Soft skills in management
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The document discusses the significance of soft skills in management, asserting that they are essential for effective organizational functions and can be taught despite common misconceptions that they are innate. It highlights the five key management functions—planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling—and how soft skills enhance the execution of these roles. The conclusion emphasizes that soft skill development is crucial for modern organizations and should be prioritized through experiential training approaches.
Soft skills in management
- 1. 1 SOFT SKILLS IN MANAGEMENT BY SAMUEL GIBBS www.splendidresearchers.com
- 2. 2 Table of Content BY....................................................................................................................................................1 SAMUEL GIBBS............................................................................................................................1 www.splendidresearchers.com .......................................................................................................1 Table of Content..............................................................................................................................2 Management Functions....................................................................................................................3 Soft Skills.........................................................................................................................................5 Why Soft Skills are Important in Management...............................................................................6 Planning ..................................................................................................................................................7 Organizing ...............................................................................................................................................7 Staffing.....................................................................................................................................................8 Directing..................................................................................................................................................8 Monitoring and Control...........................................................................................................................9 Soft Skills Teachable.......................................................................................................................9 Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10 References......................................................................................................................................12
- 3. 3 Introduction Soft skills refer to interpersonal skills that enable people to work effectively in a given setting. Soft skills have become critical in modern organizations. Today, recruitment strategies of many organizations emphasize on aptitude tests that are designed to test the soft skills of applicants (Robles, 2012). Similarly, organizations have turned their attention towards the development of soft skills among their employees. Statistics reveal that over 50% of companies’ training budgets are related to soft skill training (Riggio & Tan, 2013). The attention given to soft skill development has raised a contentious question on whether soft skills are teachable. It has been said “soft skills in management are the most vital, but they are also the most un- teachable. If you don’t have self- insight and can’t develop yourself, you won’t go far’. This is a significant misconception. This paper argues against this proposition. It advances the belief that soft skills can be transferred to anyone. Management Functions In any organization, the management team has five basic functions; planning; organizing; staffing; directed, and controlling (Isaacs & McAllister, 2010). Planning is a process that entails deciding what the organization should do and how to do it (Litman, 2013). It entails formulating goals, and developing approaches for achieving these goals. There are many kinds of planning that occur at different levels of the organization. In organization, there are two major types of planning; strategic planning and operational planning. Strategic planning entails establishing long range goals that encompass all aspects of the organizations (Montana & Charnov, 2000). On the other hand, operational planning entails establishing medium-range objectives that are aimed at supporting the realization of the long-range goals.
- 4. 4 Organizing is a management function that entails mobilizing and harmonizing resources that are required in order to realize the goals of the organization (Isaacs & McAllister, 2010). The most critical resources involved include finances, physical resources, and human resource. Organizing basically entails processes such as identification of key activities, arrangement of activities, and definition of authority, responsibilities and relationships. This function of management is concerned with ensuring that there is coordination and synergy within the organization (Antic & Sekulic, 2005). It results in the formation of the organization structure. Staffing is a management function that entails developing a human resource that is adequate and capable of performing the tasks necessary for the firm to realize its objectives (Isaacs & McAllister, 2010). The role of staffing is to ensure that the firm is able to draw and retain the best human resources. It also seeks to ensure that the organization human resource remains highly motivated. Another role of the staffing process is to ensure that the organization makes optimal use of its human resource. This means ensuring that the human resource is not underutilized or over-utilized. Directing is the process coordinating, leading and coordinating the organization’s members. It entails ensuring that members of the firm complete the duties and responsibilities assigned to them. This function is closely related to leadership and motivation. It is concerned with rallying members of the organizations behind the firm’s goals. Controlling entails assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization in achieving its objectives (Jones, George & Fane, 2005). It is a continuous process that tracks the progress of the organization. This process encompasses activities such as measuring and reporting results, as well as, comparing these results with pre-established plans (Montana &
