Bridging the Soft Skills Gap

A

Ability self-evaluation
Accountant with soft skills scenario
Active review tool
After action review tool: applying to problem solving
- learning from others by using the
Assumptions (questioning)
Attention to detail: brainstorming
- self-assessment of your
- self-improvement planning
- taking notes and making checklists
Attentive listening
Authority: chain-of-command problem
- Gen Zers lack of old-fashioned “followship” to
- Gen Zers lacking the soft skills to conform to
- interference of helicopter-parenting with
- multiple boss problem. See also Bosses

B

Baby Boomers: “everyone gets a trophy” style parenting by
- post-Boomer generational shift in the workplace
“Bad attitudes”: considering
- dealing with people with
- individual employees who need an attitude adjustment. See also Positive attitude
Basic project plan
“Be a great employee” model of service
Behavior self-evaluation. See also High priority soft skill behaviors
“Best friend” programs
Best interests model of citizenship
“Blamer” attitude
Bosses: chain-of-command problem with
- helping them to monitor your performance
- myth versus reality of “making friends” with your
- problem of multiple. See also Authority; Employers; Managers

C

Cause and effect: negative outcomes of
- positive outcomes of
Celebrating
Chain-of-command problem
Checklists
China's “Little Emperor Syndrome”
Citizenship. See Good citizenship
Civic model of citizenship
“Closed mindedness”
Coaching. See Performance coaching
Collaboration: coordinating, cooperating, and
- using influence to get things done. See also Teamwork
Common sense model of citizenship
Communication: best practices for remote
- email
- Gen Zers' habit of remote and interpersonal
- learning to use the “people list” for your
- listening skills as part of
- people skills related to
- putting more structure into your
- putting more substance into your
- the “service” approach to one-on-ones between managers and direct reports. See also Feedback; Interpersonal communication; People skills
Communication style profiles
Communitarian model of citizenship
“Complainer” attitude
Computer programmer story
Consistency. See Follow-through and consistency
Context. See Respect for context
Coordinating and cooperating
Corporate culture: on-boarding training to facilitate talent embrace of
- powerful stories on
- unlocking the power of soft skills as part of. See also Good citizenship; Organizations
Critical thinking soft skill: “building strong thinking muscles” for
- characteristics of
- the missing basics of
- as one of the basic soft skills
Critical thinking soft skill basics: decision making
- proactive learning
- problem solving
Cultural relativism: wide misunderstanding of the meaning of
- workplace problems encountered with
Customer service: NYC lunch concession culture of pace and
- organizational importance of effective
- unlocking the power of soft skills as part of. See also Service
Customer service skills: how soft skills gap negatively impacts
- lessons learned on training
- on-boarding and up-to-speed training on
- organizational importance of effective
- of quick service restaurant “Ned Flanders” employees. See also High priority soft skill behaviors; Service; Soft skills

D

“Debater” attitude
Decision making: active review tool to use for
- brainstorming what it means to you
- critical thinking and
- decision/action trees for
- definition of
- self-evaluation of
- teaching. See also Problem solving
Decision making lesson plans: 1: Introduction
- 2: Information Analysis: Simple Pros and Cons
- 3: Cause and Effect: Positive Outcomes
- 4: Cause and Effect: Negative Outcomes
- 5: Applying the After–Action Review Tool
- 6: Using the Decision/Action Tree
Decision making teaching: example of a decision making gap
- how to make young talent aware of and care about
- teaching and learning objective
- what the manager needs to remember for
Decision/action trees
Development investment paradox: answers to the problem of
- description of
“Digital natives”
Disney
Diverse Gen Zer workforce
Dress code norms

E

Economic collapse (2008)
Education: critical thinking skill gap and Gen Zers
- teaching to the test. See also Teaching style managers
Email communication: best practices for
- following either telephone or video communication
- training young talent on effective
Empathy
Employers: complaints about deficient soft skills of young talent by
- facing the hard realities of the soft skills gap
- Gen Zers' customer-relationship to
- strategic benefits of bridging the soft-skills gap. See also Bosses; Young talent
Engineer with soft skills scenario
Enneagram model
“Entangler” attitude

