Developing Effective Training for Building Soft Skills in the Workplace

Soft skills are becoming increasingly important in the modern workplace. With automation and artificial intelligence taking over routine technical tasks, human skills like communication, collaboration, creativity and emotional intelligence are more valuable than ever. Companies that invest in developing soft skills training for their employees gain a competitive edge and boost productivity.

In this article, we’ll explore what soft skills are why they matter and provide a step-by-step guide to creating an effective soft skills training program.

What Are Soft Skills?

Soft skills refer to personal attributes and interpersonal skills that enable effective interactions between employees, managers, customers and stakeholders. They are sometimes called “people skills” or “emotional intelligence skills.”

Here are some examples of key soft skills

• Communication – clear writing, speaking, listening and presentation abilities
• Collaboration – teamwork, cooperation, responsibility and ability to work well cross-functionally
• Critical thinking – analytical skills, problem-solving, creativity, innovation
• Leadership – coaching, motivating others, strategic planning, change management
• Cultural awareness – empathy, open-mindedness, ability to appreciate diversity
• Time management – organization, multitasking, prioritizing, meeting deadlines
• Adaptability – flexibility, desire for continuous learning, dealing with ambiguity

Unlike hard skills which are technical in nature, soft skills relate to personality traits and interpersonal capabilities. Both types of skills are essential for well-rounded, successful employees.

Why Are Soft Skills Important?

Here are some key reasons why soft skills training is crucial for organizational success:

• Enhanced customer experience – Employees with strong soft skills like communication and empathy can better understand customer needs and provide excellent service. This drives customer satisfaction, loyalty and referrals.

• ** Increased productivity** – Collaboration, critical thinking and time management enable employees to maximize efficiency and throughput. Smooth teamwork and cross-departmental integration also improves productivity.

• Stronger company culture – Leadership, grit, and adaptability help shape a resilient, innovative culture focused on shared mission and values. This fosters higher employee motivation.

• Career advancement – Soft skills allow employees to take on leadership roles, move into management and steer their career progression. They prepare high-potential employees for future success.

–Managing change – During times of organizational change and disruption, soft skills help employees stay focused, flexible and positive. This enables continuity and stability.

Research shows that soft skills training provides an excellent ROI, with gains in productivity, sales, retention and customer satisfaction. Companies that develop soft skills report higher employee engagement, empowerment and alignment with corporate strategy.

Assessing Your Organization’s Needs

The first step in creating soft skills training is to thoroughly assess development needs specific to your employees. Avoid a generic, one-size-fits-all program. Tailor training to address your company’s unique requirements, challenges and gaps.

Here are some tips on how to assess soft skills needs:

• Issue a skills assessment – Survey employees at all levels to evaluate capabilities and get their perspective on strengths vs development needs. Look for gaps and opportunities.

• Ask managers for input – Managers are closely involved with employees and can provide useful insights on soft skills gaps that need to be addressed through training.

• Study HR metrics – High attrition, low engagement scores or lackluster productivity may indicate issues with soft skills like communication, adaptability or time management.

• Observe interactions – Notice soft skills in action during team meetings, client presentations, pitches and general workplace rapport. Identify areas of opportunity.

• Consider future needs – With expansion plans, new products or evolving workplace dynamics, envisage what soft skills will be required down the line. Take the long view on training needs.

Conducting a thoughtful soft skills assessment allows you to pinpoint areas for improvement and growth at individual, team and organizational levels. This provides the foundation for building an impactful development program.

Developing the Soft Skills Training Curriculum

Once you’ve assessed organizational needs, it’s time to develop content and curriculum.

Here are some best practices to build a high quality soft skills program:

• Focus on needs – Address soft skill gaps revealed through the needs assessment. Don’t take a scattershot approach. Create targeted training to build capabilities in priority areas.

• Incorporate variety – Combine different methods like lectures, videos, case studies, role playing, simulations, quizzes and group discussions. This caters to different learning styles and maintains engagement.

