Shore up soft skills and boost your career

Personality traits that help you interact empathetically and meaningfully with others will help you succeed in the workplace

Organisations worldwide are investing in upskilling and reskilling their employees. A key aspect of these training programmes is developing soft skills that are important for the growth of the individual and the organisation.

A recent 2021 skills learning report listed the top ten skill requirements: resilience and adaptability, technology skills/digital fluency, communication across remote or distributed teams, emotional intelligence, cross-functional collaboration, leading through change, change management, dealing with stress/being more mindful, time management and creativity.

The Future of Jobs Report 2020 from the World Economic Forum estimates that 50 per cent of the employees will witness an emerging need for reskilling within half a decade due to the ever-evolving dynamic job roles and economies.

Why soft skills are important

Enhances confidence

Soft skills develop into life skills that help an individual hone an all-rounded personality, leading to higher confidence.

Complex problem-solving

When learned early in life, soft skills can prepare one to have a logical approach to problem-solving. This enables addressing multi-layered, complex decision-making with more ease and confidence.

Increased productivity

When the mind is stress-free, it leaves the individual free to focus on core competencies, resulting in higher productivity.

Better communication skills

Communication is the key to maintaining transparency and winning the confidence of one's team. Effective communication also involves good listening skills, making one understand the problems at hand better and more empathetic.

Higher adaptability

Soft skills lead to a higher amount of adaptability in an individual. A significant number of job roles entail teamwork. Adaptability becomes critical in creating a synergy effect that generates higher output.

Leadership attributes

Leaders are born with certain qualities and imbibe the rest, along the way, with continuous learning being one such skill. Soft skills can significantly enhance one's leadership skills and set them apart from bosses and managers.

Soft skills for personality development in kids

Some of the vital soft skills that enhance one's overall personality include empathy, time management, communication skills, complex problem-solving, critical thinking, self-motivation, rational decision making, negotiation or persuasive skills, confidence, leadership skills, and social skills.

The best way to imbibe these skills is to start young. Students tend to learn and retain more through a fun, interactive, and playful approach; this establishes immersive learning and more effective outcomes.

Activity-driven learning also makes learning a two-way channel instead of traditional classroom teaching. When children face a real-life situation through simulation, it makes them more future-ready.

App-based learning also aids in cognitive development at a young age. The audio-visual features promote long-term learning and retention and inspire continued learning.

(Vishal Gupta is the Founder & CEO at Little Leap, a live online platform for kids to develop soft skills like confidence, communication and critical thinking at a young age.)