It’s easy to overlook the importance of soft skills in today’s tech-driven world. After all, your team knows how to handle the latest tools, software, and processes with ease, right? But here’s the harsh reality: without solid communication, problem-solving, and collaboration, your business could be sinking in unseen quicksand. A study by LinkedIn revealed that 92% of talent professionals believe soft skills are just as important—or even more crucial—than hard skills. And yet, most companies admit their teams are sorely lacking in these key areas.
In fact, research shows that poor communication alone costs companies an average of $62.4 million per year. If that doesn’t make you sit up straight, consider this: a report by the World Economic Forum found that by 2025, more than half of all employees will need significant reskilling in soft skills to stay competitive in the workplace. Ignoring the soft skills gap is like leaving cracks in your company’s foundation—cracks that will grow into bigger, costlier problems down the road.
So, the question is: Are your employees falling short in soft skills? And if so, how much longer can your business afford to wait before fixing it?
How Can Your Company Benefit from Your Employees’ Soft Skills?
Soft skills are the backbone of a well-functioning, cohesive team. They make the difference between a productive workforce and one that’s constantly misfiring. When your employees possess strong soft skills, your company benefits in several key ways.
First, improved communication within teams leads to better collaboration and more efficient problem-solving. When your employees can communicate clearly and listen actively, there are fewer misunderstandings, which means fewer costly mistakes. Second, strong soft skills like adaptability help your business stay agile. In an ever-changing marketplace, your team needs to be flexible and able to pivot quickly to new strategies or customer needs. Finally, employees with high emotional intelligence foster a positive workplace culture, which translates into higher employee retention and satisfaction. And when people love where they work, productivity soars.
In short, soft skills directly contribute to smoother operations, better teamwork, and an overall boost in business success.
Top 5 Soft Skills Your Team Needs and What to Do If They Don’t Have Them
There’s no denying that technical skills are essential, but soft skills are the glue that holds everything together. Let’s look at the top five soft skills your team needs—and what you can do if they’re missing from your workforce.
1. Communication
Explanation: Communication is the lifeblood of any organization. Whether it’s sharing ideas, giving feedback, or resolving conflicts, the ability to communicate effectively impacts every part of your business.
Take Action: Start by offering communication workshops. Focus on both verbal and non-verbal communication skills, active listening, and clarity in writing. Incorporate role-playing exercises to simulate real-life work scenarios.
Example: A marketing firm improved team efficiency by 25% after introducing weekly communication huddles, where employees practiced clear messaging and listening skills.
2. Adaptability
Explanation: The ability to quickly adapt to changing circumstances is more crucial than ever. In a world that’s constantly evolving, an adaptable employee is one who can thrive under pressure and navigate uncertainty with ease.
Take Action: Encourage a growth mindset among your team by offering training sessions on embracing change. Provide opportunities for cross-training in different roles so employees become more comfortable stepping outside their usual tasks.
Example: After initiating adaptability training, a tech company saw a 30% increase in project turnaround times as employees learned to shift priorities without losing focus.
3. Problem-Solving
Explanation: Every workplace faces challenges. Employees with strong problem-solving skills don’t just react to issues; they anticipate them and develop creative, effective solutions.
Take Action: Offer workshops that focus on critical thinking and decision-making. Use real-life case studies from your industry to teach structured approaches to problem-solving.
Example: A manufacturing company that integrated problem-solving exercises into their weekly team meetings reduced downtime by 15% due to faster issue resolution.
4. Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
Explanation: Emotional intelligence, or the ability to understand and manage one’s emotions and those of others, is key to creating a harmonious workplace. High EQ fosters better teamwork, reduces conflict, and enhances leadership.
Take Action: Host EQ training sessions that help employees build self-awareness and empathy. Encourage practices like mindfulness and reflective listening to improve emotional regulation.
Example: After implementing EQ workshops, a financial services firm saw a 40% drop in internal conflicts, resulting in higher employee satisfaction.
5. Time Management
Explanation: Time management is essential for meeting deadlines and maintaining productivity. Employees who can prioritize tasks and manage their time effectively help keep projects on track and avoid burnout.
Take Action: Introduce time management tools and techniques during onboarding or training sessions. Teach your team how to set realistic goals, prioritize tasks, and avoid distractions.
Example: A healthcare company improved operational efficiency by 20% after introducing daily time management practices, such as using task prioritization matrices and time-blocking techniques.
