Communication, teamwork, and empathy top employers' hiring priorities

While employers are clear about the skills they want, only 42% of organisations track whether training programmes actually change employee behaviour.

Artificial intelligence (AI) may be transforming work, but human skills continue to dominate hiring decisions, as communication, teamwork, and a positive attitude are the most sought-after qualities employers look for in candidates, according to a new analysis by Zensai.

The research assessed 5,000 recent job postings on Glassdoor across occupations in the US, and found that behavioural traits dominated employers’ hiring requirements. In fact, the first hard skill, Microsoft Office/Excel proficiency, didn't appear until 18^th place in the rankings.

*While the survey was conducted in the US, HRO believes the results remain relevant to our readership in Asia.

The findings suggested that as AI becomes increasingly embedded in workplaces, employers are placing greater emphasis on mindset, collaboration, and the ability to work effectively with others.

Hard skills and credentials still play a role

Although behavioral traits dominated the overall list, specific credentials and hard skills continue to play an important role.

Microsoft Office/Excel proficiency was the most requested hard skill, appearing in 11.9% of listings, while a bachelor’s degree was the most sought-after credential, cited in 9.9% of postings.

Most requested hard skills:

Most requested credentials:

Organisations struggle to measure the skills they value

While employers appear clear about the skills they want, many organisations are still struggling to determine whether those competencies are actually being developed internally.

The report cited findings from a separate study of 277 talent development professionals conducted by the Association for Talent Development (ATD). Only 42% of organisations said they track whether training changes employee behaviour, and just 16% considered themselves proficient at measuring and evaluating the impact of their learning programmes.

Although 93% of organisations collect basic participant satisfaction data following training, only 30% rated themselves as good or excellent at using learning data to make business decisions.

Over half of organisations (51%) cited a lack of staff and time as a key barrier to effective evaluation, while 54% said it was difficult to isolate the impact of training from other factors affecting business performance.

The study also found that only 43% of respondents believed their learning goals were strongly aligned with broader business objectives.

AI expected to improve learning measurement

Despite these challenges, HR and learning professionals remain optimistic about AI's potential to strengthen talent development and training evaluation.

According to the ATD survey, 81% of respondents believed AI will positively impact learning measurement and evaluation over the next two years, with 28% anticipating an “extremely positive” effect.

Meanwhile, two-thirds of respondents expect the pressure to demonstrate the financial return on talent development to increase, and 69% believe their organisations will need more employees with data analysis skills to meet future demands.

Image / Zensai