The Soft Skills Training – Where it begins!!
Recent statistics show that the job opportunities in
India have outnumbered the available hands.The problem is more of “Employability” rather than employment.
So what is the reason for this resource crunch?
The HR functionaries are racking their brains to acquire the best talent and trying even harder to retain them.
Now, what is the talent retention task?
To me, it means bringing in the best skills to suit the organization’s needs according to the present situation and for the future.
What type of skills does the organization need?The easiest answer is –skills that fulfill the Business Purpose and also support the growth of the business. These skills are further divided into Hard and Soft Skills.The word “Soft Skills” is the buzz word in organizations. Did organizations not require Soft Skills in earlier times; say 20-30 years ago?I don’t find this word in older articles or even being treated as a full fledged component by elderly professionals.
Is there a DNA change that has given rise to this requirement?
After a deep analysis, I seem to understand the basis to this.
The phenomenon of the small and middle town rising has of course brought in a lot of technical skills and determined minds, but the accompanying skills are a hole in the education system. Blame it on the schools or the system that emphasizes on scores. In the name of education, most Indians are happy and interested in learning a few skills. But, these skills are good enough to land us up in decent jobs. And, once the career begins to take off, troubles start surfacing.
To add to this, are the Internet and other technological advances. They make living easier but life per se does not really improve. The people relationship skills and other factors like integrity, honesty and loyalty bother the organizations the most. We have been forging ahead with the development of various bonds and contracts. Do you think these bonds and contracts will help imbibe these habits and values?
What seems more effective is to inculcate this holistic education as a school/household value. The schools and colleges do teach skills and cover the syllabi, but the question that still remains is — do they really train and shape the people?
Another question is — Are the parents patient enough to look beyond exam scores as the benchmark of performance?
As a matter of fact, all skills develop by practice; we seem to lose our way in identifying all the skills to be practiced.
To train a man or woman in Soft Skills is a Herculean task, whereas it should be easier to inculcate certain habits earlier in life!!
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March 22nd, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Veyr interesting. I have a few facts to share.
About 2.5 million graduates enter India’s workforce every year. Of these, it is estimated that roughly 25% of the technical graduates and only 10%-15% other graduates are employable. This is further skewed in favor of those in urban areas.
Read employable as ‘having soft skills’ that go with the job description.
So, there is a need for re-skilling, which has been addressed but in a very fragmented manner. It started with the IT sector, where institutes like NIIT and Aptech stepped in to fill the gap between what the employer wanted and what the system churned out. Later on other privately run institutes like NIS and the Indian Retail School sprung up to cater to their respective industries.
Our education system was last reviewed in the 80s and it meets the demands of those times, namely, supply side of the labor market rather than on the employers and what they demand.
As a knowledge economy we need people who have the accreditation for the job as well as the soft skills. Maybe, the private colleges can lead here.
March 23rd, 2008 at 7:56 pm
this sure is an interesting article to read….
many organizations have realised this gap and actually partner with the universities/ colleges to bridge the gap in terms of tech knowledge. but little is done in terms of soft skills training.once a person enters work, the organization makes it mandatory to attend a few days soft skills training every year…but inspite of all this training discrepancy lies in the office.i personally think soft skills is imbibed and learnt over a period of time…but do we really have that much of time?
March 24th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
The aspect of ‘Soft Skills Training’ is definitely missing out from our education system. I believe that this should become a part of syllabus structure at the University levels.In today’s global environment ,this is an essential skill-component which
majority of professionals lack.After corporate trainings and soft skill building exercise by the organizations, the requirement identified at the next phase is the ‘Soft-skill maintenance’ which shall further enhance built-up skill value of employees in the long run…
March 25th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
I agree on almost all the observations made and would like to add some of my own perspectives on the same.
I think ‘soft skills’ are also a part of our personality and its traits. When we are saying that parents need to look at other things except of exam scores, I think that the overall grooming and upbringing of kids can also make a lot of difference. As soft skills include the content and manner in which we talk, walk and present ourselves, the basic demeanor of a person is usually defined when he or she is a child. Thus, as part of our cultural values, habits and upbringing, it certainly can be easily incorporated in kids. Also, the present generation parents are a little more conscious about it – thanks to the awareness and attention this subject has received.
