{"id":18363,"date":"2022-09-15T16:04:50","date_gmt":"2022-09-15T13:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.talentlms.com\/blog\/?p=18363"},"modified":"2024-11-25T11:25:08","modified_gmt":"2024-11-25T09:25:08","slug":"soft-skills-coaching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.talentlms.com\/blog\/soft-skills-coaching\/","title":{"rendered":"Soft skills coaching: Unlock employee potential"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jobs, tasks, and processes become more and more automated. However, soft skills cannot yet be replicated by machines.<\/strong> Deloitte<\/a> reports that “soft skill-intensive occupations will account for two-thirds of all jobs by 2030”, and that the revenue of a business can increase by hiring employees with more soft skills.<\/p>\n

In a rapidly changing world, how work gets done is also evolving.<\/strong> Whether we are talking about in-house, remote, or hybrid workforce, the way we approach the hiring process, together with the necessary skills needed for the job, has also changed. Soft skills (empathy, emotional intelligence, kindness, mindfulness, adaptability, integrity, optimism, self-motivation, and resilience) now play a massive role<\/strong> in the hiring process and the successful performance of employees.<\/p>\n

And this is why soft skills have become very important over the years. But now, more than ever.<\/p>\n

What are soft skills? Can they be trained?<\/h2>\n

Soft skills are interpersonal skills used across different jobs.<\/strong> They reflect the way people interact with each other through communication, adaptability, and creative thinking, among others. These skills are not traditionally taught in typical educational settings, but rather acquired through experience.<\/p>\n

We shouldn\u2019t confuse soft skills with personality traits<\/a><\/strong>, though. Unlike personality, soft skills and behaviors in the workplace can be taught and changed through formal and informal training.<\/p>\n

Most people have somewhat fixed soft skills<\/strong>, but if they work in one or more areas they feel weak, they can definitely see improvement and stand out among other candidates or peers at work.<\/p>\n

How can this be done, however?<\/p>\n

For those already in a business setting, soft skills coaching is the most popular method used in order to guide employees towards strategies to build soft skills, motivate, support, and provide feedback. At the same time, personal development is always encouraged. For example, each individual can spend some time watching a small video or podcast in their free time to improve weak areas.<\/p>\n

Why is coaching the best method to teach soft skills?<\/h2>\n

Developing people is not an easy task.<\/strong> It\u2019s necessary to find the right combination of methodologies and strategies that work best for your workforce. Knowledge transfer and skills building can be done in various ways: on-the-job training, self-directed learning, online training, and more. But one of the most common methods\u00a0for teaching, measuring, and articulating soft skills is soft skills coaching.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say you have identified an employee who needs to develop their leadership soft skills.<\/a><\/strong> Instead of offering them a generic course on leadership, you can bring in a mentor or coach.<\/strong> They\u2019ll have the tools and techniques to identify specific<\/em> areas for improvement. Working together, the coach and the employee, will make a plan, practice the relevant skills, and, ultimately, increase performance.<\/p>\n

While in soft skills coaching, the mentor can better define<\/strong> the employee\u2019s goals, current skills, strengths, and weaknesses. For example, Clara from the marketing team has found out she\u2019s not good enough at communicating with the rest of the team. So a soft skills coach can create a specific development plan to provide her with the best pathway to improve her communication skills. While she’s following the suggested training plan, the<\/strong> coach can offer additional support<\/strong> and actionable feedback directly.<\/p>\n

One more perk of leveraging soft skills coaching is that it can be successfully conducted both in a physical workspace and in a remote environment.<\/strong><\/p>\n

How to coach employees on soft skills<\/h2>\n

Coaching isn’t just about bringing in a coach who’ll run a few sessions, and that’s it. To reap all the benefits and see your people actually growing their soft skills through coaching,<\/a><\/strong> you need a step-by-step process. You need to think about\u2014and plan\u2014what happens before and after coaching, too. Let\u2019s see how you can successfully implement coaching for soft skills training.<\/p>\n

1. Identify soft skills gaps<\/h3>\n

Before setting up your strategy for soft skills coaching, it\u2019s important to have this checklist in mind:<\/p>\n