Extra Tips: How to Assess Candidates’ Soft Skills
Hiring for soft skills is tricky, but not impossible. Here’s how to assess these intangible qualities during the hiring process:
Behavioral Interviews: Ask candidates to describe how they’ve handled situations that required soft skills, like resolving a conflict or managing a difficult project. Questions like “Tell me about a time when you had to adapt to a significant change at work” can provide valuable insights.
Role-Playing Scenarios: Put candidates in simulated work situations where they need to demonstrate communication, teamwork, or problem-solving skills. Observe how they navigate these challenges.
Personality Assessments: Tools like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) or DiSC profiles can offer a clearer understanding of a candidate’s natural tendencies when it comes to interacting with others.
How Can Code of Talent Help Develop Your Team’s Soft Skills?
At Code of Talent, we specialize in making soft skills training engaging, accessible, and results-driven. Our microlearning platform allows employees to develop essential soft skills through bite-sized, interactive content that fits into their busy schedules. Whether it’s boosting communication, enhancing emotional intelligence, or refining problem-solving abilities, our platform offers personalized learning paths tailored to your team’s needs.
We provide real-time feedback, progress tracking, and practical exercises to ensure your employees not only understand soft skills but can apply them in their daily tasks. With Code of Talent, you can close the soft skills gap in your workforce and unlock your team’s full potential.
Don’t Let a Soft Skills Gap Hold Your Business Back
Soft skills are no longer optional—they’re essential. If your business is lacking in areas like communication, adaptability, and problem-solving, you’re likely experiencing slower growth, lower productivity, and frustrated employees. But the good news is, it’s not too late to fix it.
By investing in soft skills training today, you can create a more resilient, collaborative, and effective team that’s ready to face any challenge.
Ready to develop your team’s soft skills? Explore Code of Talent’s platform here and start transforming your workforce!
Is your team struggling with communication, problem-solving, or adaptability? You’re not alone. According to a recent study, 89% of hiring failures are due to a lack of soft skills, such as teamwork, flexibility, and communication. Soft skills aren’t just a “nice to have”; they are essential for collaboration, innovation, and leadership. Without a solid strategy to teach them, your team could be drowning in inefficiencies that damage morale, lower productivity, and drive turnover through the roof.
But here’s the good news: by using proven strategies, you can develop essential soft skills in your employees and avoid these costly inefficiencies. This article will outline actionable methods for successfully teaching soft skills that will help your team excel in the modern workplace.
1. Identify Critical Soft Skills Relevant to Your Business
Not all soft skills are created equal, and teaching the wrong ones can be a waste of time and resources. Every industry and role requires different competencies, so your first step should be determining which soft skills are most valuable to your team.
Actionable Step: Start with a thorough analysis of which soft skills will bring the highest return on investment for your company.
Example: Let’s say you run a customer service center. The top soft skills you need are empathy, active listening, and problem-solving. Start by creating a list of potential soft skills and conduct surveys or hold focus groups with department heads to pinpoint which skills will have the greatest ROI. A company like Zappos, famous for its customer service, prioritizes empathy training to ensure every employee can connect with customers on a deeper level. Align your training with skills that will lead to measurable results in your sector.
Once you know which skills matter most, you can build targeted training plans that don’t waste time on irrelevant areas.
2. Integrate Soft Skills Training into Daily Operations
Training employees in soft skills once during orientation and expecting them to improve is wishful thinking. Soft skills need continuous reinforcement and opportunities for real-world application. If training happens in isolation, the learning won’t stick, and inefficiencies will creep back into your daily workflows.
Actionable Step: Embed soft skills development into everyday workflows instead of limiting it to one-off training sessions.
Example: At Google, leadership incorporates role-playing into team meetings to keep communication skills sharp. In your company, you could start using role-playing scenarios in meetings to address common challenges. For instance, before a big client pitch, create a mock scenario where the team has to negotiate tough points with a “challenging” customer. Doing this regularly will make employees comfortable with applying their soft skills under pressure, and it transforms meetings into interactive training sessions.
3. Leverage Interactive, Practical, and Gamified Learning Solutions
Traditional training can feel more like a chore than a valuable learning experience, leading to disengagement. Interactive and gamified learning methods, on the other hand, keep employees engaged, making it easier for them to apply what they’ve learned in real-world situations.
Actionable Step: Focus on education, exercise, and experience by using practical, scenario-based exercises and interactive modules.
Example: At Deloitte, they used microlearning modules, where soft skills were taught through real-life scenarios and gamification. Employees navigated real-world challenges, from managing difficult conversations to fostering teamwork. The module included feedback loops, where employees could immediately see the impact of their decisions and how well they handled specific situations. This made learning more engaging and memorable.