F

Feedback: coaching style
- to focus on high priority soft skills
- myth versus realities of workplace and
- performance management and talent development
- provided for behaviors
- service approach to
- teaching people skills through. See also Communication
Follow-through and consistency: brainstorming
- brainstorming and planning
- self-assessment of your
- self-improvement planning
Followship soft skill: the missing basics of
- as one of the basic soft skills
Followship soft skill basics: citizenship
- respect for context
- service
- teamwork
Friendships: “best friend” programs
- myth versus reality of “making friends” with your boss. See also Relationships

G

Generation X (born 1965 to 1977): helicopter-parenting on steroids of Gen Zers by
- manager complaints about soft skill deficiencies of
- soft skills gap growing steadily from. See also Post-Boomer generational shift
Generation Y (born 1978 to 1989)
Generation Z beliefs: false sense of intellectual pluralism
- idealism and mission-driven work ethic
- in individual accommodation as the norm
- in non-conformity
- toward authority and fellowship
Generation Z (born 1990 to 1999): effectiveness of self-directed learning by
- as first true “digital natives”
- as first truly global generation
- helicopter-parenting on steroids shaping
- love of grown-ups and learning from them by
- making up the most diverse workforce in history
- need for them to make reasonable workplace adaptations
- poor learning habits of
- soft skills gap growing steadily from Gen Y to
- as the tipping point in the post-Boomer generational shift
- as the ultimate non-conformists
- virtual reality and social media shaping. See also Young talent
Globalization
Goal-setting: research plan for acquiring skill, wisdom, and knowledge
- for specific desired behaviors
- for wisdom you wish to acquire
Goals: alignment of organizational and individual
- how to make a basic project plan with
Good citizenship: definition of
- followership and component of
- on-boarding and ongoing training in corporate
- reasons why Gen Zers don't value
- self-evaluation of
- soft skill gap related to corporate
- teaching. See also Corporate culture
- Organizations
Good citizenship lesson plans: 1: Introduction
- 2: The “Respect for Others” Model
- 3: The “Best Interests” Model
- 4: The “Civic” Model
- 5: The “Communitarian” Model
- 6: The “Common Sense” Model
- 7: The “Solid Standards” Model
- 8: The “Personal Sacrifice” Model
- 9: The Theodore Roosevelt Model
- 10: Create Your Own Model
Good citizenship teaching: example of a good citizenship gap
- how to make young talent aware of and care about
- teaching and learning objective
- what the manager needs to remember for
Good work habits: description of
- follow-through and consistency
- how to teach
- initiative and going the extra mile
- organization and attention to detail
- productivity
- self-evaluation of
- self-presentation
- timeliness
- wellness
Good work habits lesson plans: 1: Introduction
- 2: Self-Assessment
- 3: Self-Improvement planning
- 4: Wellness
- 5: Planning a Wellness Initiative
- 6: Self-Presentation
- 7: Using a Time Log to Start Living by a Schedule
- 8: How to Make a Basic Project Plan
- 9: Taking Notes and Making Checklists
- 10: Doing a Time/Motion Study on Yourself
- 11: Spotlight on Follow-Through
- 12: Going the Extra Mile
Good work habits teaching: example of a good work habits gap
- how to make young talent aware of and care about
- teaching and learning objective
- what the manager needs to remember for
Great Recession (2008)

H

Hand-held devices: nurse-manager on lack of professionalism and use of
- texting during meeting story on
Hard skills. See Technical skills
Helicopter-parenting
High priority soft skill behaviors: build selection process with heavy emphasis on
- development investment paradox of training for
- effectiveness of self-directed learning for
- how to get employees to focus on
- identifying for each job position
- inclusion in employer branding and recruitment message
- leadership and management role in
- on-boarding and up-to-speed training on
- ongoing training on
- performance management and talent development for
- reinforcing between job offer and acceptance lag time. See also Behavior self-evaluation
- Customer service skills
- Soft skills
Hiring. See Staffing strategy and hiring
Home-schooling
Hospital key metrics story
Human capital management practices: listed
- management and leadership roles in
- on-boarding and up-to-speed training
- ongoing training
- performance management and talent development
- staffing strategy and hiring. See also Labor market tiers

