1. Empathy and emotional intelligence

Empathy helps individuals understand others’ feelings and perspectives. It’s an aspect of emotional intelligence that involves an awareness and regulation of personal emotions.

Having empathy and emotional intelligence helps employees stay calm during negotiations and interpret others’ points of view.

How to hire for empathy and emotional intelligence

To hire for emotional intelligence, consider these tips for your job description:

• Mention negotiation situations involving emotions, such as high-stakes negotiations or working with clients with challenging situations.

• Discuss the types of people they may interact with to emphasize the need for adaptability.

• Detail the need to maintain a professional approach and represent the company well in negotiations.

Assessing the skill

When interviewing candidates, evaluate how well they manage their emotions during the interview. Consider asking emotional intelligence interview questions. You might also assign personality tests to candidates to evaluate their empathy.

Roles where this skill excels

The following roles may benefit from empathy and emotional intelligence:

• Registered Nurse (RN): An RN uses empathy and emotional intelligence to positively interact with patients. They may also negotiate with patients or families to agree to treatments.

• Social Worker: Social workers use negotiation skills to navigate family conflicts, advocate for clients and increase resources. Emotional intelligence helps them understand parties’ needs to negotiate successfully.

• Teacher: When teachers work with students, they may use negotiation skills to get them to complete work successfully. This requires an understanding of what each student is going through.

2. Active listening and communication

Successful negotiation requires both parties to listen actively and communicate their ideas clearly. Active listening can help employees notice details that enable them to counteroffer effectively. Communication typically helps both parties find a satisfactory resolution.

How to hire for active listening and communication

Your job description may attract candidates with communication skills if you do the following:

• Describe the types of communication the candidate will use for negotiation.

• List the different collaborators and roles the person communicates with regularly.

• Discuss the need to adapt communication skills to different situations.

Assessing the skill

Candidates demonstrate their communication skills during the interview. Notice how well they express their ideas, experiences and opinions when answering questions to assess communication. Role-playing activities that simulate regular job activities might help you assess their communication skills in a work setting.

Roles where this skill excels

Communication can be particularly important for these positions:

• Car Salesperson: A car salesperson listens to buyers’ needs to guide them during the purchase process.

• Criminal Defense Attorney: Listening to their clients and communicating with the prosecutor, judge and other parties in criminal cases helps criminal defense attorneys negotiate plea deals for their clients.

• Marketing Specialist: Marketing specialists typically use communication skills to negotiate details of marketing campaigns with clients or terms of contracts with vendors.

3. Adaptability

Negotiation often requires the ability to adapt approaches based on the other party’s offering. You may enter a negotiation with an ideal outcome in mind. However, a successful resolution may require flexibility in those ideas. When you hire someone who’s adaptable, they can change their approach to achieve a beneficial outcome.

How to hire for adaptability

These tips may help you tailor your job description to include adaptability:

• Mention the fast-paced and changing nature of the job.

• Describe how negotiation situations might vary to highlight each is unique.

• Talk about the need for flexibility.

• Include information about adapting approaches in negotiations.

Assessing the skill

To hire for adaptability, ask interview questions about handling changes, learning new skills or adapting to new environments. Online skills and personality tests that include adaptability might help you assess the skill.

Roles where this skill excels

You might focus on adaptability in these roles:

• Outside Sales Representative: Outside sales reps travel to meet with clients to make sales. To negotiate contracts and close deals, they often have to adapt when and where they meet and consider changing needs and market conditions.

• Customer Service Representative: While taking calls from clients, customer service reps adapt to new situations and negotiate solutions to resolve them.

• Executive Assistant: Executive assistants complete tasks as requested by the executives they serve. That often means they need to adapt to changing demands.

4. Problem-solving

Problem-solving skills are essential during negotiations. Your employee may need to devise new solutions if all parties don’t agree with the terms. This skill often requires balancing various parties’ wants with what’s possible.

For example, construction projects must meet building codes, and employees may encounter limitations based on what’s physically possible. Clients may want features that conflict with those standards. This situation requires problem-solving to negotiate a design that satisfies the client while complying with applicable regulations and codes.

How to hire for problem-solving

Consider these details for your job description to emphasize problem-solving:

• Emphasize the need for creative solutions.

• Describe common conflicts the candidate might encounter that require problem-solving.

• Mention resources for problem-solving, such as available databases or experts within the organization.

Assessing the skill

You can assess problem-solving skills with targeted interview questions and online testing. You might also set up a simulation based on a regular work situation. For a sales position, you might have candidates close a deal with an interviewer who acts like a client.

Roles where this skill excels

Positions that require problem-solving include:

• Civil Engineer: Civil engineers use problem-solving skills to design safe, functional projects. Negotiation skills are needed if the client requests changes that don’t align with safety and functionality guidelines.

• Physician: Physicians need to problem-solve if patients don’t want to follow the recommended treatment. For example, if a patient doesn’t take a prescribed medication, the doctor may negotiate with them or encourage an alternative treatment.

• Financial Analyst: Financial analysts use problem-solving to improve the company’s financial situation. Negotiation helps them work with vendors and outside entities to improve financial terms and agreements.

5. Strategic thinking

Being a strategic thinker typically helps employees create solutions that meet the needs of both parties. Strategy starts before the negotiation begins. Someone who’s strategic understands how to research the situation and enter the negotiation prepared.

That research may also help them anticipate objections or counteroffers so they can properly respond. Strategic thinkers can prioritize the terms of negotiation to achieve the best outcome.

How to hire for strategic thinking

You might adapt your job description with these details:

• Highlight the complex scenarios that frequently occur during negotiations in this role.

• Discuss planning that goes into preparing for negotiations.

• Emphasize your need for a strategic thinker who brainstorms innovative solutions.

• Detail the data and resources used in negotiations.

• Include information on how the role collaborates with other employees to develop strategic solutions.

Assessing the skill

Asking strategic thinking interview questions gives you insight into candidates’ comfort with this skill. Another option is to present the candidate with a case study related to the role and ask them to offer solutions.

Roles where this skill excels

Strategic thinking typically works well in these roles:

• Chief Operating Officer (COO): The COO makes strategic decisions as part of negotiations that improve business operations.

• Business Analyst: Business analysts use strategic methods to find solutions for the company. They often negotiate with collaborators on requirements and outcomes.

• Project Manager: A project manager negotiates strategically to adjust project details or keep the team on track.