What it takes you to have a successful career? A study conducted in partnership with American Express confirms that 60% of managers consider soft skills are most important while evaluating employee performance. It also reveals that only 32% managers consider hard skills as critical, while only 7% consider social media skills so. Entrepreneur James Caan, famous for Dragon’s Den, a BBC television program, states, “Soft skills have a direct financial output and impact on our economy and businesses”. HR expert Bill Driscoll reveals, “It’s not just experience and technical expertise employers seek, they also look for professionals with outstanding non-technical or soft skills. Companies need staff that are leaders, excellent communicators, and are able to align their business units’ goals with the firm’s big-picture objectives.” It has never been enough to know how to do one’s job. In other words, just technical skills and managerial skills are inadequate to be a manager in the 21st century. Managers and employees also have to develop the personality traits and exhibit behaviors that result in successful performance of the job.

It is difficult to journey far without getting people to agree to your plans. Whether it is about being successful in the interview or the present task or even in promoting a new strategy, the art of persuasive communication is essential for success. Bill Lane, a speech writer of Jack Welch for 20 years, said that leaders at GE are required to give powerful and persuasive presentations. Indeed, in his book, Jacked Up, Lane writes that each of the 23 most accomplished candidates shortlisted to succeed Jack Welch were considered to be “good to great presenters.” He says, “you simply cannot get a job at this level if you can’t stand up and teach, and persuade, excite and lead.” The paper, “Persuasive Communication in Fledgling Entrepreneurship: A Case of Entrepreneurs in Odisha”, by Madhulika Panda, deals with the significance of persuasive communication skills in entrepreneurship in the contemporary business environment of Odisha. It examines the arenas where persuasive communication is considered most relevant for an entrepreneur.

Why do IT projects fail? It is astonishing to note that 54% of failures in projects are attributed to project management issues, and surprisingly, technical challenges are the least cited factor at 3%. Many projects result in failure as they hit road blocks, or are not properly organized, or due to inefficient handling of resources, which have a lot to do with skills different from technical skills. The paper, “Soft Skills in Project Management: A Review”, by Sindhu Ravindranath, traces the importance of soft skills in achieving success at the projects.

Peter Drucker once said, “Time scarcity is bound to become worse rather than become better.” He warned against the temptation of clocking long hours without generating meaningful results as sheer busy-ness and not a standard of excellence. The paper, “Time – Your Workplace Ally”, by Revathi Turaga, speaks about striking a balance between time spent to do the work and the impact it produces. As large chunks of uninterrupted time would no longer be available to executives, time management becomes a key to the executives.

While doing their jobs, employees occasionally forget and skip a step or two, leading to failure at a given task. The cost of such errors can be fatal in industries like airlines, healthcare, etc. Checklists can be of immense benefit to enhance one’s job in such cases. The paper, “The Impact of Checklist on Job Performance: An Exploratory Study”, by Ivaturi Murali Krishna, dwells on the principles of checklists in managing the unmanageable know-how in this age of technology.

Attrition among new hires has been of major concern to managers in all industries. Despite conflicting evidences about its success, many managers’ approach to recruitment has been antiquated in giving primary importance to technical skills, resulting in unanticipated attrition. The paper, “Attrition Among the New Hires: A Soft Skill Perspective”, by M Showry and K V L Manasa, deals with the importance of soft skills in mitigating the rate of attrition among new hires of IT industry. A person with an array of soft skills, along with proficiency in technical skills, can better handle the challenges in IT industry. This can offer a new approach to the way companies recruit and engage the employees in the IT sector.

New technologies evolve at a rapid pace and the organizations today cannot afford to lag behind in embracing innovative technologies. Digital communication today is no longer an option but a compelling necessity. The paper, “The Role of Social Media Communication in the Branding of Educational Hubs”, by Brijendra Singh Yadav, provides insights on the role of social media communication in the branding of educational institutions.

-- Mendemu Showry
Consulting Editor