When developing job descriptions, employers tend to emphasize the specific abilities required to complete a job. These are typically identified as &ldquo;hard skills,&rdquo; and are most often learned through education or training (i.e. computer programming, foreign language proficiency, or a specific degree or certificate). However,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nationalsoftskills.org/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">soft skills</a>&nbsp;can play an equally as important role in getting and keeping a job.
Soft skills are the personal attributes that enable us to interact effectively with others and succeed in the workplace. Sometimes they are referred to as &ldquo;people skills.&rdquo; Unlike some hard skills, soft skills are transferable from one job to another and are either inherent or developed over time. These are the attitudes, verbal and nonverbal behaviors, and habits that make us desirable employees and valuable team members.
Here are 7 soft skills that are sure to help you find and keep a job:
<ol>
<li>Communication&nbsp;&ndash; Effective communication is an essential skill to ensure job success. This not only includes being able to communicate well with clients or customers, but also with colleagues and managers. Significant aspects of communication in the workplace include the ability to listen, negotiate, persuade, deliver presentations/speak in front of others, write, and use nonverbal communication. For employees with disabilities, this also includes the ability to communicate about accommodations and other needs both during the interview process and while on the job. </li>
<li>Problem Solving &amp; Critical Thinking&nbsp;&ndash; The need to analyze, problem solve, and make informed decisions occurs consistently in any work setting. This includes the ability to be creative, flexible, and observant. Problem-solving skills are often one of the admirable qualities that employees with disabilities bring to the workplace, as people with disabilities are consistently required to think outside of the box or adapt a situation or environment to meet their needs. </li>
<li>Time Management&nbsp;&ndash; Good time management skills are important because they demonstrate the ability to prioritize and meet deadlines. It also proves that you are reliable. Time management not only means delivering assignments on time but also includes being on time for work, meetings, etc. Employees with disabilities may also have to consider any disability-related needs that may affect their time management at work. This could include factoring in extended time for restroom breaks, meals, or completing projects. &nbsp;
It&rsquo;s important to remember that managing your time effectively not only impacts you, but your colleagues as well. Quite often, our work correlates with others&rsquo;, and a missed deadline can reflect negatively on an entire team or business.
</li>
<li>Teamwork&nbsp;&ndash;&nbsp;Employers&nbsp;consistently seek job candidates who work well with others. Even if a job requires you to complete most of your work independently, you will inevitably need to interact with others at some point. Essential components of teamwork include the ability to accept and apply feedback from others, recognize and appreciate diversity (including disability), be self-aware, resolve conflicts, and work collaboratively. </li>
<li>Work Ethic/Professionalism&nbsp;&ndash; Having a strong work ethic is an impressive quality to demonstrate to an employer. People with a strong work ethic don&rsquo;t require micromanaging. Instead, they are responsible, meaning they arrive on time to work, meet deadlines, remain focused and organized, dress appropriately and generally follow instructions well. </li>
<li>Positive Attitude&nbsp;&ndash; Demonstrating a positive attitude can make all the difference in getting a job and succeeding in the workplace. Employees who are friendly, excited about their work, and have an overall positive attitude even as they interview are more likely to impress employers. This is especially helpful in fast-paced or high-stress environments. </li>
<li>Self-Confidence&nbsp;&ndash; Many other soft skills derive from having self-confidence. If you don&rsquo;t have confidence in your skills and abilities, it will be difficult to effectively apply other skills in the workplace. Being self-confident helps you not to take things personally and provides a sense of strength as you pursue your professional goals and help your employer succeed. It can also help you make confident, timely decisions and easily adapt to changes. </li>
</ol>
While developing your soft skills doesn&rsquo;t happen overnight, it is never too late to work on them. Simply observing people who demonstrate these qualities or asking someone to mentor/coach you in these areas can be beneficial. Additionally, choosing to take on more responsibilities in the workplace, such as serving on committees or signing up for an additional project, can help you hone your strengths and recognize areas for improvement.
For more resources and best practices on soft skills, check out the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nationalsoftskills.org/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">National Soft Skills Association</a>. Job seekers and employees with disabilities can also reach out to the&nbsp;CareerCircle team&nbsp;for resources and ideas on how to develop your soft skills.
Contributions to this blog were made by Andra&eacute;a LaVant of Solutions Marketing Group.