I

Influencing others
Information analysis
Information environment: false sense of intellectual pluralism in the
- Gen Zers as “digital natives” of the
- how critical thinking is inhibited by access to the
Initiative: brainstorming
- going the extra mile by taking
- self-assessment of your
- self-improvement planning
Interpersonal communication: best practices of
- learning to use the “people list” in your
- putting more structure into your
- putting more substance into your
- self-assessing your. See also Communication
- People skills
Interviews: job
- of your “people list”

J

Job description
Job interviews
“Job shadowing”

K

Knowledge: proactive learning to increase
- research plan goals for acquiring
- study skills for building
- studying good information for stored

L

Labor market tiers: requiring years of education and formal training
- substantial technical training required
- threshold criteria. See also Human capital management practices
Leaders: becoming a teaching style manager and
- performance coaching by
- role in developing soft skill behaviors. See also Managers
Learning: becoming a teaching style manager to facilitate
- critical thinking and proactive
- going beyond regular performance coaching for
- leader and manager roles in
- self-directed. See also Teaching style managers
Lesson plans: designed to be highly flexible and easy to use
- good citizenship
- good work habits
- people skills
- personal responsibility
- positive attitude
- respect for context
- self-evaluation
- service
- teamwork. See also Teaching style managers
- Training
Listening skills
“Little Emperor Syndrome”
Loyalty: how challenging work creates personal
- problem of lack of
- teaching good citizenship to build

M

Managers: becoming a teaching style
- complaints about deficient soft skills of young talent by
- facing the hard realities of the soft-skills gap
- performance coaching by
- role in developing soft skill behaviors
- the “service” approach to one-on-ones between direct reports and
- strategic benefits of bridging the soft-skills gap
- two significance challenges of Gen Zers to their immediate. See also Bosses
- Leaders
- Teaching style managers
Managing Generation X (Tulgan)
Marine Boot Camp
Meetings: “meeting manners” program to improve behavior during
- “poor meeting manners”
- preparing for
- the service approach to attendance and participation in
Micro-gap analysis
Mission: Gen Zers preference for work driven by
- team player role in relation to the
Mission-driven organizations
Motivation: Gen Zers and mission-driven
- self-evaluation of your
Multiple boss problem
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

N

“Ned Flanders” employees story
Needle-in-a-haystack job
New Haven's safe pedestrian behavior campaign
9/11/01
Non-conformism: cultural relativism and
- definition of
- the problem with workplace
Note taking

O

On-boarding training
Ongoing training: development investment paradox of
- supporting high priority soft skill behaviors
Open mindedness
Organization work habit: brainstorming
- doing a time/motion study on your
- how to make a basic project plan to increase your
- self-assessment of your
- self-improvement planning
- taking notes and making checklists
Organizations: alignment between corporate, division, and individual goals in
- the business case for bridging the soft-skills gap by
- mission-driven
- wellness initiative planning by. See also Corporate culture
- Good citizenship
- Training
Outliers

