The term personality is derived from Latin word persona, a mask worn by actors in classical dramas. Behaviorist psychologists feel that if a person has some kind of impact or makes a certain impression on others, it must be because of his actions. The simplest meaning of personality, therefore, is “the pattern of responses” which characterizes the individual. An individual’s personality is invariably revealed through interactions in the personal, social and the professional arena, for the act of communication determines how one views and in return is viewed by the world around. In the modern world of professional rivalry and competitive business, obsessed with power and achievement, personality becomes the byword for success. There are qualities that enable one to evolve and grow into an empowered and well-balanced personality, a choice that proves to be a wise investment for long-term achievements. Such qualities along with the ability to effectively communicate and interact have become much sought after, with everyone trying to understand how one may acquire them. So much so that soft skills and personality development have become the new slogans for professional and career advancement.
Contrary to the general idea that good personality refers to good physical features or ‘trendy’ looks, personality includes many other important behavioral and mental features. Take the example of Mahatma Gandhi. Most people did not find him to be attractive or impressive as far as his physical make — up was concerned. Yet, this short, meek looking, bald, dhoti — clad old looking man moved and inspired the entire nation to stand up and demand freedom. Even today he is known for his ‘Personality’ which established everlasting impression on the people around him and made him the man of fame and world. There have been many others too, Barack Obama, the former President of America, who electrified Americans, captured their imagination, inspired million viewers with his twenty minutes speech at the stage of 2004 Democratic National Convention. He, with his outstanding soft skills and emotional intelligence not only transcended race and historic barriers, but also conveyed his vision, inspired confidence, persuaded and motivated people and became America’s first African American President.
Thus what makes the difference is the understanding of what is commonly called, the soft skills. Soft skills are essentially people skills— the non-technical, intangible, personality-specific skills that determine one’s strengths as a leader, speaker, listener, negotiator, and conflict mediator. It means skills related to human attitude, team work, leadership qualities, over all human nature enhancements. Soft skills thus is a sociological term relating to a person’s “EQ” (Emotional Intelligence Quotient), the cluster of personality traits, social graces, communication, language, personal habits, friendliness, and optimism that characterize relationships with other people. They are, in many instances, complementary, and serve to unlock the potential for highly effective performance in people qualified with the requisite hard skills.
In broader terms soft skills is a range of abilities including work ethics, courtesy, teamwork, self-discipline and self-confidence, professional presence, language proficiency, cultural sensitivity, communication skills, ability to accept and learn from criticism, ability to handle client relationships, networking, creativity, ability to motivate yourself and lead others, time management, leadership and interpersonal skills. Studies have shown that personality measures parameters like conscientiousness, dependability and agreeability and they are equally important predictors of work success as cognitive ability and work accuracy. These parameters or traits can yield significant return on investment for an organization. For this reason, soft skills are increasingly sought out by employers in addition to standard qualifications. The wide rivers of culture, language and environment can only be crossed with being proficient with soft skills. Also, today Indian companies are facing intense competition from MNCs who are offering identical services in their own backyard. The only way that Indian companies can continue to dominate this space is by up-skilling their employees in soft skills.
Importance of Soft Skills
There is an axiom in business circles which suggests “hard skills will get a person an interview, but soft skills will land that person a job”. Thus, an applicant with years of education and experience in the field might have the hard skills necessary to fill the position, but lack of soft skills such as leadership ability or self-motivation will not allow one to accomplish the task in the desired manner. Research in many fields such as sales and marketing, software development, engineering and law, has shown that to be successful in the workplace, knowledge alone is not enough. Soft skills play a vital role in dealings with the external world and help us to work in a collaborative manner with our colleagues. Studies by Stanford Research Institute and the Carnegie Mellon Foundation among Fortune 500 CEOs found that 75% of long term job success depended on people skills and only 25% on technical skills. This is true at other levels as well.
For effective performance in the workplace, companies need their employees to have not only domain knowledge, technical and analytical skills, but also the skills to deal with the clients, customers, vendors and to work in a collaborative manner with their colleagues. We manage and think with our head. Service learning, Critical thinking, problem solving, decision making are related to our thinking processes, which we manage with our mind. Functions of the heart are related to people and caring. We relate to people by accepting differences, adopting conflict resolutions, putting into practice social skills, showing cooperation and keeping the channels of communication open. The second function we perform with our heart is caring. We care through nurturing relationships, sharing, empathizing and displaying genuine concern for others. This all constitutes Soft Skills.
Indiana Business Research Center (IBRC) has found that, while credentialing in the form of degrees and certificates is important, development of soft skills-skills that are more social than technical-are a crucial part of fostering a dynamic workforce. Skills projected to be in the highest demand include active listening, critical thinking, speaking, active learning, writing, time management, and social perceptiveness. Hence, one must focus on learning and putting into practice various soft skills.