So many business leaders and managers at all levels fall for the myth that soft skills are a “nice to have” rather than a “must have”—simply a luxury they cannot afford to prioritize. That is a huge mistake.
Hard skills are easier to define and measure, yes. Hard skills are critical and they deserve lots of attention, but don't let anybody fool you: Soft skills are every bit as important. For the vast majority of your workforce, soft skills are the key to your success in the workplace and competitive differentiation in the marketplace. Soft skills are the source of a huge amount of power that is always right there hiding in plain sight—a tremendous reservoir of often untapped value—a secret weapon for any smart organization, team, leader, or individual performer.
Yes, the hard skills—the technical skills—are absolutely required in any job. That's every bit as true at the low end of the skill spectrum as it is at the high end. Right? Even if you are a cashier in a convenience store, you simply must know how to operate the cash register and make change to do the job. That's the bare minimum. After all, you can't do the job if you can't do the job. But that's only half the story.
The many soft skills I put into those three old fashioned buckets—professionalism, critical thinking, and followership—are where even the most technically proficient employees in any field can go terribly wrong—or incredibly right.
Think about it: Even if the cashier can operate the cash register and make correct change, there is a big difference between a cashier who is always a little bit early to work and doesn't take long breaks and one who is chronically late or disappears for long stretches of time. There is a big difference between the cashier who is bright-eyed and the one who is bleary-eyed; the one who is smiling and the one who is rolling his eyes; the one who can help a customer when something is wrong with his order and one who is clueless; the one who is staring at her device and talking with her peers behind the counter and the one who pays attention to the customer; the one who mumbles and the one who says enthusiastically, “Would you like a beverage today, sir?”
These differences may not be thrilling and sexy, but they matter. So much! They matter to your customers, to your vendors, to that employee's co-workers, to you and every other manager, and these differences have a huge impact on the bottom line. Yes, your employees (of all ages) must have the hard skills to do the job, but the soft skills make all the difference—whether at the lowest end of the technical skill spectrum or the highest.
Of course, some technical skills are in much greater demand and shorter supply—notably in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields—mostly because they require a substantial amount of education and training. It's a whole lot more difficult and time-consuming to learn how to be a nurse than it is to learn how to operate a cash register. Employers in health care, computing, software, hardware, accounting, finance, and other “talent wars” industries, need to hire people who have gone to the time and trouble and cost on their own initiative to acquire these in-demand technical skills for these higher-end jobs. That's why these employers are ever scrambling to find enough “qualified” talent. While it's very difficult for these employers to place a real premium on soft skills for very in-demand hard skill jobs, the soft skills are even more important at the high end:
- Even if the nurse got straight A's in nursing school and is great at, say, inserting needles and tubes into the human body, if that nurse falls asleep on the night shift or forgets to note correctly when medicine has been given or does not communicate effectively, then patients will suffer and someone might die.
- Even if the network systems administrator knows the hardware and software and all the crisscrossing cables, if she fails to do timely updates, or monitor storage capacity, or recognize patterns in user issues, the system might crash and burn.
- Even if the computer programmer can write great code very fast, if that programmer cannot understand the needs and objectives of business owners/users, that programmer is going to write a lot of great code to nowhere.
- Even if the data analyst is a master of collection, processing, and reporting, if the analyst doesn't work at a steady pace, becomes distracted easily, and doesn't follow through in a timely manner on key deliverables, the leadership will be starved of key performance indicators and the enterprise could be going down the drain before anybody sees it coming.
- Even if the engineer can design and develop and test devices of all shapes and sizes, if that engineer refuses to coordinate with other team members by doing the necessary reporting in the project management system; or cuts out early and puts extra work on the rest of the team; or smells bad or sneers or curses at colleagues, there will be stress and conflict on the team.
- Even if the accountant knows the audit process like the back of her hand, if she does not pay close attention to detail or overlooks details rather than having a difficult conversation or reveals confidential company information on social media, someone could go to jail.
In our work, I've seen every one of these scenarios played out in the real world. Trust me. Soft skills matter. A lot! They are not trivial. Soft skills make the difference every day between life and death; between success and failure.
Here's what's really thrilling: Soft skills can also make the difference between mediocre and good; between good and great; between great and “one of a kind.”
Just as I've seen the costly downsides of the soft skills gap, in our work, I've seen example after example proving the incredible power of soft skills. When you combine the necessary hard skills of a job with the right soft skills, the added value is so much more than the sum of its parts. The soft skills are like a supersonic jet fuel that magnifies the scope and quality of every stitch of work.
I promise you, this does not happen by accident.
Up to this point, I've been using the term “soft skills,” as it is generally understood, to refer to the entire array of non-technical skills. I focus on three old-fashioned categories of soft skills—professionalism, critical thinking, and followership—because they seem like the best way to capture the thousands of details of behavior that managers bring up in our surveys, interviews, focus groups, and seminars. In trying to make them easier to discuss and teach, I've boiled them down to just twelve missing basics and organized them into those three old-fashioned categories:
As you read and re-read the descriptions of the missing basics, you should be asking yourself: What are the highest priority behaviors for your organization, for your team, for different roles on your team, and/or for the various individuals on your team? Which behaviors are crucial to success? Which ones offer the greatest potential to increase competitive differentiation?
