Soft skills. The key to productivity, staff retention … and success

In the past, soft skills such as communication, teamwork and emotional intelligence have often been seen as less important than more tangible, technical skills. Although this perception has been changing, at times of recession or when budgets start to be cut, training in soft skills is one of the first things that organisations axe. But in the longer term, cutting back on soft skills training can be being detrimental to your organisation as these are the skills that can improve productivity and help to create a workplace culture that improves staff retention.

A study by Boston College, Harvard University and the University of Michigan, showed that soft skills training in areas like communication and problem solving boosted productivity and retention by 12 %, and delivered a 250 % return on investment based on these increases. A further study of over 2,000 business leaders and employees by Ethical Angel revelled that 9 out of 10 of the business leaders surveyed believed that their businesses would be more productive if their staff had better developed soft skills.

Whilst technical skills connect employees to the physical function of their jobs, soft skills help to build the connection between them and their job, organisation and colleagues. Soft skills help to create an environment of belonging and purpose that increases employee engagement, something that is also known to directly impact on business outcomes such as productivity. 

To work effectively with one another, we need the soft skills that allow us to understand and interact with other people and emotionally navigate situations.  Ensuring employees are equipped with the right soft skills for their role is therefore essential in enabling them to communicate and collaborate more effectively and also to develop greater understanding and the positive working relationships which improve the overall workplace culture. This in turn can improve teamwork and job satisfaction, raise morale and increase efficiency and performance which all contribute to increased productivity and better employee retention.

As UK business faces the possibility of economic slow down and recession, organisations will need to be on top of their game as they navigate through enforced change.  Emotionally intelligent employees with soft skills such as resilience, empathy, communication, problem solving, teamwork and self-confidence, will needed more than ever to make a real contribution to improving overall business performance and ultimately an organisation's success.