- 5. 5 Charnov, 2000). This process also entails taking corrective actions whenever managers find a deviation between actual outcome and pre-established standards. The five functions are vital parts of a manager’s job. In order to execute these functions effectively, managers need a given set of skills (Jones, Gorges & Fane, 2005). These skills can be classified into hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills are related to technical aspects of management and results in the creation of tangible deliverables. For instance, budgeting skills results in the development of a budget. Hard skills incorporate the use of tools, programs, and objective knowledge. Soft skills refer to interpersonal skills that are vital to the fulfillment of the goals of the organization (Stone & Bailey, 2007). Management entails achieving the objectives of the firm through people. Thus, managers must have skills for influencing and motivating people. These soft skills include leadership, problem solving, negotiation, emotional intelligence, communication, motivation, and expectation management. Soft Skills The term soft skill is quite elusive. There is no clear definition of soft skills. However, this term refers to a set of skills that allow a person to interrelate with others effectively and survive in a given environment. Ramesh and Ramesh (2010) identified three dimensions of soft skills; etiquette, communication, and attitude. Communication has been defined as the capacity to express one’s ideas, attitude, conviction and technical skills in a fashion that effectively reach and persuade the targeted audience. Rao (2010) also believes that communication is the heart of soft skills. According to Rao (2010), communication skills enable a person relay other skills to outsiders. Without communication skills, other skills turn to be irrelevant. Etiquette has been defined as convention, norms or accepted protocols that need to be followed in order to achieve
- 6. 6 effective communication. On the other hand, attitude refers to the mental make-up of an individual. Attitude reflects a person desire and perception concerning a particular issue. Emotional intelligence is another critical soft skill. Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize once emotions and realize how these emotions affect the people around (Jones, George & Fane, 2005). Emotional intelligence also helps the manager to understand other people’s feeling hence improving his ability to manage relationships. Another critical skill is self awareness. Self awareness helps managers to understand and control their emotions. It also enables people to improve how they relate with others. Motivation is a critical soft skill in management. Production is usually a function of skills and motivations (Issac & McAllister, 2010). Therefore, managers need to keep their followers highly motivated so as to improve the productivity of the organization. This makes motivation skills critical to managers. Other critical soft skills include time and stress management, conflict management, behavioral skills, and relationship management. Why Soft Skills are Important in Management In the past, management curriculums placed a lot of emphasis on development of technical skills and downplayed the role of soft skills in effective management. However, interpersonal skills play a critical role in the execution of management functions. As Ramesh and Ramesh (2010) pointed out, soft skills are not simply an icing on the cake, in modern day management, but a critical component of the dough itself. Soft skills complement managers’ hard skills and enhancing their ability to execute managerial functions. Soft skills assist is important to management in the following ways;
- 7. 7 Planning Planners need technical knowledge such as forecasting, schedule development, budget development, metrics, risk assessment, proposal writing, and many other skills (Jones, George & Fane, 2005). However, they also require soft skills. Planning is a social activity as it involves human elements (Litman, 2013). Successful planning requires adequate participation of all key stakeholders of the organization. Managers must be ready to work with persons from diverse backgrounds and who have diverse abilities and interests. Therefore, managers must have self awareness, relationship management skills, communication, negotiation, motivation, and stress management skills in order to bring all stakeholders together and bring out the best out of their interaction (Stone & Bailey, 2007). Organizing The process of organizing also requires technical skills such as schedule development, job analysis and job description, research, contract development, and many other skills. Organizing is also a social process that involves human elements (Jones, George & Fane, 2005). In this process, managers are expected to assign authority and responsibilities. Therefore, managers require knowledge and skills in areas such as motivation, communication, and leadership in order to develop structures that will promote performance. The manager also requires negotiation skills so as to make certain that the firm acquires the best resources at reasonable rates (Isaac & McAllister, 2010). Similarly, managers cannot negotiate effectively without effective communication skills and emotional intelligence. The manager will have to negotiate with labor unions, suppliers, and distributors in order to obtain an agreement concerning prices and quality of inputs. Managers also require skills in conflict resolution in order to ensure that there is effective coordination between individuals and departments.
- 8. 8 Staffing Manager needs various technical/ hard skills in order to execute the staffing function effectively. These skills include development of recruitment strategies, interviewing, hiring strategy development, development of training programs, compensation scheme development, performance evaluation and appraisal, performance management, development of human resource policies, hiring, and termination (Jones, George & Fane, 2005). Managers also need various soft skills in order to execute the staffing function. For instance, managers cannot develop effective performance management system if they lack knowledge in areas such as human motivation (Schulz, 2008). Communication and negotiation skills are also critical in the recruitment and hiring of employees. Managers also need effective communication and interpersonal skills in order to develop effective compensation and training programs. Directing Directing is more so a social activity rather than a technical activity (Issac & McAllister, 2010). This function entails influencing followers to pursue the goals established by the management. This function requires managers to motivate, coordinate and energize all stakeholders of the organization to work towards the realizations of the organization’s goals. Therefore, the manager requires skills such as communication, motivation, team development, and negotiation (Schulz, 2008). Managers must be able to outline the organization goals to employees. This requires significant communication skills. Studies have revealed that managers who are successful in directing activities of the organization are universally good communicators (Issacs & McAllister, 2010). They are effective in sharing the firm’s vision and inspiring members to pursue this vision. Communication and interpersonal skills are also critical in building trust among organizational members, which plays a vital part in the realization of the firm’s goals.
