Love it or hate it, the tidal wave of artificial intelligence is fast approaching. Info-Tech Research Group reports that 44 percent of private sector companies surveyed say they plan to invest in AI in 2023.
The long-term implications of AI remain to be seen. But one thing is clear: As AI begins taking over tasks historically assigned to humans, we will each need to consider how to continue providing value as a person in a company, in the economy and in the world.
One of the best ways to provide value that no robot can replace is by continuously developing better soft skills — or, as I like to call them, human skills — defined as “general characteristics that help employees thrive in the workplace” and complement their technical competencies.
While companies claim to recognize the importance of soft skills, many balk at investing in corporate learning programs focused on improving these skills. What is the root of this hesitancy, and what do companies risk by delaying these initiatives?
Why soft skills matter
The concept of “soft skills” dates back to the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the U.S. military needed a way to distinguish between “working with something that is physically hard like a machine and anything which is soft to the touch.”
The military’s coining of the term “soft skills” stuck. Fast-forward to the 21st century, and according to a Wonderlic study conducted in 2016, 93 percent of employers view soft skills as “very important” or “essential.” LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends 2019 report revealed that 92 percent of talent professionals said soft skills matter as much or more than hard skills during hiring.
Soft skills, as understood today, include competencies such as:
- Emotional intelligence
- Communication
- Teamwork
- Time management
- Critical thinking
- Problem-solving
- Decision-making
- Conflict management
- Leadership
- Adaptability
The beauty of soft skills is that they make an individual more valuable to an organization regardless of their specific role, enabling them to solve problems on their own as well as with others. That second piece is essential, as the need for interdependency among colleagues is greater now than ever.
Few people in today’s workforce are true individual contributors. It takes an ecosystem of people and teams from leadership down to get almost anything important done in the workplace; this deep connectedness will likely expand as AI and other technologies continue to take hold.
Interdependency requires that people possess human skills like teamwork, leadership, communication, critical thinking and conflict management to effectively gather, focus and integrate information from various sources and to make decisions involving multiple stakeholders.
Robert Fulghum was onto something when he wrote “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.” As the inside flap muses: “The most basic aspects of life bear its most important opportunities.” Soft skills are, in a sense, those basic aspects of life.
Soft skills training: Where to start?
Despite acknowledging the importance of soft skills, only 31 percent of employers offer soft skill development training to employees. The reason behind this disconnect is simple: Providing effective soft skill training is — well — hard.
Although it’s true humans are ultimately more alike than we are different, our differences are exceedingly apparent when it comes to our personal soft skill journeys. It’s challenging to accommodate these nuances when training at scale.
Coaching can be a great starting point, helping employees identify areas of deficiency that they can further develop with additional coaching or corporate training. A coach also takes some pressure off leadership to create the time and space for these often delicate conversations.
When implementing soft skills training, look for opportunities to standardize as much as possible with “off-the-shelf” core content, and prepare to customize the rest. This approach will prevent your organization from having to build 100 percent of its own curriculum while ensuring that the program has enough personalization to address learners’ different needs.
Consider using a Gestalt approach that encourages people to share their experiences and allows them to relate to those experiences as a way of learning and connecting. And give employees the opportunity to learn alongside peers and colleagues on a similar path so that they don’t feel isolated during the journey.
If you’re partnering with a college or corporate training company, you’ll need to participate to achieve some of these goals, but the outcome will be well worth the effort.
The more AI becomes incorporated into the workplace, the more important it is to remember who powers the machines: people. Our world is increasingly complex, and navigating that complexity requires human skills no robot can possess — at least not yet.
