Research conducted by Harvard University, the Carnegie Foundation and Stanford Research Center has concluded that 85% of job success comes from having well-developed soft and people skills, and only 15% of job success comes from technical skills and knowledge (hard skills).

This research finds its beginning with the work of Charles Riborg Mann from a Study of Engineering Education in 1918. There is a span of almost 100 years since Mann published his findings. Has this research had any impact on our current day education and training programs?

Let’s take a look at some of the curriculum offerings at several of our post-secondary programs and see how they are incorporating these findings into their curricula.

• Applied Math-Welding
• Oxy Fuel Metals Joining
• Fabrication
• Shielded Metal Arc
• Gas Metal Arc
• Blueprint Reading
• Oxy-Fuel Metals Cutting
• Advanced Shielded Metal Arc
• Tungsten Inert Gas
• Applied Communication Skills
• Advanced Fabrication
• Advanced Gas Metal Arc
• Advanced Tungsten Inert Gas
• Advanced Blueprint Reading

As you can see, in this listing of courses for welders there is one course that deals with communication and the rest are all hard skills.

Let’s take a look at an Automotive Technology curriculum.

• Fasteners
• Bearings
• Precision Measuring Tools
• Heating and Cutting
• Hoists and Lifting Equipment
• Applied Computer Skills
• Engine Fundamentals
• Cylinder Block Assembly
• Cylinder Block Application
• Crank Shaft Assemblies
• Electrical Fundamentals
• Electronic Diagnostic Test Equipment
• Battery Fundamentals
• Electrical Circuits
• Applied Electrical Schematics
• Circuit Repair
• Electromagnetic Fundamentals
• Electronic Fundamentals
• Fuel System Fundamentals
• Intake and Exhaust Systems
• Emission Control Systems
• Clutch Assemblies
• Gear Theory
• Manual Transmissions

All the above courses are focused on hard skills.

Let’s take a look at one more—HVAC Technician

• Fundamentals of HVAC
• Industrial Construction
• Safety
• HVAC Piping
• Sheet Metal Fabrication
• Electricity Fundamentals
• Heating 1
• Air Conditioning 1
• Mechanical Code
• Heating 2
• Hydronics
• Air Conditioning 2
• Heat Pumps

In this program, there are also electives:

• Writing
• Communication
• Science
• Mathematics

Of the four electives, only one course could be considered a soft skill—communication.

Each program described in this report has a comprehensive set of technical courses to teach the hard-skill competencies of the trade, while soft skills were addressed in a few electives or not at all. One can easily see that the message about the importance of soft skills training is not being heard. Isn’t it time that technical training programs address both hard and soft skills in their programs? It has been 100 years since the 85% soft skills, 15 % hard skills concept has been identified for job success.

Soft skills refer to a group of personal qualities that make up a good student or employee, personal qualities such as a positive attitude, communication, planning and organizing, critical thinking, interpersonal skills and more.

For the past century research has shown that employers have been concerned about the lack of soft skills in their future workforce. (A Study of Engineering Education, Charles Riborg Mann, published by the Carnegie Foundation, 1918) This cry from employers to include soft skills training in educational programs has only gotten louder over the past 100 years.

Why has this cry for soft skills training been ignored?

There are many reasons why this cry has been ignored, but the number one reason is that soft skills are misunderstood. The confusion stems from a lack of understanding of the core competencies related to soft skills. Those who teach technical skills know that at the heart of their curriculum is a set of competencies that can be taught and assessed. Many educators feel that soft skills are not competency- based and therefore cannot be taught. Some even feel that soft skills are innate and one is born with or without them.

Not true! For each soft skill there is a core set of competencies that are necessary for successful skill development. Many of the core competencies for soft skills have a foundation in emotional intelligence skills.

Emotional intelligence is a learned ability to identify, experience, understand, and express human emotions in healthy and productive ways. Emotional intelligence is known in educational settings as social/emotional learning. Whatever term you prefer, the concept is the same: to help individuals learn to use their emotions in a positive, constructive way. Emotional intelligence skills form the base of competencies that all soft skills are built upon.

