A report published by leading online education provider Upskillist has found that 33% of employees globally feel ill-equipped to deal with office politics. The report commissioned looked at the impact of soft skills and its impact on employee productivity, surveying over 170,000 Upskillist users across its e-learning consumer and enterprise platform.
The paper highlighted that while advances in technology and artificial intelligence have made companies become more automated and effectively managed, these advancements still cannot replace human interactions and the art of positively engaging with fellow colleagues.
‘Soft skills’ are generally defined as personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people. Traditionally identified as people or social skills, it has become evident in the last number of years that soft skills now encompass more traits such as character & personality, attitudes, ethics, and social and emotional intelligence
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Research from the report found that it can take one to two years for an employee to become productive. Furthermore, employee satisfaction will suffer if an individual feels unprepared or undervalued in the workplace. Citing that employee performance is directly impacted by an employee’s job satisfaction, the report found that skills such as communication, adaptability, leadership, teamwork, interpersonal skills & work ethic are now some of the top soft skills that HR leaders at companies need to impress on employees.
Other notable findings of the Upskillist survey revealed that 44% of people have insufficient training to deal with conflict in the workplace and attrition rates could be improved by 75% with improved communication between managers and staff.
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In a positive sign, the report further indicated that of those surveyed, 94% of respondents believed that problem-solving skills can be learned.
Speaking at the launch of the report, Tara Looney, CEO of Upskillist said, “In today’s world of diverse work cultures, there is an increased need for leadership skills, adaptability, and building positive interpersonal relationships. Our report and feedback from our learners indicate that workplace conflict and office politics are as prevalent as ever and training is one way to enable employees to manage these issues effectively. Soft skills development is crucial to the growth and success of any business and HR leaders must continue to provide training and support to encourage teamwork, increase motivation, job satisfaction and productivity.”
Upskillist.pro is a standalone learning and development platform designed to deliver real work skills and manage team training needs and has taught over 10 million learners globally on a range of online courses focused on the practical development of soft and professional skills.
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