Foundational soft skills have become even more important given the rise of remote and autonomous work, and are growing in importance across industries, levels and work environments.” – Rohan Rajiv, Director of Product Management, LinkedIn
The term soft skills evolved from the US military in the 20th century, when it was said that success came more from how a military leader led a group of soldiers than how well they learnt to use the equipment. This finds resonance in the business world, where soft skills continue to provide an edge. McKinsey estimates that with machines becoming smarter, the importance of soft skills will continue to surge in the workplace
We can never adequately emphasise the importance of soft skills in our life and career. Soft skills refer to our abilities to engage with people around us. These include skills such as communication, leadership, teamwork, empathy, and productivity. When a project is being executed, the same technical skills deliver different results when matched with high-quality leadership skills. A salesforce research report says that 76% of hiring managers believe that collaboration and teamwork will see a rise in importance in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) era.
Polishing soft skills regularly is an integral part of career development. For those who have been focussing on acquiring hard skills, an upskilling exercise could be to learn soft skills. Those aiming for top positions in a company are necessarily required to have soft skills. Upskilling also requires that we develop soft skills that are relevant to the hybrid work environment of today.
Soft skills & how they impact your life
To understand how to work on our soft skills, we need to break them down into various topics. Here are a few core soft skills:
Leadership skills: Leaders can channelise the talent and infrastructure of the company and make all the difference in the success of a company. It is necessary to nurture our leadership skills if we expect to impact the company in a significant way. A well-designed program can foster leadership abilities and answer many of the problems that budding business leaders face.
Communication: Communicating with passion and precision can make a working professional more effective. It is necessary to be conversant with the best ways to communicate in person as well as online, in writing as well as orally, and with people across various cultures. So many professionals understand grammar but require to be trained in presentation skills, for example.
Empathy: An effective manager has to work with team members, people across departments, and external vendors. In such a scenario, it is necessary to retain their loyalty and also motivate them. This can only be done by exercising empathy in our conduct with them. Empathy is a quality that helps us in life as well as in career development.
Productivity: Our productivity at work depends on our attitude and self-discipline, apart from our technical skills. Time management is one skill that impacts our productivity. Productivity can be increased by analysing our conduct introspectively and getting feedback from soft skill experts. How one can gain more agility can be learnt through various case studies.
It's possible to learn soft skills through structured programs
Nurturing soft skills is an integral part of upskilling. While we may possess technical skills, their effectiveness is enhanced manifold by soft skills. Soft skills encompass areas such as leadership, communication, empathy, productivity, time management, and problem-solving, amongst other qualities. Learn soft skills systematically as it is a must for every ambitious working professional, as well as for organizations that want to perform better. Soft skills are often decisive in the performance of a company and are thus the real skills to have.
Soft skills are to be learnt through well-designed and rigorously tested programs. Get in touch with us to know how you can systematically learn cutting-edge soft skills.
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