The hard truth about soft skills
Soft skills rarely get the respect they deserve, but these skills can in fact make or break a career. Training managers generally see soft skills as nice-to-know rather than need-to-know, but this couldn't be further from the truth, said Alusani Skills & Training Network's CEO, Imogen Tarita.
Perhaps one of the biggest misconceptions about soft skills is the idea that people will naturally grow in these areas over time. According to Tarita:"These skills do not automatically develop in everybody."
This false assumption, and others like it, could offer insight into why managers and employers overlook soft skills training programmes.
" ... as we all know in tough economic times, the investment in these kinds of training initiatives really does get put on the back burner."
As businesses look for ways to reduce costs and extract value from every investment, hard skills training continues to surpass soft skills development in the workplace.
Tarita argued that while hard skills are necessary, "soft skills enable you to use your technical abilities".
Complementary skill sets
The two skill sets complement one another and it is virtually impossible for people to progress and excel if one or both of these sets are not being consistently developed.
She referred to departments such as debt collection and IT and noted that if these units are not proficient in customer service their technical expertise will be wasted.
Likewise, she asserted that people in highly technical positions, such as engineers and accountants, are not moving forward in their respective fields because they lack the soft skills intrinsic to senior management positions.
Quoting from a recent research paper she said: "One study found that the best performing managers at a Fortune 100 corporation had significantly higher levels of self-awareness, social skills, self-management and organisational savvy."
Despite the evidence of these studies, managers are not acknowledging the need for soft skills development, at least not at a practical level.
Unfortunately this means "employees are being forced to learn soft skills on the job". This trend is robbing motivated staff members from obtaining promotions in the workplace, because management has more to do with people skills than technical know-how. According to Tarita, "managers who are quickly promoted have higher levels of emotional intelligence".
For this reason, training and skills development in the areas of communication, negotiation and people skills is critical and it should be the aim of every organisation to equip their people with the skills that will help them to advance.
"To move forward in this economy companies cannot afford to cut training, especially soft skills training."
