A liberal arts college is piloting a program that will develop soft skills of students. The program was launched after employers expressed the need for employees that possess soft skills. They play an important role in company management and human relations.
Reinhardt University, a small school in Georgia, launched the program Strategic Career Advantage Platform (S-CAP). The training is being conducted every Saturday. Topics included mediation, listening, emotional intelligence and impression management. After the training sessions, students were asked to write their reflections instead of taking a test. The reflections must include application of what they learned to real life situations, according to Inside Higher Ed.
Technological advancements have made employers focus on hard skills or technical skills. However, excellent technical skills are not enough. Employee relationship contributes largely to the success of a company.
Companies that rely on hard skills alone tend to have gender imbalance. Men are known to possess hard skills while women have soft skills. The belief that only hard skills are important, companies tend to hire more men than women. Acknowledging the importance of soft skills can result to gender balance, according to Biz Community. This means the company employs almost equal number of male and female staff.
With an equal number of people working on hard tasks and soft tasks, there will be balance and harmony within the organization. Employees will be inspired t work harder for the company.
Job interviews give recruiters the chance to discover an applicant's soft skills. Questions focus on "what the person is" rather than on "what the person knows." It is of great import to show case these skills when being interviewed, according to Fast Company.
When preparing for an interview, applicants should prepare a detailed description of how he had resolved a problem in the company. Those who appeared to have done the right thing will most likely be given the job.
