How to Teach Soft Skills to Employees
Soft skills are interactive skills needed in a workplace for developing an effective work culture. They are different than hard skills which are more of a technical nature. Soft skills include communication skills, leadership and decision making. Most soft skills are innate in a person. However they can also be learned in a workplace. As a supervisor you can use a variety of methods to inculcate soft skills in your employees so that it eventually leads to organizational success. Soft skills need a longer period of time to be developed but pay off really well. Have a look at our step by step guide.
Instructions
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1
Employee assessment and appraisal:
Asses your employees on different dimensions of soft skills. These skills and their deficiency vary from person to person and so you will have to formulate different learning methods for each individual.
Rate each employee through close observation and by asking him or her to give a self rating. This way you will not only know the weaknesses of your employees but also their strengths. Match these strengths with their job description and you will get an effective workforce. As for the weaknesses, it is time to work on them.
Assessment programs like the 360 degree appraisal allows organizations and employees to take feedback from peers, oneself, supervisor and subordinates. This way you know specifically which dimension you are lacking at.Self evaluations can help in getting a true picture of personal strengths and weaknesses.
Common soft skills needed at workplace:
- Presentation Skills
- Public Speaking
Communication Skills
- Selling Skills
- Effective Communication
- Leadership
- Team Building
- Time Management
- Motivation
As you can see, most of us have these qualities innate. All you to do is to bring them out, practice and master.
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2
Heterogeneous teams:
Make diverse teams composed of members with different strengths and weaknesses. This way you will allow the employees to improve by observation and interaction with each other. Teams also improve communication skills of employees and build synergy. An employ weak in presentation will learn from someone in the team who is good at it. Team members also share knowledge with each other.
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3
Training:
Recruit an in-house trainer or an external trainer to teach soft skills to employees. The training program will consist of activities where employees will get the chance to learn, practice and improve their soft skills. Role playing during training helps employees in developing soft skills. Design organizational activities in a way that they are collaborative.
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4
Leadership skills:
Make different team leads for projects and devise a strategy where each member gets to become the lead at least once. This way the employees will get to practice leadership skills and any innate quality will come out. Employees will also learn from each other' s leadership qualities. Encourage junior or young employees to speak up during meetings so that they learn to take initiative and are open with ideas.
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5
Organizational culture and top down approach:
Build an organizational culture that encourages cooperation, new ideas and team work. Arrange in office activities and after office events that strengthen professional relationships leading to a friendly culture. Conflicts should be accepted as something healthy and natural which should be resolved without any grudges. You can only teach soft skills to your employees if you exhibit them yourself in the best way. Employees look up to their superiors for learning and the best learning is when they observe you displaying soft skills.
