Essential Skills and the BESSI
At Essential Skills Consulting, we help people and organizations build the human skills that matter most — the essential social, emotional, and behavioral skills that support effective leadership, collaboration, resilience, and innovation.
To do this, we use the Behavioral, Emotional, and Social Skills Inventory (BESSI) — a research-backed tool that provides a detailed, actionable picture of 32 key skills people use to thrive in life and work.
Unlike personality traits, which describe how people tend to act, human skills reflect what people are capable of doing when they are at their best. They’re learnable, measurable, and changeable — and they matter deeply.
This page provides a basic overview of human skills and the BESSI. If you’d like to learn even more about the science behind the BESSI, you can visit our research website at sebskills.com.
Essential human skills are the capacities people use every day to connect with others, manage emotions, stay focused on goals, adapt to challenges, and grow through experience. They’re the building blocks of success across every domain of life.
Research shows that stronger human skills are linked to:
These aren’t just “soft” skills — they’re essential.
The BESSI framework organizes human skills into five essential domains:
Each domain includes several specific skills, giving individuals and teams a full picture of their current capacities and growth opportunities.
The Behavioral, Emotional, and Social Skills Inventory (BESSI) is the most comprehensive human skills assessment available today. Developed by a team of leading psychologists, it was designed to go beyond vague self-reports and provide practical, precise feedback.
Why BESSI stands out:
BESSI is the bridge between science and real-world skill development.