Show me an organization with a strong, positive corporate culture and I will show you an organization that is very clear about exactly which soft skill behaviors are high priority and sings about those high priority behaviors from the rooftops often. They don't just focus on their young talent, of course, but their emphasis on key soft skill behaviors makes everybody in the organization much better—even the youngest, least experienced employees. To make it easy for you to picture, I'll ask you to think of the U.S. Marine Corps or picture Disney. Both organizations, in very different lines of work, employ a lot of young people, and both famously imbue a huge number of the soft skill behaviors in their workforce. There are many other examples:
- There is a quick service restaurant chain that stands out as the very best in every single market in which they operate: Their employees, from top to bottom, of all ages, are always super clean-cut, wearing tidy uniforms, prompt and attentive, excessively polite, and always going the extra mile to ensure quality and service. I always jokingly reference “Ned Flanders” from The Simpsons—the “goody goody” next door neighbor—when I'm describing the personnel in this organization. Everybody who works there is like “Ned Flanders.” The organization is surely not a model of diversity, but it is a model of incredible soft skills throughout the organization. Whether you like Ned Flanders or not, you could see how he would do a great job in a role where what matters most is cleanliness, fresh hot food, and great customer service. Right?
- On the other end of the spectrum, there is a lunch concession in New York City near Wall Street where everything is made to order—but with lightning speed—that customers must learn to be prepared to order without delay in staccato fashion: “wheat bread, mayonnaise, turkey, muenster cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion,” and with barely a pause the guy behind the counter is handing the customer a sandwich wrapped and marked—as the endless line moves swiftly and steadily past a self-service soup selection and beverage refrigerator toward the cashier. If you don't move fast, you miss your opportunities, as the line just keeps moving. Their culture is all about pace (and consistently healthy portions). Customers know exactly what to expect: a very big sandwich, customized 100 percent, and soup and a drink, all very fast. The place is a goldmine.
- There is a rental car chain that is consistently rated the best and also has been the most profitable and fastest growing for years on end. Why? Self-presentation. Quality. Teamwork. Initiative. Problem solving.
- There is a health care system where key metrics—wait time in emergency rooms, cost per care incident, safety, patient satisfaction, etc.—far surpass those of comparable hospitals. The reason is their incessant focus on a handful of high priority behaviors among health care delivery personnel: Pace. Quality. Decision Making. Teamwork. Service.
These powerful corporate cultures don't just happen. They are the result of an organization that knows exactly what its high priority behaviors are, focuses on them relentlessly, and systematically drives those behaviors throughout the organization in all of its human capital management practices. When it works, it really works.
To be clear, these organizations do not necessarily use the same terms for key behaviors as they are named and described in our competency model. But if you drill down, you will see the same key soft skill behaviors recurring over and over again, underpinning these powerful cultures.
Most organizations with powerful cultures develop their own poignant language and symbols—slogans and logos—internally and externally. Of course, the best organizations align their employer branding with their branding in the consumer marketplace. Slogans and logos—branding—with compelling messages are an important part of creating the shared meaning in an organization that helps define the culture. But it takes a whole lot more than slogans and logos to drive a powerful culture.
I've worked with some organizations that are all talk and no action when it comes to culture. They have great slogans, but they do not drive and support and reward key behaviors among employees that are in alignment with the messages. When employees have regular run-ins with customers because management has very strict policies against merchandise exchanges and returns, then it really doesn't matter how many placards there are in the store that say, “The customer is always right!” The slogans start to sound pretty empty.
I've also worked with organizations in which the leadership becomes very serious about changing their corporate culture—all of a sudden. It's as if these leaders have an epiphany and realize what they've been missing and decide they want a strong positive culture and they want it now. They want culture change overnight, by decree: “From now on, our culture will be !” Fill in the blank—“honesty!” “teamwork!” “innovation!” But you can't force culture change overnight. It takes time because behavior change takes time.
Of course, there are also plenty of leaders who pay no attention to corporate culture whatsoever. I've had many senior executives tell me: “It was never an issue before these Millennials came along. Employees just did their jobs and behaved like grown-ups. Now that we have this generation gap, we are talking for the first time about our ‘culture.’” I always tell these leaders: “Just because you have never paid any attention to culture, doesn't mean you don't have a corporate culture. It just means you have a culture by default instead of by design.” Every organization has a corporate culture. Your corporate culture is simply the combined web of prevailing shared beliefs, meaning, language, practices, and traditions that have developed over time between and among the people in your organization.
Take a few minutes to think: How would you describe the culture of your organization? What about your team? Are they aligned? Is your culture by default or design?
Of course, you can't control the whole culture of your entire organization (unless, of course, you are the big, big boss.) Still, whether you are the CEO or a manager with a small team, what you can control is your sphere—whatever part of the organization is your responsibility.
If your organization has a strong positive culture by design, then you need to be in alignment. What are the high priority behaviors? What are you doing in your sphere to drive and support and reward those behaviors in everything you do as a leader?
If your organization has a less than strong positive culture—or a culture by default—then it's all up to you. You need to create your own culture within your own sphere, not just for the young talent, but for everybody. You don't need to start a revolution. But you can be a little bit of a maverick. You can certainly be a change leader. Believe me: Your results will speak for themselves: your team will stand out, not just in its business outcomes, but in cohesiveness, morale, and retention.
What are the high priority behaviors that are most important in your sphere? Crucial to success? Or jet fuel for competitive differentiation? Make them the foundation of your culture. Focus on them relentlessly, and systematically drive those behaviors throughout your sphere in all of your human capital management practices. Develop your own poignant language and symbols—slogans and logos. Make sure it aligns with your organization's “brand.” Then sing it from the rooftops. Make it 1,000 percent clear. And start doing everything within your power to drive and support and reward those high priority behaviors in every employee within your sphere.
The rest of this book is dedicated to helping you teach the missing basics—complete with step-by-step lesson plans. Just imagine the impact you could have if you were to spend time every week systematically building up the soft skills of your team. You would send a powerful message, week by week. You would make them aware. You would make them care. You would help them learn the missing basics one by one—one exercise at a time. You would build them up and make them so much better.