02/19/2019

Daily Buzz: Bridge Your Industry’s Soft Skills Gap

Develop a training curriculum to help members drive the industry forward

Think soft skills aren’t worth developing? Think again. In the 2017 edition of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ CEO Survey [PDF], 77 percent said the biggest threat to their businesses stems from underdeveloped soft skills. Similarly, LinkedIn’s 2018 Workplace Learning Report says the top priority for talent-development teams is training workers in leadership, communication, and collaboration.

This presents a special opportunity for your association to step up and bridge the soft skills gap in its respective industry.

“Employers in your industry need your association’s help,” writes the WBT Systems team in a blog post. “They can attempt to offer effective training in human skills or send their employees to generic training classes in leadership, communication, negotiation, or conflict resolution. But there’s a better option: Your association can partner with employers to design and deliver industry-specific training in human skills.”

So, find out what soft skills are important to your members and the organizations they work for. Then work with your team to develop curriculum to fill that skills gap.

“Human skills aren’t usually a part of an association’s certification or licensing curriculum, but they’re necessary for career advancement—and this type of training fits your mission,” the team writes. “A digital badge program in industry-specific human skills will help your association bridge industry skills gaps, strengthen relationships with industry employers, and provide essential training for volunteer leaders and association staff.”

Please select this link to read the original article from Associations Now.