Gamified platforms, like Code of Talent, can also track progress in real time, allowing managers to see which employees are excelling and who may need additional support.
4. Foster a Feedback-Oriented Culture
Soft skills aren’t something you master once, they need constant refinement. A lack of feedback can stunt the growth of these skills, leaving inefficiencies unaddressed. Your company needs to build a culture where regular, constructive feedback is the norm, not the exception.
Actionable Step: Create regular feedback loops through instructed-led approaches or peer evaluations.
Example: At Netflix, feedback is part of everyday life. Managers hold regular one-on-one meetings with team members where they give feedback not just on hard skills, but also on soft skills like communication, collaboration, and leadership. Adopting this approach can lead to quick improvements in soft skills, as employees constantly adjust based on real-time insights.
A key tip here is to make feedback two-way – employees should feel empowered to give feedback on management’s soft skills as well. This creates an environment of continuous improvement.
5. Promote Peer-to-Peer Learning
Employees are often more comfortable learning from their peers than from formal trainers or managers. Peer learning not only helps spread soft skills more naturally but also fosters a stronger sense of team cohesion and collaboration.
Actionable Step: Implement peer mentorship programs where experienced team members can mentor new hires in specific soft skills.
Example: At Airbnb, cross-functional collaboration is built into their culture. When a new hire joins, they’re paired with a mentor outside of their immediate team, which gives them a broader view of how different roles interact and what soft skills are valued. By promoting peer reviews and collaboration, your employees will organically pick up on soft skills like conflict resolution, negotiation, and adaptability just by working together.
Peer-led learning is effective and cost-efficient, leveraging internal knowledge to upskill your workforce without the need for expensive external trainers.
6. Measure and Reward Soft Skills Development
What gets measured gets managed. When you track the development of soft skills, you can identify which employees are excelling and who needs additional support. Plus, when employees know their efforts are being recognized, they’ll be more motivated to continuously improve.
Actionable Step: Establish clear metrics to assess soft skills and tie rewards or recognition to progress.
Example: Implement a soft skills tracking system where managers assess employees’ communication, teamwork, and problem-solving abilities on a quarterly basis. Offer recognition programs or incentives for employees who demonstrate significant improvements, such as a “Soft Skills Champion” award, fostering a culture of ongoing learning and improvement.
Leveraging Code of Talent for Effective Soft Skills Training
At Code of Talent, we understand that developing soft skills requires more than just traditional learning methods. Our AI-powered microlearning platform is designed to keep employees engaged, motivated, and on track with their soft skills development by offering:
100% tailored training programs: Customize content to meet the specific soft skill needs of your team.
Interactive modules: Incorporate gamified learning and real-life application to ensure retention and effectiveness.
Performance analytics: Track progress in real-time and use data to continuously improve your training strategies.
Continuous feedback: Provide employees with real-time feedback, fostering an environment of growth and development.
By leveraging these features, Code of Talent empowers you to elevate your soft skills training initiatives, ensuring that your employees are fully prepared to excel in any situation.
Conclusion
Inadequate soft skills training is a ticking time bomb for any business. Without these essential abilities, you risk poor communication, inefficient teamwork, and lost productivity. By implementing the strategies outlined in this article – and integrating Code of Talent into your training program – you can ensure your team has the tools they need to thrive in any challenge.
Ready to revolutionize your soft skills training? Start your customized journey today with Code of Talent and experience a transformative impact on your team’s performance. Experience a tailored training journey for your team here.
Photo: Pexels
It is no secret that job requirements are more dynamic than ever. The world is changing, and it is changing fast. Technological innovations are disrupting most sectors, while the very nature of work has shifted significantly in the past decade. From automation and artificial intelligence to digital collaboration tools, the way we work has experienced a momentous transformation.
According to LinkedIn data, skills for jobs have changed by 25% between 2015 and 2020. This figure is expected to jump to 40% by 2025. The abilities that are demanded by each industry are changing at breakneck speed. Some skills that used to be in top demand a decade ago have become almost irrelevant today. When industries are changing at such a pace, upskilling is a matter of urgency.
Employees are more than on board
Recent research shows that employees understand this urgency. And they have the possibility to upskill at the top of their minds when seeking a new job.