- 9. 9 Monitoring and Control Measuring is an integral part of the controlling function. In order to assess performance, one must have the ability to measure performance (Jones, George & Fane, 2005). Therefore, one of technical skills that are vital to the controlling function is the skill in developing performance measurements. The manager must have the skills to develop effective performance measurements such, scorecards, and check sheets (Schulz, 2008). Research skills are also essential as managers have to correct data relating to the performance of the organization. Soft Skills Teachable Modern organizations have realized the importance of soft skills in determining the success of organizations. Today, soft skills are given a significant consideration in making recruitment decision (Axel and Bertling, 2010). Multiple levels interviews and aptitude tests have become a critical element of organizations’ recruitment processes. Due to the increased significance of soft skills, organizations emphasize on the development of soft skills (Robles, 2012). Riggio and Tan (2013) estimate that more that 50% of organizations’ training budgets are directed towards the development of soft skills. This trend has raised questions on whether soft skills are teachable. Many people often confuse soft skills and personal traits. People also have the misconception that soft skills are innate and not learnt (Andermann, et al, 2012). While soft skills are closely related to personality issues, they are different from personality. Soft skills enable individuals to fine tune their personality (Rao, 2010). Although people cannot learn soft skills through principles, people can learn these skills through experiential approaches such as coaching and mentoring. A significant approach of teaching soft skills entails introducing people to basic people skills (Robles, 2012). Introducing people to basic people skills such as cultural sensitivity and
- 10. 10 cultural awareness will not teach people what to say but will enlighten people on how they can effectively communicate in different environments. Similarly, teaching people about the basic principles of communication will enlighten them on what they can do to enhance the effectiveness of their communication in a given setting (McCale, 2008). Soft skills can also be learnt through the use of subjective approaches such as observation, coaching and mentoring (Elam & Spotts, 2004). By observing how a senior member of the organization communicates, a new employee can acquire essential communication skills. Proponents of the proposition that soft skills are not teachable argue that learning of these skills is all dependent on an individual’s attitude. As Ramesh and Ramesh (2010) point out, soft skill is an abstract concept that comprises of various components such as attitude, practices, habits and abilities. Since, attitude is a significant dimension of soft skill; it is difficult to transfer these skills when there is lack of personal insight (Schulz, 2008). However, this argument is not valid since attitude can also be changed. Attitude of people can also be changed by challenging the paradigm and values on which these values are founded. As elaborated by Anderman et al (2012), it is possible to change a person attitude towards teamwork through team building exercises. Anderman et al (2012) explains that team building exercises give people an opportunity to learn to trust each other hence enabling them to develop skills and attitudes that are integral to effective team work. Conclusion Soft skill development has become a significant priority for many organizations. This has raised questions on whether soft skills are transferable. It has been argued that“soft skills in management are the most vital, but they are also the most un-teachable (Axel and Bertling, 2010). If you don’t have self- insight and can’t develop yourself, you won’t go far’. However,
- 11. 11 this paper concludes that soft skills are highly transferable and very teachable. However, as Raggio and Tan (2013) point out, soft skill training program need to go beyond normal classroom programs. Instead, these programs should focus on using training approaches that emphasize on practice, coaching, mentorship, and feedback.
- 12. 12 References Anderman, E. et al (2012). Handbook of Educational Psychology. USA, Routledge Publishers Antic, L. & Sekulic, V. (2005). Organizing as the Phase of Management Process and Management Accounting. Journal of Economics and Organization. 2 (3): 237- 245 Axel, W. & Bertling, J. (2010). Exploring the Business Value of Soft Skills in Social Networks. Retrieved from http://is2.lse.ac.uk/asp/aspecis/20110254.pdf Elam, E. & Spotts, H. (2004). Achieving Marketing Curriculum Integration. Marketing Education Journal. 26(1): 50-65. Georges, J. (2011). The Myth of Soft-Skills Training. Retrieved from http://www.jtemgt.com/PDF/TrainingMyths.pdf Isaacs S. & McAllister, J. (2010). Management Skills. Retrieved from http://www2.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/id/id108/10.pdf Jones, G. George, J. & Fane, G. (2005). Managers and Managing. Retrieved from http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0078112699/862163/Chapter01.pdf Litman, T. (2013). Planning Principles and Practices. Retrieved from http://www.vtpi.org/planning.pdf McCale, C. (2008). It’s Hard Work Learning Soft Skills. Journal of Effective Teaching. 8 (2): 50-60 Montana, P. & Charnov, B. (2000). Management. USA, Barron’s Educational Series Ramesh, G. & Ramesh, M. (2010). The ACE of Soft Skills. India, Pearson Education Publishers Rao, M. (2010). Soft Skills: Enhancing Employability. USA, IK International Publishers Riggio, R. & Tan, S. (2013). Leaders Interpersonal and Influence Skills. USA, Routledge Publishers
- 13. 13 Robles, M (2012). Executive Perceptions of Soft Skills Needed in the Modern Workplace. Journal of Business Communication. 75 (4): 453- 465 Schulz, B. (2008). The Importance of Soft-Skills: Education beyond Academic Knowledge. Language and Communication Journal. 8 (5): 146-153 Stone, R. & Bailey, R. (2007). Team Conflict Self-efficacy and Outcome Expectancy of Business Students. Journal of Education for Business. 82(6) 258-266.