What are transferable skills?

Transferable skills can be applied across different roles, industries or career paths. Employees typically develop these skills over time as they work in varying roles. They’re also called “portable skills” because they can be adapted to different workplaces or areas of life.

Examples of transferable skills can include:

• Communication
• Interpersonal skills
• Analytical skills
• Adaptability
• Technology skills
• Organization

The term “soft skills” is sometimes used interchangeably with “transferable skills.” While there’s often an overlap between these terms, the transferable skills definition is distinct.

Soft skills are non-technical abilities that help employees work well with others, such as active listening and emotional intelligence. Transferable skills may include these abilities, as well as hard skills, such as budget management or computer programming.

Advantages of transferable skills

By building a team with a diverse set of transferable skills, you can balance their strengths and weaknesses. As a result, employees may leverage their unique abilities and perspectives for effective problem-solving. They might also excel working independently and be more motivated by their work, potentially leading to improved productivity and morale.

Transferable skills are particularly important when hiring new employees. If you’re shifting to a skills-first hiring process, you might prioritize these abilities over traditional industry experience. This strategy can open up your candidate pool to a diverse range of applicants.

Examples of transferable skills

You can often spot transferable skills on a resume, whether they’re listed or implied in the examples of work experience. Consider asking candidates to demonstrate or explain their transferable skills during interviews.

Developing transferable skills with your existing team often requires more observation. Consider the examples of transferable skills below and how they may present in employees.

Communication

Communication is the ability to express and receive information through spoken word, written or nonverbal means. It helps employees share information, ask appropriate questions and build strong working relationships. While this skill is necessary for most jobs, it’s generally needed for leadership, coordinator, management and client-facing positions.

Critical thinking

Individuals with critical-thinking skills can logically evaluate and analyze information to produce original concepts or ideas. This skill can help employees develop innovative solutions and strategies that give your company a competitive advantage.

Critical thinking might involve challenging a typical procedure and developing a better strategy. For example, an employee might review past marketing campaigns, identify opportunities for improvement and use them to enhance the structure of future campaigns.

Interpersonal

Interpersonal skills help employees interact successfully with others. They’re often closely related to the individual’s emotional intelligence. People who possess these skills practice active listening and treat others with empathy, leading to positive dynamics and relationships. Interpersonal skills can also include patience and the ability to observe and understand others.

Combined with strong communication, interpersonal skills can build trust among employees. These skills are especially important for leadership, teaching, nursing and other roles that require frequent collaboration.

Analytical

People with analytical skills collect, observe and analyze information to create solutions. Analytical thinkers can research and assess complex information, identify patterns, interpret data and make informed decisions.

Strong analytical skills may be essential for business leaders, marketers, writers and logistics professionals.

Teamwork and collaboration

Teamwork abilities help individuals communicate with, cooperate with and support their peers. Even if employees primarily work alone, they can practice teamwork by understanding how their tasks support the organization and its goals.

Teamwork helps promote unity among employees. Employees with this skill tend to highlight others’ strengths, which can improve overall productivity and satisfaction.

Adaptability

People with this skill can often improvise to create solutions. They can adapt quickly to new concepts, challenges or workplace shifts.

Adaptability is an important skill in fast-paced workplaces and often indicates an ability to think critically and stay organized.

Time management

Individuals with time management skills can prioritize and organize tasks efficiently to meet their goals. They can typically multitask, delegate and manage various projects, maintaining high-quality workflows within an organization. People with these skills may have detailed calendars and a clear understanding of timelines.

Time management skills are essential for roles that involve multiple responsibilities, complex projects and tight deadlines.

Leadership

Effective leadership often refers to a combination of soft skills, such as communication, teamwork, critical thinking and interpersonal skills. Successful leaders collaborate and communicate with team members, motivating and organizing them while responding with empathy.

A good leader can harness various skills to support others, making these skills necessary for managers and executives.

Technology

Technology skills include hard skills such as mathematical or computer abilities. They can be applied across many organizations, often reducing training requirements.

Common transferable technology skills include:

• Programming
• Knowledge of computer applications such as Microsoft Office
• Medical billing
• Social media management
• Database management

How to nurture transferable skills

Since individuals have different strengths, learning and development styles, you may need to try several strategies to find one that works.

1. Individualize development

Meet with each employee to create an individual plan. Identify their goals, both within the organization and for their career as a whole. This conversation helps you understand which skills employees should focus on and which performance metrics you can use to monitor their development.

A personal development plan shows your support, which can motivate employees. It also helps them stay accountable for building their transferable skills.

Related: Skills Gap Analysis: Templates for Managers

2. Communicate with employees

Communicate with employees regularly to gauge their development needs, successes and concerns. Try to implement constructive feedback by making recommendations regarding their existing performance metrics. You can also ask them to identify any barriers or struggles they may need support with. Ongoing check-ins keep employees accountable and help them feel supported in their goals.

3. Focus on individual strengths

Helping employees develop their natural strengths can build confidence and increase employee satisfaction. For example, if an employee has strong analytical and technology skills but weaker interpersonal and communication skills, they may appreciate focusing on those with which they already excel.

4. Assign ownership for skills

If an employee has a particularly strong skill, you can assign responsibilities that model that ability to the rest of the team. For example, you might ask a strong communicator to write daily or weekly email memos to keep the team informed and set the standard for written communication.

5. Create opportunities for development

When an employee is interested in building a weaker skill, give them new responsibilities or challenges that rely on that skill. If they want to work on time management and organization, for example, you might assign new project management tasks.

You may also provide cross-training opportunities, putting employees in new roles or adding them to new projects.

Related: Employee Development: What Leaders Should Know

6. Provide development resources

Courses, workshops and seminars can help employees nurture transferable skills. Although they may require upfront financial investment, these resources can increase job satisfaction and employee loyalty. It also shows employees you’re committed to their professional development, reinforcing their value to the organization.

Consider using your network to connect employees to potential mentors who can help them develop skills.

7. Set an example

As an employer, it’s important to lead by example. Show your commitment to developing transferable skills by working on yours. This can demonstrate credibility and integrity and motivate employees to do the same.

Frequently asked questions about transferable skills

What skills are not transferable?

Non-transferable skills include any ability that only relates to a specific role or industry. For example, expert knowledge of an electronic health record system is useful largely in the healthcare industry, but it doesn’t transfer easily to other industries. The same applies to skills in any proprietary software, programming language or process.

How can you hire for transferable skills?

To hire for transferable skills, focus on the abilities you want candidates to have rather than specific education and work experience requirements. Post your job listings in various places to reach people from different backgrounds.

Interviews and practical assessments can help you assess a candidate’s abilities.