For some employees, the desire for self-development can reach surprising levels. According to the The American Upskilling Study conducted by Gallup and Amazon, young workers see upskilling as more important than paid vacation or sick leave. This featured as the third top priority for workers aged 18-24, behind only health insurance and disability benefits. So much for the stereotype of an idle and entitled new generation.
Despite the intense focus on self-improvement from recent labor market entrants, all demographics show a keen interest in upskilling. The same study points out that of the 15,000 US workers of all ages surveyed, more than half of them (57%) say they are “extremely” or “very” interested in participating in an upskilling program.
Just having some courses is not enough – they need to be relevant
Make no mistake – this desire from employees to upskill isn’t only indicating that they are hyper-motivated to gain new abilities. It also implies that if your company fails to make adequate learning opportunities available, they will seek them elsewhere.
According to the Workforce Trends Report published last year by the ManpowerGroup, employees are ready to upskill themselves if their employer is not making such courses available. Of all employees surveyed across Western Europe and the US, 57% said they are already pursuing training outside of work. The respondents suggested that this is because company training programs don’t teach them relevant skills, don’t advance their career development, or don’t help them stay competitive in the marketplace.
Skills change fast, and the complexity of each task increases with this. L&D programs need to be updated to reflect this reality.
New developments in L&D can help you keep up
In the current fast-changing environment, just making some courses available is no longer enough. They have to be insightful, accessible, and updated to the latest changes in your industry. This is a lot to think about at once, but fortunately, recent developments in L&D can help you in this mission.
The rollout of AI platforms tailored for the needs of the corporate learning community provides an essential support in this challenging context. Upskilling programs need to always be up to scratch with the cutting-edge realities of your sector. Offering anything less would defeat the purpose of an upskilling programme.
But when so much changes so quickly, how can your L&D department have the resources to both monitor every change and input the latest learnings into your employees’ programs? Depending on the role responsibilities and sector-specific developments, updates can occur monthly or even weekly. Fortunately, you can now let the AI take care of that.
The latest L&D generative AI platforms can generate new courses at the snap of a finger. This can be done either by feeding relevant documents into the program, or by simply writing specific prompts that could guide your AI assistant to design and create a tailored course which is up to date with the latest changes. Generative AI can slash significant amounts of time that would traditionally be spent on writing and designing the course. This can leave your team to focus on the industry- and role-specific big picture and the strategic aspects of their L&D work.
Once you tick the relevance box, focus on the learning experience
Another area where generative AI can help revamp your employees’ learning experience is by designing more interactive and accessible courses. The switch towards microlearning and gamified programs is not such a new development anymore, but many companies are still yet to pick these features up at scale.
Microlearning courses allow your business to present complex information that is broken down in clear, approachable units. Several studies have shown that spaced learning can be more effective than traditional methods where people are exposed to information delivered in bulkier learning slots. A microlearning study experience greatly increases information retention by giving people the chance to maintain razor-sharp focus in short time intervals and take breaks to let the information sink in.
Beyond this, the gamification of study materials is another development that will improve the quality of your L&D programs. By tasking your employees to complete “training missions” you can get them to test their knowledge in an interactive fashion through a variety of methods. This will help keep the learning experience interactive and engaging, and in turn further enhance the learning experience and your employee’s satisfaction with the upskilling opportunities offered by your company.
It’s no secret that skill gaps have widened considerably throughout the world in the past decades, and even more in the current context. Skilled labor is in higher demand today than ever before, yet less and less technically educated professionals can be found. In Q1 2021, the estimate of unfilled jobs stood at 7.58 million, in the US alone.
The answer to filling all those jobs can’t always be a 4-year university program. Companies need technically skilled professionals to handle projects for them now. Microlearning can bridge the gap between an employee with potential, and a technically skilled professional.
A 2020 US Chamber of Commerce Foundation Study found that a lack of skilled workers is the main bottleneck to filling jobs. This is a problem that has been growing for over a decade now. In exceedingly technical as well as essential roles for organizations, the gap between demand and supply is growing.
Also, the skills required have widened as a result of a major shift in the hiring philosophy of major companies. Skills which can be quantified and measured have taken precedence over degrees and other academic credentials.
Nonetheless, in the current context, relevancy is placed on whether they can lead a team or are well versed in the right computer programming languages. And since the demand is higher than the offer, companies have been forced to giving a growing importance to quick upskilling and reskilling of current employees. And this is where microlearning has a clear advantage. No matter the task, bite sized experiences, programs, and videos tend to improve a candidate’s skills. This is a much smaller investment than hiring a new employee or bringing on high paid consultants.
