from knowledge to awareness
Beneath the rhetoric surrounding transversal skills and workplace dynamics lies, in truth, a complex and multifaceted world made up simply of people. Human beings who live, work, interact, adapt and sometimes merely survive.
In today's world, the role of purely “hard” knowledge has become relatively marginal. This shift, however, may have started long ago.
The true focus now revolves around our mindset and skillset, which form the backbone of success, performance, tangible results and, above all, quality of work.
The key words? Soft skills.
From psychosocial skills to soft skills
Today's working environment is marked by rapid, relentless—even compulsive—change, where technological innovation and automation are dramatically reshaping professional dynamics.
This incipit, while necessary, has the flavour of acrid rhetoric considering that, as early as the 1960s, the need to rely on psychosocial skills , which then, over time, were identified and labeled with the termsoft skills.
According to the Business School of the Italian media group
Sole 24 Ore: Companies are no longer looking for workers with a predefined technical background, but rather people who know how to collaborate, communicate, and adapt. This may seem like nothing extraordinary, considering that these skills are rooted in specific and universal human needs.
These “soft” skills are now a true differentiator and added value. A predictor of success.
If technical skills (hard skills) are almost taken for granted, this is not the case at all for transversal skills.
Soft skills as strategic skills
Broadly speaking, soft skills can be defined as the combination of abilities, knowledge and behaviours that enable us to operate effectively within a professional environment.
Critical thinking, resilience, leadership, teamwork, problem solving and effective communication are among the most in-demand skills today.
At least that's the case for the World Economic Forum, Reuters, Multiverse, Michael Page Italia, theDigital Agenda (March 2025), and even the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), given their formal inclusion in the public selection criteria. A major cultural leap, indeed.
Knowing how to be and knowing how to do become a real strategy, a prerequisite, a modern habitus that can really make a difference.
Perhaps that difference has always been there—we just hadn’t noticed it yet.
After all, some forms of knowledge take time to mature into universally accepted truths—absorbed, understood, and truly embraced. It’s in the nature of progress.
Transversal competencies as a top priority
Going beyond any reflection, according to the World Economic Forum in its update of "The Future of Jobs Report 2025", soft skills represent, in all respects, a top priority for companies all over the world.
The study highlighted some particularly striking findings:
- 94% of companies consider soft skills more important than technical skills. Excellent finding.
- The most in-demand skills include: critical thinking, creativity, empathetic leadership , and change management. Easy to say!
- Soft skills are strategic for tackling the evolution and dominance of new technologies. An undeniable truth.
communication , effective interpersonal skills , and problem-solving are almost mandatory. They always have been!
REFERENCES
World Economic Forum (2025).The Future of Jobs Report 2025.World Economic Forum.
Harvard Business Review – www.hbr.org
McKinsey & Company (2023). The Future of Work: How Jobs, Skills, and Workplaces Will Change - www.mckinsey.com