P

Peer group job
“People list”
People skills: description of
- how to teach
- self-evaluation of. See also Communication
- Interpersonal communication
People skills lesson plans: 1: Interpersonal Communication
- 2: Self-Assessing Interpersonal Communication
- 3: Learning to Use the “People List”
- 4: Putting More Structure into Your Communication
- 5: Putting More Substance into Your Communication
- 6: Preparing for Meetings
- 7: Email Best Practices
- 8: Communicating Remotely
People skills teaching: description of
- example of a people skills gap
- how to make young talent aware of and care about
- teaching and learning objective
- what the manager needs to remember for
Performance: feedback on
- helping your boss monitor your
- putting yourself on a plan to improve
Performance coaching: become a teaching style manager for
- network systems administrator engaged in
- roles taken by leaders and managers in
- taking it to the next level beyond
Performance improvement plan
Performance management: continuous improvement through
- development investment paradox of ongoing training and
- how to get employees to focus on high priority soft skill behaviors
- when soft skill behaviors are spelled out as part of. See also Productivity
Personal responsibility: description of
- how to teach
- self-evaluation of
Personal responsibility lesson plans: 1: Introduction
- 2: All the Factors That Are in Your Way
- 3: Considering the Most Common Factors That Get in the Way at Work
- 4: Response Power
Personal responsibility teaching: example of a personal responsibility gap
- how to make young talent aware of and care about
- teaching and learning objective
- what the manager needs to remember for
Personal sacrifice model of citizenship
Personality profiles
Phone communication
“Poor meeting manners”
“Porcupine” attitude
Position profile
Positive attitude: description of
- how to teach
- self-evaluation of. See also “Bad attitudes”
Positive attitude lesson plans: 1: Considering Theories of How to Be Your Best at Work
- 2: Defining “Good Attitude” Behaviors with Your Team–or Any Individual
- 3: Considering Common Bad Attitudes
- 4: Considering Good Attitude Behaviors
- 5: For Individual Employees Who Need an Attitude Adjustment
Positive attitude teaching: example of a positive attitude gap
- how to make young talent aware of and care about
- teaching and learning objective
- what the manager needs to remember for
Post-Boomer generational shift: description of the
- Generation Z as the tipping point in
- globalization factor in
- helicopter-parenting on steroids factor in
- human diversity factor in
- the information environment and “digital natives” factor in
- institutional insecurity factor in
- technology factor in
- virtual reality and social media factor in. See also Generation Z (born 1990 to 1999)
Preparing for meetings
Proactive learning: definition of
- how to make young talent aware of and care about
- self-evaluation of
- teaching
Proactive learning lesson plans: 1: Proactive Learning
- 2: Open Mind
- 3: Suspend Judgment, Question Assumptions, and Seek to Learn
- 4: Question Assumptions
- 5: Research
- 6: Study Skills–Building Knowledge
- 7: Practice Skills–Building Skill
- 8: Contemplate Competing Perspectives to Build Wisdom
Proactive learning teaching: example of a proactive learning gap
- how to make young talent aware of and care about
- teaching and learning objective
- what the manager needs to remember for
Problem solving: critical thinking and
- definition of
- performance management and talent development of
- self-evaluation of
- teaching. See also Decision making
Problem solving lesson plans: 1: Introduction
- 2: Preventing or Avoiding Problems Before They Happen
- 3: Ready-Made Solutions to Commonly Occurring Problems
- 4: Common Denominators and Underlying Principles
- 5: Applying the After Action Review Tool
- 6: Using the After-Action Review Tool to Learn from Others
Problem solving teaching: example of a problem solving gap
- how to make young talent aware of and care about
- teaching and learning objective
- what the manager needs to remember for
Productivity: good work habits for effective
- self-assessment of your
- self-evaluation of
- self-improvement planning. See also Performance management
Professionalism soft skill: as basic soft skill
- five reasons to practice
- the missing basics of
- nurse-manager on lack of
Professionalism soft skill basics: good work habits
- people skills
- personal responsibility
- positive attitude
- self-evaluation
Project plan

Q

Quality self-evaluation
Questioning assumptions

R

“The realistic job preview”
Relationships: approaching in terms of what you have to offer
- corporate citizenship
- Gen Zers' understanding of transactional
- identifying your “go to” people and building
- respect for context in complicated. See also Friendships
- Service
- Teams
Remote communication
Rental car chain story
Research (proactive learning)
Respect for context: definition of
- description of
- self-evaluation of
- teaching
Respect for context lesson plans: 1: Introduction
- 2: Reading the Structure, Rules, Customs, and Leadership
- 3: Where Do You Fit?
- 4: How Can You Adapt?
- 5: Context–Limiting Factors
- 6: Complicated Relationships
- 7: Positive Contexts
- 8: Negative Contexts
- 9: Dealing with People with Bad Attitudes
- 10: Dealing with People with Great Attitudes
Respect for context teaching: example of a respect for context gap
- how to make young talent aware of and care about
- teaching and learning objective
- what the manager needs to remember for
Respect for others model of citizenship
Response power mantra

