How can we become better at recognizing and evaluating these soft skills? Are they worth less than technical skills since they’re more challenging to measure fully? Or are their impacts so pervasive precisely what makes them very valuable?
This write-up will assist you in getting an honest viewpoint on how soft skills development can impact organizational growth.
The Umbrella of Soft Skill
Let’s start by discussing the range of skills included in the soft skills category.
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Communication
Communication skills in this category include both oral and written expression. It’s a presenter who understands how to control an audience or a manager who can handle challenging conversations when they arise. Additionally, composing clear and concise emails helps the reader avoid guessing what the sender intended to convey. Listening should always account for at least 50% of communication.
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Courtesy
When we talk about courteous employees, we mean those that can act appropriately in any circumstance, don’t expect others to clean up after them, and never use the term “that’s not my job.” Business etiquette and courteous behaviour, such as knowing when to say please and thank you, are both examples of courtesies.
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Flexibility
A flexible worker can swiftly adjust to change and is open to difficulties like picking up new skills and breaking old habits. The individual who takes on new problems head-on and stays late when necessary.
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Team Work
Working as a team requires a cooperative mindset, a readiness to help, and interpersonal skills.
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Work Ethic
Work ethic is a willingness to work hard, to show loyalty, initiative, and a desire to create outstanding work. This one may seem more pronounced.
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Integrity
Integrity is one of the soft skills that benefit you in person and the professional space. At first impression, an employee with integrity depicts that they are honest, but integrity is beyond that. Owing to integrity, employees adhere to ethics, keep their judgment reasonable, and are always dependable.
How Does Improving Employees’ Soft Skills Impact Business?
According to Fortune 500 CEOs surveyed by Stanford Research, soft skills make up 75% of an employee’s long-term success. Every aspect of running a business, from customer service to sales to company culture, depends totally on your employee’s soft skills.
This means that your company will produce more best performers by educating and upgrading your staff’s abilities in areas like active listening, problem-solving, and emotional intelligence. Consider the fantastic perks this brings:
- Your production team will be more productive.
- Your sales are likely to improve as a result.
- Your clients are more likely to be satisfied with high performers.
Moreover, organizations get a considerably higher return on investment when they take steps to teach their staff desirable soft skills, such as good communication and creative problem-solving (ROI). After developing soft skills, efforts can be made to measure metrics like productivity and employee retention periodically. Researchers from Harvard University, Boston University, and the University of Michigan measured a 256 per cent ROI when employees received soft skill training.
The Final Takeaway
We want to ensure that you stay up to date on these critical skills because they will be a valuable asset for your team and the expansion of your business. It’s critical to build your soft skills and support the growth of your staff members’ soft abilities. Your staff will be more able to collaborate and achieve company goals and objectives with the help of soft skills. This results in increased production and higher efficiency.
While emphasizing soft skills training is becoming common, hard skills should be addressed because they are equally vital. To build a well-rounded workforce with the skills required to accomplish a great job, give both great importance in your L&D strategy.
We at Centum Learning believe behavioural training and soft skills training is essential in helping employees learn, practice, and modify their behaviour and associated perspectives to increase their performance. Think critically and creatively, make decisions, communicate effectively, have good people skills, and have a healthy self-concept. It supports healthy lifestyles, responsible decision-making, and the development of transferable skills for the workplace.
Get in touch with our training specialists to explore how our cutting-edge, impact-driven behaviour skills training solutions can benefit your company.