Discover 7 essential soft skills to boost your job success and workplace effectiveness.

7 Essential Soft-Skills for Getting and Keeping a Job

Discover the top 7 soft skills that enhance job performance and foster a positive workplace environment.

Most managers don't lose employees the moment they hand in their resignation. They lose them months earlier, at a missed development conversation, a flat onboarding week, a recognition moment that never came. By the time someone hands in their notice, the decision is usually well baked.
That's why the employee lifecycle matters. Understanding where each of your employees sits in their journey with your company, and meeting them at that stage, is one of the most underrated levers a manager has. It's also one of the most expensive to ignore. SHRM's 2025 Benchmarking Report puts the average cost-per-hire at $5,475 for non-executive roles and $35,879 for executive positions, and that's before you count the productivity dip, the team disruption, and the institutional knowledge that walks out the door.
This guide walks through what the employee lifecycle is, the stages that make it up, and most importantly, what to do differently at each one.
<h2>What Is the Employee Lifecycle?</h2>
The employee lifecycle is the full arc of someone's relationship with a company, from the moment they first hear your name to long after they've left. It's the HR equivalent of the customer journey: a framework for understanding that the person sitting in your Tuesday standup has different needs than the person you're interviewing on Thursday, even if they're doing the same job. A lifecycle mindset is honest and useful: every employee will eventually leave, and your job is to make the stretch in between as valuable for them as it is for you.
<h2>What Are the Stages of the Employee Lifecycle?</h2>
There's no single official model. Different HR frameworks may slice it into anywhere from six to twelve stages. Here's the version that captures the most useful distinctions, grouped into three broader phases so it's easier to think about.
<img src="https://cdn.buttercms.com/3pIj9eb1S2WgkJrXZEoL" width="649" height="365" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" alt="Employee Lifecycle infographic">
<h3>Phase 1: Joining your company</h3>
<ol>
<li>
Attraction: How candidates discover you. Your employer brand, job descriptions, social presence, and reputation all live in this lifecycle stage. A candidate forms an opinion before they ever click "apply."
</li>
<li>
Recruitment: The process of attracting applicants and moving them through your pipeline. Speed, communication, and clarity make or break this stage.
</li>
<li>
Interviewing: The two-way evaluation. The candidate is interviewing you just as hard as you're interviewing them, especially in a tight talent market.
</li>
<li>
Onboarding: The first 90 days. If you get this stage wrong you might already lose them: research from <a href="https://www.allencomm.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/eBook_DevelopingOnboardingModernWorkplace.pdf" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">SHRM found</a> that 20% of first year turnover happens within the first 45 days.
</li>
</ol>
<h3>Phase 2: Working at your company</h3>
<ol start="5">
<li>
Engagement: This is about day-to-day relationships and getting into the groove of working. <a href="https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Gallup's data</a> shows only around 20% of employees globally are engaged at work, meaning the other 80% represent both your biggest risk and your biggest opportunity.
</li>
<li>
Development: Growth, learning, and advancement. Lack of career development is among the top reasons employees leave.
</li>
<li>
Recognition: Whether people feel seen for the work they do. This isn't the same as pay. Engaged employees who feel recognized are less likely to leave than those who do not feel recognized
</li>
<li>
Retention: The cumulative result of getting the stages above right.
</li>
</ol>
<h3>Phase 3: Leaving and beyond</h3>
<ol start="9">
<li>
Offboarding: The mechanics of departure. Knowledge transfer, handoffs, the last two weeks.
</li>
<li>
Separation: The actual exit, including the exit interview. This is where you learn what the lifecycle felt like from that employee&rsquo;s standpoint.
</li>
<li>
Alumni: Former employees as a network. They can refer talent to your org, return as boomerang hires, or send business your way, but only if they left on good terms.
</li>
</ol>
<h2>What Is the Employee Lifecycle Model, and Why Does It Matter?</h2>