S

Safe pedestrian behavior campaign
Self-assessment: good work habits
- interpersonal communication
Self-building job
Self-directed learning
Self-evaluation: assessment tools available for
- description of
- how to teach
Self-evaluation lesson plans: 1: Introduction
- 2: Evaluating Yourself on Ability, Skill, and Will
- 3: Evaluating Yourself on Productivity, Quality, and Behavior
- 4: Evaluating Yourself on the Key Soft Skills Competencies
- 5: Drill Down on Understanding the Key Soft Skills
- 6: Explore Your Own Successes with the Key Soft Skills
Self-evaluation teaching: example of a self-evaluation gap
- how to make young talent aware of and care about
- teaching and learning objective
- what the manager needs to remember for
“Self-managed” teams
Self-presentation: brainstorming
- self-assessment of your
- self-improvement planning
Service: “be a great employee” model of
- definition of
- as followership basic
- self-evaluation of
- teaching. See also Customer service skills
- Relationships
Service lesson plans: 1: Introduction
- 2: Common Myths About “Service” in the Workplace
- 3: Realities About Service in the Workplace
- 4: Myths Versus Realities in the Workplace
- 5: The “Be a Great Employee” Model of Service
- 6: The “Service” Approach to One-on-Ones Between Managers and Direct Reports
- 7: The Service Approach to Meeting Attendance and Participation
- 8: Helping Your Boss Monitor Your Performance
- 9: Putting Yourself on a Performance Improvement Plan
Service teaching: example of a service gap
- how to make young talent aware of and care about
- teaching and learning objective
- what the manager needs to remember for
Skill-set: practicing good techniques for stored
- practicing skills for building
- proactive learning to increase
- research plan goals for acquiring
Social media: Gen Zers' habit of remote and interpersonal communication through
- how Gen Zers has been shaped by virtual reality and
- nurse-manager story on young nurses using. See also Virtual reality
Social norms: dress codes as example of
- how global media has changed
- problem of cultural relativism as it relates to
Soft-skill basics: the incredible power of old-fashioned
- old-fashioned “critical thinking”
- old-fashioned “professionalism”
- old-fashioned “followership”
Soft skills: comparing hard technical skills and
- description and importance of
- the missing basics in today's young talent
- self-evaluation of your
- staffing strategy and hiring to ensure
- unlocking the power of. See also Customer service skills
- Hard skills
- High priority soft skill behaviors
Soft-skills gap: benefits of bridging the
- employer expectations and young talent
- facing the hard realities of the
- growing steadily from Gen X to Gen Y to Gen Zers
- as increasing workplace problem
- Marines' Boot Camp example of bridging the
- the missing basics in
- negative consequences of
- scenarios on the costly downsides of the
Soft skills scenarios/stories: accountant with soft skills
- bored aerospace engineers
- cashier who provides excellent customer service
- computer programmer with soft skills
- dressing too casually and texting during meeting
- engineer with soft skills
- fast growing and profitable rental car chain
- forensic accounting associate “case study”
- hospital with high key metrics
- lack of inhibition in talking to the CEO
- laughing during an interview
- “Ned Flanders” employees of quick service restaurant
- network systems administrator engaged in coaching
- nurse-manager on lack of professionalism
- nurse who takes a personal interest in patients
- NYC lunch concession culture of pace
- rising zero- to five-year U.S. intelligence agencies employee turnover
- schedule adherence problem
- showing the importance of soft skills
- young talent's refusal to do cross-training/teamwork projects. See also Young talent
Solids standards model of citizenship
Staffing strategy and hiring: as human capital management practice
- six steps in
Staffing strategy and hiring process: step 1: identify high priority soft skill behaviors for each position
- step 2: look for talent from sources known for strong soft skills
- step 3: include high priority soft skills behaviors in employer branding and recruitment message
- step 4: look for red flags when hiring
- step 5: build selection process with heavy emphasis on high priority soft skills
- step 6: reinforcing high priority soft skill behaviors between offer and acceptance lag time
“Stink bomb thrower”
Stories. See Soft skills scenarios/stories
Suspending judgment

