THE IMPORTANCE OF SOFT SKILLS

BY NIDIA HERRERA & PATRICK GOETZ - ARIZONA@WORK

Whether your employees work directly or indirectly with customers, they need good soft skills. These are the communication, problem-solving, interpersonal and leadership skills that help employees deliver their work efficiently and effectively.

What are Soft Skills?

Soft skills is a term often associated with a person’s Emotional Intelligence, the cluster of personality traits, social graces, communication, language, personal habits, interpersonal skills, managing people, leadership, etc. that characterize relationships with other people.

Assessing your softskills training needs

You’ll most often recognize the need for soft skills when they’re absent. You may experience a variety of problems–unhappy customers, low productivity, high turnover, interpersonal conflicts or other issues that can threaten your business.

Fortunately, universal demand for these skills has set off a soft-skills training boom that targets employees at all levels:

• Experienced employees whose effectiveness is limited by deficient leadership, supervisory, or communication skills

• Younger employees who are tech-savvy but need training in proper email etiquette, customer service, and other areas

• Individuals who require basic work-readiness skills, reading and math skills, or assistance with English language skills

Looking for soft skills training options?

Explore CareerOneStop’s “Find Local Training Options” at www.careeronestop.org/businesscenter/ to find programs in your area. Can’t find a specific program? Contact your Business Service Representative at your Local One-Stop Career Center to see what is available.

Employers can also utilize the Arizona Career Readiness Credential Program that offers free web based classes for employees in Applied Mathematics, Reading for Information, Workplace Data and Graphics, Communicating effectively, Teamwork, Professionalism and Critical Thinking. For more information employers can go to https://acrc.az.gov/.

Another option is to connect with a customized training provider to develop a program that meets your specific requirements.

Need help with soft skills training or other workforce issues? Contact your Business Service Representative at 928-329-0990 or visit http://www.careeronestop.org/ businesscenter/. Information obtained from http://www.careeronestop.org/ businesscenter/