IMPACT OF SOFT SKILLS TRAININGS ON BOTTOM LINE

SKILLS GAP SKILLS GAP IS A SIGNIfiCANT GAP BETWEEN AN ORGANIZATION’S CURRENT CAPABILITIES AND THE SKILLS IT NEEDS TO ACHIEVE ITS GOALS. DESPITE A LARGE POOL OF UNEMPLOYED WORKERS, EMPLOYERS CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE TO FIND SKILLED TALENT TO FILL THE GROWING NUMBER OF JOB OPENINGS IN THE COUNTRY.

WHY DOES SKILLS GAP EXIST? A MASS OF RETIRING EMPLOYEES, COMBINED WITH THE YOUNG WORKFORCE’S WANING INTEREST AND DEfiCIT OF TRAINING PROGRAMS IN GENERAL, HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE INDUSTRY’S GROWING SKILLS GAP. THE TOP REASON FOR THE SKILLS GAP IS THAT THE SKILLS OF THE WORKFORCE DON’T MATCH COMPANY STRATEGY, GOALS, MARKETS, OR BUSINESS MODELS.

Soft SkillsRanked 1Ranked 2Ranked 3 Leadership/executive-level skills54%18%24% Basic skills (the traditional building blocks of business-level competencies that are most commonly associated with elementary language arts and mathematics) 5%14%7% Profession- or industry-specific skills37%32%19% Managerial/supervisory skills38%48%28% Customer service skills8%13%20% Communication/interpersonal skills16%26%33% Technical/IT/systems skills17%16%13% Sales skills9%12%5% Process and project management skills17%27%44% Other6%1%14% What are the specific skills gaps that your organization is experiencing now? Respondents were asked to rank their top three choices.N=377

Reasons for Soft Skills GapRanked 1Ranked 2Ranked 3 Skills of the current workforce do not match changes in company strategy, goals, markets, or business models 58%40%46% Not enough bench strength in the company's leadership ranks55%48%22% Recent merger/acquisition where the organization brought in new employees or current employees are not up-to-speed on the new industry 8%12%9% Training investments have been cut or there is a lack of commitment by senior leaders to employee learning and development 41%36%46% When hiring for certain types of jobs, there are too few qualified candidates (i.e. a gap in the pipeline) 30%35%38% Lack of skilled talent in one or more of the company's lines of business18%39%49% Why is there a skills gap in your organization? Respondents were asked to rank their top three choices. N=377

Impact of Soft Skills GapRanked 1Ranked 2Ranked 3 Lower productivity77%40%38% Slower time-to-market16%8%6% Less profitable10%24%20% Challenges to recruitment17%9%14% Less efficient42%69%38% Unable to expand or grow16%12%23% Less new product development4%8% Harder to compete8%25%22% Higher expenses7%13%38% Missed opportunities31%26%14% Other9%3%17% What are the business impacts of having a skills gap? Respondents were asked to rank their top three choices. N=377

IN DEMAND SOFT SKILLS ORGANISATIONAL SKILLS (87%), VERBAL COMMUNICATION (81%), TEAMWORK AND COLLABORATION (78%), PROBLEM-SOLVING (60%), TACT AND DIPLOMACY (59%), BUSINESS WRITING (48%), AND ANALYTICAL SKILLS (45%).

SOFT SKILLS VS PROFITABILITY THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF RESEARCH PUBLISHED RECENTLY THAT SHOWS THERE IS A DIRECT CORRELATION BETWEEN PROFITABILITY AND EMPLOYEES' PERSONAL EXCELLENCE. RESEARCH ON MORE THAN MANAGERS AND WORKERS AT MULTIPLE COMPANIES DURING A 10- YEAR PERIOD LINKS EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION WITH FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE. ACCORDING TO THE DATA, COMPANIES THAT EFFECTIVELY RECOGNISED PERSONAL EXCELLENCE TRIPLED PROFITABILITY IN COMPARISON WITH FIRMS THAT DIDN'T.

Soft SkillsTraining Costs ImpactImproved Performance Writing Skills $ 390,000Reduced average bug fix from 21 days to 12 Access to online writing courses including time to take and complete 5 courses each and successfully complete writing evaluations to prove increased skills. 2 HR reps needed to administer program and build writing evaluations. Collaboratio n Skills $ 660,000Reduce release cycle of new products to 90 days from 180 $1,200,000 in new sales with 90-day product release target, plus payroll gains and cost savings of $144,000 Delegation Skills $ 1,720Goal to reach 100% productivity in 8 weeks compared to 12 Managers reached full productivity by learning to effectively delegate tasks and assume manager’s role in 8 weeks Problem Solving Skills $ 340,000Goal to reach 4.5 rating or better from 3 In the 12 months after the training program really began to show modifications in behavior as proven by reaching 4.5 customer satisfaction scores 85% of the time EXAMPLE

SOFT SKILLS VS LEADERSHIP LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT HAS BEEN THE TOP PRIORITY IN A SURVEY FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS, AS MANY ORGANISATIONS HAVE BELIEVED THAT THE SECRET OF GREATER SUCCESS LIES IN MORE EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP. ISSUES OF PERSONALITY, ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOUR HAVE A BIG IMPACT ON PERFORMANCE IN THE WORKPLACE BECAUSE THEY AFFECT HOW WELL PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE FACE-TO-FACE AND WORK EFFECTIVELY WITH OTHERS. OTHER KEY AREAS OF FOCUS ARE CUSTOMER SERVICE TRAINING, PROFESSIONAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT AND COMPLIANCE TRAINING.

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