soft skills Archives

Seven drivers of learning

While educators are facing an onslaught of new technologies and ways of teaching, Arun Pereira and John Mullins argue that there are seven simple but well-established drivers of learning that, regardless of technology, are forgotten at our peril These days, amid widespread criticism of educational institutions and the results they deliver (or don’t!), educators of…

Soft Skills in the Business and Personal World

George Pennington provides a psychologist’s perspective on why training in soft skills is vital for business (and personal) life. In a 2008 survey the German Chamber of Commerce asked employers which were the most important skills future employees should be conversant with. The results of the survey were remarkable (see Table 1 opposite). Of the…

Coping with Complexity

Personal resilience is an increasingly necessary tool to face the stress of a complex work environment. Fiona Dent and Viki Holton describe what it is and how to attain it. Organisational life today demands more from individuals and is far more complex than in previous decades. While modern (and indeed historical) business life has always…

Languages and Communication: a New Challenge for Management Education

Jane Kassis-Henderson and Philippe Lecomte argue that globalisation means that communication is about more than learning a foreign language. Since the mid-1990s business schools have undergone major changes due to the globalisation of the higher-education market. These changes are characterised by the development of academic research, the process of internationalisation of campuses and faculty, and…

Getting “Behaviourally Fit”

In a world full of smart business professionals, says Lee Newman, the quality of behaviour is what distinguishes the most successful. Take two equally intelligent, well-educated professionals with similar years of experience and put them in similar organisations with the same budgets and staff. One consistently moves ideas forward and shepherds projects to success while…

Mindfulness – The Antidote to Macho Leadership?

Most students love the buzzy, busy atmosphere of an MBA programme. But is it the right way to teach them the soft skills, particularly leadership, that employees say they want? Dianne Lynne Bevelander and David Bond suggest that ‘mindfulness’ courses may be the answer. Are business schools teaching leadership effectively? Some critics have argued that…

Learning, Development & Personal Growth

Alessandra Ginante argues that companies must do more to meet the personal needs and ambitions of their managers if they expect them to perform effectively. In today’s knowledge-based, complex and ever-changing business environment it is paramount for ,organisations to have highly qualified professionals if they are fully to realise their economic growth opportunities. Yet the…

Why Digital Generation Needs Communication Training

The ‘digital generation’ are roughly 30 or younger. As they arrive in a workplace dominated by the non-digital generation, one thing becomes clear, says Teresa Martini. They are challenged when it comes to communication skills. What makes the “digital generation” different? It is widely known that while the non-digital generation adopted the use of technology,…