Soft Skills Development = Solid Workplace Payoffs

Think about the skills you’ll need during any given workday. In your dynamic, fast-paced workplace, you’re required to pivot, problem solve, collaborate, communicate, all while managing time and emotions.

Day by day, hour by hour, you’ll demonstrate any number of behaviors and abilities that help us navigate our jobs. These behaviors and abilities go by a range of names, but whether you call them soft skills, core skills, non-technical skills, or essential skills, the focus is on how we work rather than what we know. Soft skills are not as visible or tangible as hard skills, but they are no less valuable. Quite the contrary; without them businesses will grind to a halt. Think of the interplay between hard and soft skills as an engine and steering wheel of a car; hard skills provide the power to move forward, while soft skills oil the engine and guide the journey. 

To borrow former Forbes contributor Victor Lipman’s turn of phrase, organizations need employees with solid soft skills.

But why, and why now?

It’s been said many times before, but we’re living in a digital age. Once upon a time, human hands did all the tasks. According to the World Economic Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Network Impact Report 2022-2023, a key factor is the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) applications in the workplace. As machines take over repetitive tasks, the human touch — critical thinking, problem solving, and communication — are at a premium.  

In this new era, we’ve slipped the yoke of physical locations; because teams can span the globe, parochial mindsets have no place in today’s workforce. Additionally, organizational leaders are emphasizing collaborative teamwork. The sun is setting on the Don Drapers and Howard Roarks of workplaces past; today’s teams pull from an array of perspectives, not one bulldozing individual contributor.

L&D enters the chat

As organizations nudge soft skills to the top of their priorities, the demand for training goes up. LinkedIn Learning’s 2024 survey of 1,636 Learning & Development (L&D) and Human Resources (HR) professionals provides striking numbers: 91% agreed that soft or “human” skills are increasingly important. From 2022 to 2023, L&D pros reported a year-over-year growth in demand for interpersonal (73%), presentation (64%), problem-solving (57%), and people management (57%) skills.

Hard part of soft skills

At this point in the narrative, anyone tasked with creating soft skills-focused learning experiences may be getting a little nervous. We see you. The topics — Communication! Problem solving! Resilience! Teamwork! — are appealing but can be remarkably difficult to wrap one’s arms around. They’re abstract and difficult to quantify and assess, and designing learning experiences about them can feel like dancing about architecture. Then there’s learner buy-in and pay-off. Learners can be resistant to squishy training, and, if we contrast soft topics with hard skills topics, it’s easy to see why: soft skills can take more time to build, refine, and reward.

Solutions through soft skills

But learning pros can call on their own soft skills and use a few strategies throughout the process to create learning experiences that upskill employees on even the squishiest of subjects. Here are some tactical ideas for creating soft skills-focused learning experiences.  

• Consider your learning outcome, then break it down into traits and concepts, then prioritize the list. 
• Put words into actions, translating concepts and theories into practical, demonstrable, and observable behaviors.  
• Align your learning objectives to create a framework that moves learners beyond mere recall and into application through demonstrable behaviors. And don’t forget to project the learning objectives to the assessment, no matter what method you use.  
• Maximize the learning experience — regardless of the delivery approach — by being concrete. Use case studies and storytelling to show what good and bad look like.  
• Soft topics need hard data, too! Whatever approach you use, you can underscore the skill’s value with numbers and facts.  
• Make it stick with application. Infuse learning experiences with activities such as role-playing, simulations, and interactive activities.

Don’t forget yourself

As the aforementioned LinkedIn Learning survey notes, L&D pros shouldn’t forget to prioritize their own learning. Inform your perspective, refine your design, and add to your toolkit by taking existing soft skills learning experiences on a spectrum of topics.

Wondering how to wrap your arms around soft skills learning experiences? Leave it to a pro — contact Ardent today!