Importance of soft skills in management education

The world has been transforming itself post the Industrial Revolution 4.0. The industry has revamped itself creating a massive requirement for skilled management graduates. The paradigm of skills is also changing rapidly, dealing with the current industry scenario requires the upskilling and reskilling of management graduates to meet the needs of the industry.

There is a massive need to develop management graduates with excellent soft skills. The concept of “Soft Skills” has been used extensively since the year 1900s. Since the inception of the concept of employability, the concept of soft skills is being referred to as the area that is enhancing employability up to a great extent. “Soft skills” are rather very catchy words used to draw attention to the much-required skills in corporates these days.

Possessing just the hard skills, i.e. the technical or the domain knowledge won’t help in the procurement of a job. In the current industry paradigm, having soft skills is a prerequisite. As per the research undertaken by Thompson et al., soft skills are the non-technical skills involving reasoning, interpersonal and intrapersonal abilities that facilitate efficient performance. Appropriate soft skills aid B-School graduates in multiple arenas. Some of them have been mentioned below:

Enhancement of overall efficiency

An individual with soft skills always stands out from the crowd. He/she is able to clearly connect with the teams while developing clear communication. Soft skills lay a strong foundation for the enhancement of an individual’s overall performance. An individual with excellent soft skills possesses the quality of working in teams, managing stress, and maintaining a positive attitude. In this shifting paradigm, it is paramount to understand the role of soft skills in creating an impression in corporates. Collaboration is also among the key soft skills which aid in developing relationships and working in teams. An intricate focus on soft skills can promote a culture of collaboration and teamwork among the managers.

Enhanced Articulation

Soft skills enable an individual to seamlessly deliver his/her message across one or several levels of hierarchy. Management students who aspire to become managers or entrepreneurs need to learn the art of seamless communication across organizations. Soft skills aid individuals in enhancing their articulation. A well-articulated message is understood and acted upon well.

Improved decision-making skills

Decision-making skills are categorized as salient soft skills that can aid management graduates to solve multiple problems within their academic tenure and their career as well. It is extremely important to make a decision that is well-informed and takes care of the current and future position of an organization. Understanding the current goal and the future goal while taking a decision will aid the organization well in stability and profit making. This is among the soft skills which are important and would help the B-School graduates to succeed.

Increased Commercial awareness: Due to listening

Whenever a B-School graduate faces an interview with a top-notch corporate, one of the primary requirements is commercial awareness, now, the question remains how is commercial awareness developed? If a B-School graduate possesses excellent listening skills, his/her commercial awareness is bound to be high. A good listener is able to grasp information while he/she is sitting in any academic or non-academic ambiance. This aids in the enhancement of placement opportunities and good career opportunities benefitting the B-School graduates.

(The author is Director, Jaipuria institute of management, Ghaziabad)