As a small business, how much focus should you give to soft skills when hiring? Clearly, you need to evaluate their technical abilities and related work history. However, should you also assess their “fit” with your company and existing employees? Some hiring managers rely on their gut while others use referrals from other employees. Although it might take a little patience to find the right hard and soft skills in a single candidate, doing so is becoming increasingly vital to every business that wants to survive. A recently published article has identified LinkedIn’s top 5 soft skills that organizations are now looking to benefit from:

• Communication
• Problem solving
• Analytical skills
• Leadership
• Customer service

Large corporations sometimes utilize personality assessments to identify these types of skills, but small businesses often don’t. Instead, assessing for soft skills can be accomplished through other means.  Re-visiting the structure of your interview, the types of questions you ask and making sure you thoroughly vet a candidate are all ways to improve your assessment process. Background checking is a critical part of vetting and can provide indicators of soft-skill concerns. For instance, if there were gaps in employment, were the explanations from the candidate understandable? Were the dates of previous employment listed accurately, or were they intentionally misleading? Would they be considered eligible for rehire by their previous employer? Does their criminal record reveal a pattern of behavior that would be out of line with the company and the position being filled? Looking at background check information in a new light can be more revealing, which makes it more valuable when you’re making hiring decisions. So, with a little patience and utilizing the tools you have in a new way, you’ll be on the road to finding better candidates!

When your business needs assistance with employment screening, criminal checks, FCRA compliance, drug screening, education and employment verification, driving records (MVR), credit checks or social security number validation, contact the Swailes Background Team to get quickly signed up.