T

Talent development: continuous improvement through
- development investment paradox of ongoing training and
- how to get employees to focus on high priority soft skill behaviors
- when soft skill behaviors are spelled out as part of
Teaching style managers: basic strategy to use for soft skills
- becoming a
- decision making
- good citizenship
- good work habits
- people skills
- personal responsibility
- positive attitude
- proactive learning
- problem solving
- respect for context
- self-evaluation
- service
- teamwork. See also Education
- Learning
- Lesson plans
- Managers
Teaching to the test
Team players: identifying and building relationships with “go to”
- mission-driven
- supporting and celebrating success of other
Teams: “best friend” programs
- mission-driven
- “self-managed”
- U.S. Air Force Special Operations. See also Relationships
Teamwork: defining the dimensions of
- definition of
- as followership basic
- self-evaluation of
- teaching. See also Collaboration
Teamwork lesson plans: 1: Introduction
- 2: Defining the Dimensions of Teamwork
- 3: Your Role in Relation to the Mission
- 4: Coordinating, Cooperating, and Collaborating with Others
- 5: Supporting and Celebrating the Success of Others
- 6: Identifying Your “Got To” People and Building Relationships with Them
- 7: Becoming a “Go To” Person for Others
- 8: Using Influence to Get Things Done
- 9: U.S. Air Force Special Operations Team
Teamwork teaching: example of a teamwork gap
- how to make young talent aware of and care about
- teaching and learning objective
- what the manager needs to remember for
Technical skills: comparing soft skills and
- as factor in post-Boomer generational shift
- gap in
- high demand for
- self-evaluation of your
Theodore Roosevelt model of citizenship
Time logs
Timeliness: brainstorming
- doing a time/motion study on your
- self-assessment of your
- self-improvement planning
- time log to start living by a schedule for
Time/motion study
Training: labor market tier requiring substantial technical
- labor market tier requiring years of education and formal
- Marines' Boot Camp
- on-boarding and up-to-speed
- ongoing. See also Lesson plans
- Organizations
Transactional relationships
Troubleshooting
Turnover rates

U

Up-to-speed training
U.S. Air Force Special Operations Team
U.S. Marine Corps: Marine Boot Camp
- soft skills workforce among the
U.S. military: “loyalty” created within the
- Marine Boot Camp
- teamwork lessons from U.S. Air Force Special Operations Team

V

Video communication
Virtual reality: false sense of intellectual pluralism through
- how Gen Zers has been shaped by social media and. See also Social media

W

Weigh station job
Wellness: brainstorming
- considerations for your
- planning a wellness initiative on
- self-assessment of your
- self-improvement planning
Wisdom: goal-setting for what you wish to acquire
- proactive learning to increase
- research plan goals for acquiring
- as result of contemplating multiple competing good perspectives
Workplace: common myths about “service” in the
- gap between young talent behaviors and employer expectations in the
- Gen Zers as making up the most diverse one in history
- Gen Zers' expectations about the
- myths versus realities in the
- need for Gen Zers to make reasonable adaptations in the
- problem of cultural relativism and non-conformism in the
- realities about service in the
- soft-skills gap as increasing problem in the
- strategic benefits of bridging the soft-skills gap in the
- teaching respect for context in the

Y

Yale University's safe pedestrian behavior campaign
Young talent: manager complaints about soft skill deficiencies by
- post-Boomer generational shift in
- strategic benefits of bridging the soft-skills gap of. See also Employers
- Generation Z (born 1990 to 1999)
- Soft skills scenarios/stories

Z

Zeitgeist (non-conformist)