Once the foundation is good, soft skills can surely be enhanced by keeping pace with the dynamic trends. If we also look at economies getting closer, secondment programs and frequent foreign trips, this exposure certainly raises sensitivity to ‘soft skills’. Let’s look at it as another area of improvement; I am sure it can be easily improved with a little consciousness and effort.
April 11th, 2008 at 11:13 am
The article makes several pertinent points.
By introducing soft skills training in house (or outsourced) the corporate world is desperately trying to fill the gap. But this is likely to meet with insignificant success because as rupali c says above it is a set of skills that need to be practiced over a sustained period of time to gain reasonable competence leave alone mastery. However business units cannot turn into schools and wait for this to happen.
The academic world should take the call and make their students really work-ready. It could actually be an opportunity for universities and institutes.
Over 30 years ago a model was in operation in Hyderabad (and fortunately it is still there) that addressed the issue fairly well. It was in the form of clubs formed by youth for self development. WEidening general knowledge thru quizzes, improving communication skill with debates and group discussions, gaining interpersonal and organizing skills - thru forming and running the clubs, organizing inter club/college competitions, raising and managing funds etc.
The key factor underlying the success of these clubs was self-motivation.
Today HR is increasingly recognizing this aspect and shifting from a ‘training’ mode to a self ‘learning’ mode. We did not have the jargon then but this is exactly we were doing those days.
Before anyone considers this an old fogey knee jerk reaction let me add that a friend of mine and I replicated the experiment a couple of times in the past 10-12 years and found the model was valid and continues to effective.
Companies must not only run mandatory (read; perfunctory) soft skill programs but create opportunities for the repeated use of newly learnt skills. Th ecurrent expectations from corporate training programs are juvenile and reminds me of Sharu Rangnekar’s treatment of corporate training in his masterpiece “In the wonderland of Indian Management” [title may not be accurate]. The accompanying cartoon by RK Laxman is a classic: guys in plain clothes entering a machine on one side and coming out other side dressed in suit and boot and tie!
If people transformation is that simple, trainers would be raking in ‘moolah’ far more than Bill Gates and Warren Buffet put together!
June 4th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
[…] vidyai, The Soft Skills Training – Where it begins!! […]
June 5th, 2008 at 12:24 am
Very interesting comments and observations from people who are coming from the supply side. I am an IT recruiter in the US, and help companies find people to fill permanent roles. I see a gap in soft skills, and one in particular that no one has mentioned: initiative.
The culture here is apparently different from in India regarding the balance between respect for the manager, and showing initiative to get the job done without having to be told to do it. In the US, individual initiative is highly valued. “Pushing back” on managers when a direct report sees a better way to do things is valued, as long as it is done respectfully and tactfully.
I tell people that if they want to be successful and be promoted, they need to identify problems, identify the solution, and then make it happen in an appropriate way, either by doing it yourself or influencing your manager and team to agree to do it. As long as one does only what one is told, he or she will not be deemed as valuable as someone who demonstrates initiative to solve problems.
Anita D
June 10th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Thanks Anita for your perspective on Soft skills
.
If I can speak on behalf of many of my Indian colleagues, we can confidently say that today India has abundant manpower which can be shaped to meet global requirements. The persistent growth of the Indian youth towards employability is a scenario in which there is a spurt in the quantity of the workforce.
Ensuring the quality is a challenge posed by this growth.
It is noteworthy that there are institutions coming up to introduce the corrections required. These institutions are hiring specially trained and experienced professionals who can retrain the students and employees in the skills that the industry is looking for.
We should look at ensuring “initiative” too.as a training component
July 5th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
very informative comments by people coming from different fields. I work in a consulting firm. I feel that India has too many potential people who can be converted into phenomenal ones. only thing required is groming their softskills which definetely is not a easy job but yes undoubtedly need of the hour.
Sulakshana
August 27th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
This is a very pertinent point. This will be the decider between whether we can become the next Super Power. The urgent need is to inculcate the Skills early on. My point is if our Schools are not equipped - we need to start in Colleges / B-Schools. Then gradually go down to schools. The Process may not not be easy but is critical if India has take the Step Forward.