A lifecycle model is just a structured way of thinking about all of this, a map you can use to figure out where your weak spots are. The point isn't to memorize the stages; it's to use them diagnostically.
Here's what makes the model valuable: it surfaces problems you'd otherwise miss. Most managers focus on the dramatic stages. Recruiting and offboarding bookend everyone's attention. But the quietest stages, engagement and recognition, are where the most preventable turnover happens. Many employee exits are driven by career stagnation, weak management, and recognition gaps that compound over months and are addressable.
The lifecycle model turns "she just quit out of nowhere" into "we missed three development conversations and never followed up on the feedback she gave in her one-year review." That's a problem you can fix.
<h2>How to Improve Employee Retention at Every Lifecycle Stage</h2>
Retention isn't a single program and there&rsquo;s no one size fits all situation. It's the byproduct of doing the right things at each stage. Here are few ideas for what that looks like in practice:
<ul>
<li>
At attraction and recruitment: Be honest about the role. Glossy job descriptions that oversell create new hires who feel deceived by month three. Specificity attracts the right people and filters out the wrong ones.
</li>
<li>
At onboarding: Structure beats enthusiasm. Companies with formal onboarding programs will see higher retention. A documented 30/60/90-day plan matters more than a welcome lunch.
</li>
<li>
At development: Make growth conversations recurring, not annual. The employees who leave for "more opportunity" almost always left mentally before they left physically, and they usually told someone, or at least tried to.
</li>
<li>
At recognition: Specific beats generic. "Great job this quarter" is forgettable. "The way you handled the migration on Friday saved us a week" is the kind of moment people remember when a recruiter calls.
</li>
<li>
At offboarding and alumni: Treat the exit interview as your most important market research. People leaving have nothing to lose by being honest, and what they tell you is a free roadmap for fixing the lifecycle for everyone still there.
</li>
</ul>
Here&rsquo;s some good news: each step compounds, so strong onboarding makes engagement easier. Good engagement makes development conversations natural. Active development makes retention almost passive. The companies that struggle with retention usually have a weak link somewhere upstream they haven't diagnosed.
<h2>Where to Start Right Now</h2>
If you only do one thing after reading this, do this: pick one stage where you suspect you're weakest, and pick one employee currently in that stage. Have a real conversation with them about it. The lifecycle framework is useful, but it's the conversations it prompts that move retention numbers.
<h2>Other Ideas on How to Build an Inclusive Lifecycle That Retains More Talent.</h2>
A truly effective employee lifecycle doesn't just retain employees, it works for all employees. CareerCircle helps employer partners build hiring and retention practices that reach talent often overlooked by traditional pipelines, including job seekers with disabilities and veterans.
Like we said, there&rsquo;s no one size fits all model, but we have some free resources like the <a href="https://www.careercircle.com/resources/employer-resources/candidate-experience-with-disabilities" rel="follow">"Understanding the Candidate Experience for Job Seekers with Disabilities Guide</a> for practical steps you can apply at the attraction, recruitment, and onboarding stages of your lifecycle for the disability community.
<a href="https://www.careercircle.com/resources/employer-resources/candidate-experience-with-disabilities" rel="follow" style="text-decoration: none; display: inline-block; padding: 10px 20px; background-color: #1010fc; color: white; border-radius: 5px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">Download the guide</a>
Ready to talk through your employer partnership?&nbsp;<a href="https://www.careercircle.com/contact">Reach out today!</a>
&nbsp; Content Contributor: 
Jenny Han contributed to this content and is a writer for <a href="https://academized.com/writing-services/write-my-dissertation" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Write My Dissertation</a> and <a href="https://ukwritings.com/buy-dissertation" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Buy Dissertation</a>. She covers business management and advancement, helping business owners find success. She is also a blogger at <a href="https://stateofwriting.com/uk/do-my-assignment" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Do My Assignment</a>.