Microlearning sessions can cover everything from operating a new machine to using a new portal. They can encompass learning the basics of a new programming language, or learning a new marketing technique. Employees can truly benefit from these small microlearning experiences to get past those hillocks still blocking their way to progress.
Microlearning Can Bridge the Skills Gap
Skill gaps exist in nearly any essential profession in the world today. Healthcare, business and finance, architecture and engineering, administrative support, personal care, maintenance and repair, etc. all require technical skills. In the 12 career areas including the ones mentioned, which were studied, 4.4 million unfilled openings were found, in the US only.
Hiring new graduates to fill these skills gap isn’t a viable solution from multiple points of view. Even if they have the skills you need, they will clearly need to adjust to the work culture of your company. That coupled with the possibility that they don’t have the domain knowledge required can cost a company hundreds of dollars in training. Multiply that by the number of hires and the number gets a whole lot bigger.
Instead, a much better solution would be to let your current employees absorb the skills necessary to improve. What’s more, you’ll make bridging the skills gap much easier with microlearning. Employees will be able to learn on their own time and absorb essential skills and functions within a short time span and apply those new skills to show business impact.
Microlearning can Solve the Problems of Domain Knowledge and Applicable Training
Domain knowledge is what makes a company different from its competitors. It doesn’t just encompass using different tools, and having specific skills. It also includes the application of those skills in a specific domain.
A data scientist skilled in SQL and Python may know how to classify and predict data. However, your company may need a greater understanding of sentiment analysis and basic skills in Rust. A marketing major may be well versed in omnichannel marketing or email marketing, but you may need a viral marketer.
Beyond that, the exact procedures followed by a company to approve products, green light projects, and report problems aren’t public. Any employee requires all these skills to function properly and this takes time. On top of that, there is a limited pool of talent, hence, hiring new people to fill those jobs is not the most suitable course of action. That’s why reskilling or upskilling your current employees with microlearning is the most viable option.
Microlearning is simply adding onto a skill set rather than growing a new skill set altogether. Taking your existing employees and giving them the tools needed to excel and benefit your own company is a better course of action.
Microlearning Can Prepare Your Workforce for a Post-Pandemic World
Microlearning can serve a greater purpose than ever in a post-pandemic world. The COVID-19 pandemic has made the skills gap even worse.
The pandemic has forced the world to rely on virtual and contactless solutions, some of which are extremely convenient. It stands to reason that a significant percentage of people won’t go back to the old solutions when this is over. This has created a higher demand for skilled workers to serve customers with those technical solutions.
And as discussed earlier, degrees are no guarantee of skills. Whatever the qualifications of said new hire are, they will obviously need to be onboarded, gain domain knowledge, and adjust. Why not just impart the skills you need in an existing employee coupled with a pay raise?
The post-pandemic world will require a higher emphasis than ever on solutions which require technical prowess. It’s not enough to have people that have that prowess, but the skills design specific solutions for their company. The new normal will also require employees that know the strengths and weaknesses of a company or a system. Only then will they be able to fix what is broken and leverage what is a great solution.
Bonus: Your Employees Will be Happier When You Invest in Them
Employee training and employee satisfaction are both related to each other. When you invest in your employees through training, it shows them that you value them. Microlearning techniques allow that to happen quicker and more effectively than before.
Not only will imparting new skills to your employees give them a new sense of purpose, but break the monotony. You’ll be helping them stave off obsolescence, making them more valuable workers, and improving your own bottom line to boot.
That sense of fulfillment that you give your employees by investing in them is an investment in your own business. Customers with a renewed sense of purpose and new skills will be more proactive in their use. As a result, they’re more likely to perform more consistently and perform with greater purpose.
This may seem like a side bonus of your investment. However, it may actually become your greatest strength as a company; especially after the pandemic.
Code of Talent Can Bridge the Skills Gap for Your Employees with Microlearning Tools
At Code of Talent, we have the specific solution you need to bridge the skills gap for your business and employees. With our microlearning platform, you can design highly effective training journeys and experiences for your employees to absorb valuable skills.
Today, in the post-pandemic world, customers require new products and services, and companies require new solutions. To meet that challenge, companies can’t simply hire new graduates. First, there is a limited supply, and second, there’s a better solution. That solution is to bolster the skills of their current employees.
Code of Talent can help make the journey of the long and tedious learning process much easier. With our microlearning platform, you can achieve the ultimate goal of driving behavior change and achieving business impact. Get in touch to see how we can help.
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