Assessing the Soft Skills of IT Professionals: A Proposal for the Information and Communication Technology Sector

Introduction

The growing globalization and competitiveness of the business context exerts pressure for there to be a continuous improvement of the processes and services in the market. For this, it is necessary that it aligned all sectors of the company with strategic planning for only then becomes possible to compete in a global market. In this sense, the current context changes require a rapid transformation and adaptation of Human Resources Management (HRM) practices to their surroundings. Thus, the Human Resources manager assumes a more active role, he ceases to perform a purely mechanistic and traditionally administrative activity, to become an agent of change within the organization. Human capital (HC) also assumes itself as the most asset of an organization, since factors such as intellectual capital, technical and behavioural skills, actively contribute to the competitiveness and companies’ success. That said, the HRM faces two major challenges: directing the skills and quality of human capital to its own interests through the various processes carried out by Human Resources (HR); and, finally, to outline an organizational structure that allows to maximize the performance of the organization.

The Recruitment and Selection process plays a fundamental role within the organization, if it allows the entry of new employees and may comprise several selection stages to assess the candidates' technical and behavioural skills. Nowadays, a curriculum vitae and a highly qualified candidate, are not the only determining factors in the selection process because, increasingly, technical skills must be accompanied by a set of behavioural or soft skills, since the companies also appreciate the intellectual and emotional abilities of the candidates.

The world is facing a process of constant change, in which companies are experiencing a real revolution, which is mainly due to two major factors with implications for the profile of skills: technological innovation and economic globalization. These factors have been causing profound changes in society and organizations, highlighting the need to gain new skills.

The identification of the transversal skills required for a function is a complex task, especially if the manager only focuses on the technical skills that are important for performing a function. However, it is no longer enough for the employee to master and perform a certain task. Knowledge and / or skills are needed to 'know-how', but also to 'know-to-be' in diverse situations and contexts. According to Ceitil (2016), skills are increasingly an enhancement factor of human capital and a guarantee of greater competitiveness of organizations.