Soft Skills and Today's Workforce

Introduction

Soft skills refer to personality traits, personal attributes, communicational abilities, non – cognitive skills and necessary social cues that are needed for success on the job, relating with other people and navigating through the environment. Fundamentally this assignment is steered at writing an essay that identifies and deliberates on some of the soft skills that are missing in today’s workforce.

Literature Review

Thereafter carrying out critical research and analysis, a majority of people in today’s workforce do not have the right communication and problem-solving skills. Communication is crucial at the workplace since it acts as a source of information for making decisions, helps in the socialization process and alters the attitudes of individuals. Fundamentally, some of the main reasons behind lack of proper communication in the workforce are lack of using suitable or appropriate language, poor listeners, language barrier and ethnicity in the case of international companies and organization (Andreas, 2018). In regards to problem-solving skills, many graduates and people in the workforce lack the skills required since they have no experience. Most of them are fresh graduates who have not undergone actual training

On to the third point, today’s workforce also lacks individuals who lack the spirit of working together. A majority of employees love working on a personal level instead of combining forces (Bremner, 2018). This has caused a lot of havoc since an organization cannot achieve its goals and objectives if its members are not working in unison. It should be noted that lack of teamwork is dangerous in that it may lead to a slow growth rate or even closure of a company. Next, in order, today’s workforce lacks ownership and leadership.

Predominantly, the values indicated above are vital since every operating organization requires good leadership for it to develop and mature to greater heights. According to a survey and analysis that was recently concluded, it was established that most companies fail due to poor leadership qualities which ultimately affect how operations are carried out. Most employers usually look forward to hiring employees who can act as team players (Bremner, 2018). In a lay man’s language, this refers to someone who is cooperative but displays strong leadership skills when needed — a large number of people in the workforce lack this quality.

Lack of creativity and flexibility is another set of missing soft skills. The essence of an employee being creative at the workplace is to come up with better ideas and abilities to accomplish the goals and objectives that have been set. Creativity is also important as it enables an employee to be innovative which alternatively increases their efficiency. In regards to today’s workforce, it is clear that there is a lack of creativity which can quickly be reflected by low levels of innovation and efficiency (Prihatiningsih, 2018). When it comes to flexibility, employers in the workforce have been forced to put up with a team of employees who are very rigid. Practically this means that newly hired or existing employees find it hard to adapt to different situations, policies or requirements.

Another soft skill lacking is the failure to accept and implement feedback. Fundamentally, every organization has its operating policies, and it is the role of every employee to adhere to. During the training process, employees to be are usually briefed on what their characters are; they are also corrected when they make mistakes. However, it should be noted that today’s generational workforce is composed of persons who do not take instructions, feedback, and correction seriously (McGunagle & Zizka, 2018). Primarily an organization is likely to prosper to greater heights if it is coordinated by employees who accept feedback gracefully as this translates to more professional growth — for instance, most of the successful companies such as Amazon, Apple. Inc. and Facebook are run by a team of employees who abide fully to the company’s policy and regulations.

Today’s workforce also lacks people who are resourceful and confident in their work (Bremner, 2018). In the event where unexpected issues arise, there is a dire need to undertake measures that are unique. Such actions can only be initiated by a team of employees who are resourceful or have an extra set of skills. As of today, the workforce lacks such kind of people as most of them work in a field that they have trained for years and years in school or polytechnics. Being resourceful is also vital as it enables one to solve tasks using procedures that are much easier. In regards to confidence, very few employees in the workforce today are confident in their work. The majority lack confidence since they do not have the right skills and knowledge to support self – assurance. Essentially, confidence is essential as it enables an employee to convince their clients or supervisors to believe in what they are saying.

As much as today’s workforce can generally be termed as punctual, there is a percentage of employees who are always late in arriving at work or meetings. Being late is unacceptable in every workplace (Bremner, 2018). It should also be noted that today’s generation is composed of employees who lack social skills which are very important in determining the success of any workplace and how employees deal with each other despite varying personalities. Every employer wishes to recruit and hire employees who can be able to deal with other people irrespective of their position, rank or stature. In summary, lack of social skills is the substantial reason why most employees lack the spirit of working together.

Onto the next point, there is a lack of friendly personality in the workforce. Unlike the past, the World has changed. People have become self – centered, rude and less helpful (Bremner, 2018). Fundamentally today’s workforce is composed of employees who want to work with people they like or can easily relate to. They also want to work with people who can cover up for them in the event where they do not abide by the policies that have been set at their workplace. Generally, employees are supposed to have a friendly personality that will enable them to interact with just about anybody at the workplace.

Next, in order, there is also a lack of specific research skills and general emotional intelligence. As much as Google has all the answers, there are pieces of work or research that require extra information and details that cannot be traced on the internet. In this case, very few people can be able to research without using the internet and search engines (Andreas, 2018). When it comes to emotional intelligence, there are very few people in the working force who can adequately manage their emotions and mind what others feel while executing their duties. As much as this soft skill is not mentioned in most descriptions, employers tend to seek employees with this value (Andreas, 2018). Generally, an employee who can be able to identify whether everything is on the right track or their partner is having a bad day has high emotional intelligence.

Last but not least, not every person in the workforce is computer and technical literacy (McGunagle & Zizka, 2018). Almost every job position that deals with technology in today’s economy require someone who can be able to operate a computer fully its software and acquire the desired results. However, many job seekers lack this skill as most of them are only conversant with accessing the internet or playing computer video games. In the end, employers have been forced to subject their employees or recruits to computer training programs to increase efficiency at the workplace.

Conclusion

In conclusion, today’s workforce lacks some soft skills that are very important when it comes to a workplace achieving good outcomes. In summary, soft skills that are lacking include; lack of proper communication, problem – solving skills, teamwork, failure to accept and implement feedback, lack of research skills, emotional intelligence, confidence, and creativity.

Other soft skills are lacking include lack of computer and technical skills, resourcefulness and being late. Predominantly if by any chance today’s workforce can be improved in terms of efficiency and quality, the qualities and values indicated above have to be considered seriously before hiring an employee. Every workplace has at least some employees who lack these qualities. Such individuals ought to be mentored on the importance of soft skills.

References

1. Andreas, S. (2018). Effects of the decline in social capital on college graduates’ soft skills. Industry and Higher Education, 32(1), 47-56.
2. Bremner, P. A. M. (2018). The gap between degree outcomes and employability skills.
3. McGunagle, D., & Zizka, L. (2018). Meeting Real World Demands of the Global Economy: An Employer's Perspective. Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research, 27(2), 59-76.
4. Prihatiningsih, S. (2018, February). A Review of Soft-skill Needs in in Terms of Industry. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering (Vol. 306, No. 1, p. 012117). IOP Publishing.