Let’s take a look at how this works. The most important of all soft skills is a positive attitude. Many people currently feel that a bad attitude cannot be changed. In order to make change, one must know how to change. To develop a positive attitude, there are some basic social/emotional competencies that are essential in order to succeed, but it can be done.

Once these core emotional intelligence competencies are learned and developed, then specific competencies related to developing a positive attitude can be taught and learned.

Once the competencies of a positive attitude are understood, then they can be taught and assessed.

Left to Chance?

A statement that we hear often from managers is, “I can teach my employees any technical skill, but I cannot teach them to have a good attitude.” This statement, in itself, is a negative and will eventually lead to failure. It also reveals a lot about how our educators and trainers feel about soft skills. A closer examination of the statement reveals a mindset that teaching a hard skill like engineering is possible because it can be broken down into a finite set of competencies, while teaching soft skills is not possible because it is not possible to identify the essential competencies. This was reinforced in a statement by an administrator of a career and technical education program to me today: “As you know, soft skills are best learned in real-world situations and not in the classroom.”

Both of the above statements are the result of a lack of understanding of the core competencies of soft skills. Both statements mean the same thing: if I cannot identify the core competencies of soft skills, then I cannot teach those skills. These statements ultimately lead a student to learning “by chance.” Those are not good odds for anybody and it is totally unnecessary. Soft skills DO have competencies and they CAN be assessed and taught.

A 2011 study, The State of the Industry Report (Green & McGill, 2011), conducted by the Association for Talent Development (ATD), formerly known as the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD), states that U.S. employers spent $171.5 billion on employee learning and development in 2010, and 27.6 % of those training dollars went to soft skills training. On the surface, the number of training dollars targeted for soft skills training is impressive. A closer look on where the training was directed reveals a different story.

Most soft skills training today is focused on mid- to upper-level management and is primarily deals with leadership development. While it is agreed that this is a very important aspect, this soft skills training misses the majority of those who need it the most.

What about the rest of the workforce?

What about the average entry-level worker who is the backbone of most companies? What about the front line worker, the person all of us meet every time we go to the supermarket, gas station or city hall? These workers in both the private and public sector are the first contact of any business or government agency. They are the ones who meet you at the checkout counter or emergency room. We all have had excellent experiences with these front line workers who made eye contact, met us with a smile, and called us by name. These positive encounters set up a desire to repeat that positive experience as soon as possible. We also have had the opposite experience, the meeting that did not go so well. These negative experiences told us to stay away and avoid another unpleasant outcome.

The difference between these two experiences could be the result of an employee having a bad day. This is understandable, but more importantly, it is the result of how individuals have learned to deal with their feelings and emotions while experiencing that bad day. Training in learning how to control one’s thoughts and emotions is at the core of any solid soft skills training program. This type of training is known as emotional intelligence training, and it is the core or building block for soft skills training.

 

Take, for example, attitude—the most fundamental soft skill of them all. Before training in developing a positive attitude, one must possess the following emotional intelligence skills:

• Self-Esteem
• Interpersonal Awareness
• Empathy
• Self-Management
• Self-Improvement

Once these core emotional intelligence skills are present, then training in developing a positive attitude is more effective. And these skills can be taught and learned.

Since the success of any organization can be so dramatically impacted by having employees who possess these skills, it is about time to admit that soft skills training is needed for all workers, not just for a few.

Research conducted by Harvard University, the Carnegie Foundation and Stanford Research Center has all concluded that 85% of job success comes from having well‐developed soft and people skills, and only 15% of job success comes from technical skills and knowledge (hard skills). These statistics were extrapolated from A Study of Engineering Education, authored by Charles Riborg Mann and published in 1918 by the Carnegie Foundation. The cited figures come from the data on pages 106‐107.

Download the Research

That is not a typo, it is correct—1918. So we have known for almost 100 years that soft skills are critical to the success of any organization. So why is it that in another study by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) The State of the Industry Report (Green and McGill, 2011), U.S. employers spent $171.5 billion on employee learning and development in 2010, and 27.6% of those training dollars went to soft skills training?

If soft skills are six times more important than hard skills for job success, why is almost ¾ of all the training dollars going to hard skills?