AI, experts continue to stress the importance of the human touch. But it seems some companies might be underestimating a few of those human skills.  

In a recent survey from Deloitte of 1,000 employed adults, just half — 52 percent — said they believed their company valued “employees with human skills more than those with technical skills.” 

This runs contrary to how almost all employees view these skills, according to the survey. Ninety-five percent characterized them as “always important” and “timeless.” Even more, 87 percent said they see skills “like adaptability, leadership, and communications as integral to their career advancement.”  

A majority of employees also expressed a desire for their employers to value “teamwork and collaboration” more than technical skills like “AI integration and data analysis.” 

If employers don’t uphold those skills, employees believe, it could lead to some long-term consequences. Ninety-four percent of respondents are worried that future generations of workers won’t have the “necessary human skills” when they enter the workforce.  

In fact, Anthony Stephan, chief learning officer at Deloitte U.S., added in a press release that deprioritizing these skills “could end up impeding innovation and leaving employees ill-equipped to lead teams, adapt to market opportunities, and fully harness the potential of technology.”  

It’s clear that technological investments are important to many companies, and are only becoming more of a priority. According to a 2023 Deloitte report, tech budgets made up an average of 5.49 percent of company revenue compared with 4.25 percent in 2020.  

But how and how quickly technological advancements are taking place is another story. AI use, for instance, is still far from widespread among employees, according to a recent survey from the global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas — though adoption of these tools is growing.  

And often, these new tools can be fleeting, employees say. In Deloitte’s recent report, 70 percent of respondents said they worked at a company “that pushed employees to learn a new technology-based skillset, only for that technology to fall out of use.”  

What employees do want, though, is more interpersonal training — like mentorship and shadowing — and more emphasis on the human side, according to the survey.  

“For all business leaders, including those overseeing smaller enterprises, it will be critical to re-align how we help our people grow and develop,” Stephan said in a statement to Inc.

“Technical and human skills are symbiotic, which is why leaders should take a ‘Yes and’ approach for the investments they make in tech skills,” Stephan added in the release, “developing an equally exciting and critical human skill experience.”