Maximize employee potential by understanding the employee life cycle. Learn key stages and management tips.

How To Understand And Optimize The Employee Life Cycle | Getting Hired

Understanding the Employee Lifecycle: A Manager's Guide to Every Employee Lifecycle Stage

It's the perfect time for employers to assess their company&rsquo;s commitment to disability inclusion &ndash; even beyond National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). Branding your company as a disability-inclusive employer is a primary way to improve your company culture, increase retention, and foster opportunities for leadership.&nbsp; 
Here are six ways to brand yourself as a disability-inclusive employer:
<ul>
<li>Perform a disability-inclusivity audit of your company marketing. Do you know if your website and social media platforms are accessible to disability communities? Do your marketing materials, including stock photos, include authentic disability representation? If you aren&rsquo;t considering how to make your marketing efforts disability inclusive, you&rsquo;re missing out on the potential for significant business growth. Use authentic images of people with disabilities in your print, video, and web materials.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<ul>
<li>Assess the accessibility of your job applications. Inaccessible job applications significantly hinder your reputation as a disability-inclusive employer. If your job applications aren&rsquo;t accessible to job seekers with disabilities, you&rsquo;re likely missing out on qualified candidates before they even reach you. When developing an accessible application process, focus on the following:
<ul>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ul>
<li>Include an accommodation statement on recruitment material that states accommodations can be provided upon request, along with contact info on how to obtain accommodations.</li>
<li>Avoid listing job requirements that aren&rsquo;t essential to the position. Desirable qualifications, such as requiring the &ldquo;ability to bend, lift, push at least 50 lbs,&rdquo; or &ldquo;type 50 wpm&rdquo; can discourage otherwise qualified candidates from applying.</li>
<li>Be wary of artificial intelligence-based job screener software, such as facial recognition apps, conversational agents, and applicant tracking systems. These can be discriminatory towards applicants with disabilities.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>

<ul>
<li>Invest in training and development. It&rsquo;s important to ensure all employees understand the importance of fostering an inclusive workplace. Even if HR and executive leadership are supportive of disability inclusion, your efforts will only be effective if you have buy-in at all levels. Consider mandatory training on various topics related to inclusion, including disability etiquette, reasonable accommodations, and unconscious bias. Furthermore, your current employees who have disclosed they have disabilities deserve investment in their professional development. Think through what opportunities these employees have for advancement into positions of leadership.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
<li>Prioritize accommodations for existing employees &ndash; Just as it&rsquo;s important to make sure your company&rsquo;s external marketing efforts and job applications are accessible, employers who want to be deemed disability-inclusive should also have a seamless internal reasonable accommodation process. This means determining how and when accommodation requests will be reviewed and implemented and providing a method for resolving disputes.
<ul>
<li>Keep in mind that accommodations should always be determined in communication with the employee requesting them rather than making decisions without discussion. Employees will already know what will be most beneficial to help them perform their jobs well.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>

<ul>
<li>Partner with disability-focused organizations &ndash; One of the commonly reported barriers to disability-inclusive hiring is finding qualified job candidates. Often engaging directly with people with disabilities can help provide understanding about potential job opportunities they&rsquo;d not previously considered. Making this effort to engage with disability-serving organizations is a great way to demonstrate your commitment to including people with disabilities in your workplace.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
We&rsquo;d love to support you as you build your inclusive brand! For more information, please contact us at gettinghired@careercircle.com.&nbsp;

Assess your company’s commitment to disability inclusion beyond NDEAM. Learn six ways to brand yourself as inclusive.

How to Brand Yourself as A Disability-Inclusive Employer During NDEAM and Beyond | Getting Hired

How to Brand Yourself as A Disability-Inclusive Employer During NDEAM and Beyond

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7 Essential Soft-Skills for Getting and Keeping a Job

Understanding the Employee Lifecycle: A Manager's Guide to Every Employee Lifecycle Stage

How to Brand Yourself as A Disability-Inclusive Employer During NDEAM and Beyond

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