“Toughen Up Your Soft Skills”, Moshin Manji, 24 Hours Newspaper, Thursday, April 14, 2011

 

The No. 1 reason cited by hiring managers and staffing professionals for bypassing a candidate is due to a lack of "soft skills."  Sometimes that reason cited as a "lack of fit" or "lack of connection" with the applicant.  Regardless of the expression used, it's clear when we debrief with hiring managers that the reason is due to a lack of soft skills. Soft skills include interpersonal skills, conflict resolution, problem solving and so on. They also include traits such as motivation, ethics and honesty.   Read Full Article

“The Hard Case For Soft Skills”, Caudron, Shari, Workforce, July 1, 1999

“Research on emotional intelligence shows that investing in "soft-skills" development has big payoffs….  Personality and character count on the job. Not only that, but there's also solid research to prove that the skills that contribute to emotional intelligence can be taught. Unlike IQ, which is a person's intellectual potential that is fixed at birth, patterns of emotional intelligence (or "EQ") can be developed over time.”

 

“Although there are many different models of emotional intelligence, most of them include a combination of competencies that contributes to a person's ability to manage his or her own emotions as well as monitor emotions in others. For example, The Hay Group uses a model in which emotional intelligence comprises four dimensions, each with its own set of behavioral competencies. These dimensions and their accompanying competencies are: 

Self-awareness: Includes the competencies of emotional self-awareness, accurate self-assessment and self-confidence. 

Self-management: Includes self-control, trustworthiness, conscientiousness, adaptability, achievement orientation and initiative. 

Social skills: Includes the competencies of leadership, influence, communication, change catalyst, conflict management, building bonds, teamwork and collaboration. 

Social awareness: Includes empathy, organizational awareness, developing others and service orientation.”   

“Good tech skills, poor talk skills”, Klie, Shannon, Canadian HR Reporter, November 6, 2006

"The baby boomers are retiring and immigration is not keeping up with the future labour demand so (employers) are going to have to work with the Gen Ys as they come into the workforce. And the sooner they learn to capitalize on their strengths and train in the areas that they have not been properly trained on, the better (chance) it's going to be a great relationship for both of them" Barbara Kofman, principal of Toronto-based coaching organization CareerTrails.

“Lack of Soft Skills Keeping Immigrants Under-Employed”, Glen Korstrom, Business In Vancouver, December 1, 2009

 

“What do Canadian employers want? Sixty per cent soft skills and 40% technical skills.” Nick Noorani, founder and publisher of Canadian Immigrant magazine.

 

The Business Council of British Columbia’s (BCBC) biennial skills and attributes surveys reveal that recruiters’ hiring decisions come down to which candidate has the strongest soft skills. BCBC’s surveys give recruiters a list of 15 attributes and ask which are most important.

 

In 2008 and 2006, the three most sought-after attributes were: 
1. Accountability/responsibility
2. Positive attitude/motivation/energy/passion
3. Honesty/integrity

 

Read Full Article

“Learning to Become a Professional”, Morneau, Keith A., The Catalyst, October 1, 2003

 

“A study at Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC), Employee Characteristics and Skills Valued by Northern Virginia Employers (December 2000), found that work ethics, communication skills, the ability to learn on the job, motivation and initiative, and working with others were extremely important skills to over half of employers (Gabriel, 2000). Employers are usually happy with the explicit skills of new graduates entering the workforce. It is the business and 'soft' skills (the tacit knowledge) that are lacking.”

“Emotional intelligence: Its role in organisational success”, Gill, Roger, Training Journal, May 1, 2002

“Many successful chief executives attest to the importance of EI in its effect on job performance. Indeed, the past few years have witnessed a vast amount of research into EI. Recent studies have shown how EQ is more highly related to success than IQ alone.

According to Coleman, high IQ makes you a brilliant teacher or financial analyst, but high IQ and high EQ make you their leader. Leadership guru Warren Bennis concurs, saying that IQ is a threshold competency: it's necessary for success as a leader but it's not sufficient without EI to achieve success." EI makes the difference. 

Intellect - verbal, numerical and thinking skills - is important for effective leadership. But EI enables the intellect to function, once the contagion of negative emotion is dissipated or controlled. Effective leadership truly engages the head and the heart -- emotions as well as intellect and reason. 

 

Can EI be learned? Research evidence suggests strongly that it can. For example, in a study by The Landmark Forum and The Talent Foundation, 100 people attended a three-and-a-half-day EI course and were compared with 100 people who didn't do so. Those who attended the course showed significantly higher levels of motivation, self-esteem and confidence than those in the control group.

In another study, the EI training of supervisors in a manufacturing plant in the USA resulted in reduction of lost-time accidents by 50 per cent, reduction of formal grievances from an average of 15 per year to three per year, and the exceeding of productivity goals by US$250,000. And financial advisers in American Express who had undergone training in EI improved sales by up to 20 per cent.”

“Intelligence Is Overrated: What You Really Need To Succeed”, Keld Jensen, Forbes Magazine, April 12, 2012

 

IQ tests are used as an indicator of logical reasoning ability and technical intelligence. A high IQ is often a prerequisite for rising to the top ranks of business today. It is necessary, but it is not adequate to predict executive competence and corporate success. By itself, a high IQ does not guarantee that you will stand out and rise above everyone else.

 

Research carried out by the Carnegie Institute of Technology shows that 85 percent of your financial success is due to skills in “human engineering,” your personality and ability to communicate, negotiate, and lead. Shockingly, only 15 percent is due to technical knowledge. Additionally, Nobel Prize winning Israeli-American psychologist, Daniel Kahneman, found that people would rather do business with a person they like and trust rather than someone they don’t, even if the likeable person is offering a lower quality product or service at a higher price.

 

With this in mind, instead of exclusively focusing on your conventional intelligence quotient, you should make an investment in strengthening your EQ (Emotional Intelligence)...   Read Full Article

“Self Awareness is essential to Emotional Intelligence” Travis Bradberry, coauthor of the bestselling book, Emotional Intelligence 2.0 in an interview with Dr. Susan Albers, Clinical Psychologist (Huffington Post)

 

Self-awareness is not about discovering deep, dark secrets or unconscious motivations, but, rather, it comes from developing a straightforward and honest understanding of what makes you tick. People high in self-awareness are remarkably clear in their understanding of what they do well, what motivates and satisfies them, and which people and situations push their buttons.

 

To become self-aware, you need a great deal of high-quality, objective feedback on your emotions and your behavior. If you have people in your life that can do this constructively, that's great.    Read Full Article

Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is the essential interpersonal skills that we use to build relationships with others.  Research shows that whether at work, home or socially, we succeed through these relationships.  EQ competencies include self awareness, social (relationship) awareness, social awareness and social management.  Self awareness and management is an understanding of our own strengths and weaknesses, communication style, management style and recognizing our own blind spots.  Social awareness and management is the ability to recognize, understand and adapt to the styles of others is an important relationship skill that allows us to work effectively with others and influence them toward a win-win outcome.

Through our own research, we have found overwhelming evidence of how important interpersonal or “soft skills” are in personal success.  We don’t need to make a case for our training - these researchers and writers have done it for us.  Please email us if you are interested in the full article for quotes that do not have direct internet links.

With EQ Tips, News, Book

Recommendations, Special Deals and Upcoming Events

Copyright  © 2014 EQAdvantage Learning and Development Inc.  All Rights Reserved..

TM