• Harness technology – From mobile apps to virtual reality, leverage technology to make training interactive, visually compelling and accessible on-demand.

• Make it practical – Include plenty of hands-on practice, real-world examples and workshop discussions so employees can apply skills directly to their roles.

• Measure competency – Assess participant progress before and after training via skills assessments, situational judgment tests and observation of applied skills.

• Offer mentoring – Pair junior employees with mentors who can provide guidance on building soft skills and achieving mastery through on-the-job development.

• Customize content – Consider tailored programs for teams vs individuals, senior leaders vs frontline staff, and those with limited soft skills vs more advanced capabilities.

The training approach should align with organizational culture and preferred learning methods. Maintain flexibility to adjust curriculum based on feedback.

Choosing the Right Training Resources

There are abundant resources available to deliver exceptional soft skills training, both internally and via external partners.

Here are some options to consider:

• Learning management system (LMS) – Modern LMS platforms like Cornerstone and Skillsoft make it easy to create customized courses, track participation and measure soft skills development.

• External training firms – Development consultants like Dale Carnegie or Wilson Learning offer off-the-shelf and custom courses taught by expert facilitators.

• Executive coaches – One-on-one coaching helps senior leaders level up soft skills like strategic thinking, change leadership and team building.

• Online courses – platforms like LinkedIn Learning, Coursera and edX feature video courses and microlearning on soft skills topics that employees can utilize flexibly.

• Internal training staff – Seasoned organizational development professionals on staff can design and deliver highly relevant soft skills training tailored to company needs.

• Peer training – Employees with strong capabilities can instruct soft skills courses and serve as mentors, bringing realism and a peer perspective.

Determine the blend of resources that will maximize convenience, relevance and budget for soft skills training at your organization.

Creating an Implementation Plan

The success of your soft skills training program depends on consistent implementation and strategic roll-out. Careful planning is required.

Here are some tips for effective implementation:

• Start small – Run a pilot program with a sample of employees before full-scale roll-out. This allows testing and refinement.

• Schedule strategically – Time training to avoid conflicts with other initiatives or busy periods. Optimize timing so employees can fully engage.

• Reinforce concepts – Follow training completion with refreshers, coaching, mentoring and opportunities to practice skills and get feedback.

• Measure ROI – Track productivity, engagement, customer ratings and other metrics before and after training to quantify business impact.

• Get executive buy-in – Have leadership communicate the importance of soft skills development and their full support of the training program.

• Incentivize participation – Encourage involvement through recognition, rewards, learning incentives or tying training to advancement programs.

• Be flexible – Maintain leeway to improve and iterate training methods based on participant feedback after each cohort.

With the right strategy and culture of learning, soft skills training can significantly uplift individual and organizational capability.

Making Soft Skills Training Stick

For training to truly take hold and make a difference, the concepts must be reinforced after completion. Here are some tips to drive lasting adoption:

• Post-training debriefs – Have participants share key learnings and takeaways from the program for reflection.

• Goal setting – Get employees to set specific development goals and benchmarks to measure progress over time.

• Skill practice – Provide ongoing opportunities like role playing, simulations and activities to continually hone skills.

• Peer coaching – Colleagues can give each other constructive feedback and encouragement to strengthen skills.

• Recognition – When employees demonstrate strong soft skills, acknowledge and praise them. This motivates continuous improvement.

• Leadership modeling – When managers consistently exemplify soft skills, it establishes culture and norm.

• Refresher training – Follow up initial training with “booster sessions” to reinforce concepts through practice and application.

With reinforcement, soft skills become ingrained habits that employees demonstrate automatically. This enhances individual effectiveness and organizational capability long term.

In today’s workplace, soft skills create a vital competitive edge. Companies that invest strategically in developing soft skills see significant gains in productivity, retention, customer satisfaction and overall performance.

Following the step-by-step guide outlined above will enable you to build a high impact soft skills training program tailored to your organization’s specific needs and aligned with its culture and strategic goals.