For years, the widespread belief has been that technical knowledge and technical certification contributes most to career and success for professionals. According to recent surveys however, soft skills are far more important than technical skills to reach the top of career ladder. Infact, 96% of survey respondents judged communication skills and interpersonal skills (i.e. softskills) as the most important contributor to achieving career success.

A growing number of organizations are now convinced that people's ability to understand and to manage their emotions improves their performance, their collaboration with colleagues, and their interaction with customers. After decades of businesses seeing "hard stuff" and "soft stuff" as separate domains, emotional competence may now be a way to close that breach and to produce a unified view of workplace performance. Too many corporate managers are well trained in "hard", quantifiable, technical skills, but very poorly trained in "soft" skills, such as empathy, communication, validation, conflict management, and community building.

WHAT ARE SOFT SKILLS ?

Softskills are the ability to communicate effectively, promote teamwork within your organization, present ideas, manage projects and people, solve problems and provide excellent customer care. Softskills also include strategic thinking, managing processes and technologies, promoting the support center within the organization and building upon customer relationships. They’re critical to the success of the business.

BENEFITS TO ORGANISATION

BENEFITS TO INDIVIDUALS

Increased credibility with customers Increased customer satisfaction More productive employees Out-service the competition Increased employee ROI Strong teams and leadership Demonstrated dedication to customer service and support Measurable results and improvements Demonstrated knowledge and expertise of service and support strategies, processes, and technologies Incentives, rewards, and challenges for employees

Recognition from the industry, employer, and peers New employment opportunities Promotion and advanced opportunities Increased ability to perform on the job Increased responsibilities Lifelong credentials Professional accomplishment