In a 2015 The Wall Street Journal survey of nearly 900 executives, 92% said soft skills were equally important or more important than technical skills. But 89% said they have a very or somewhat difficult time finding people with the requisite attributes.

You have the same problem.

The solution? Train new employees on the behaviors they need to succeed, including attitude, manners, collaboration, problem solving, conflict resolution, documentation, work ethic, time management, and communication.

Dave’s Charm School does this for you by providing comprehensive courses separated into individual lessons with online exams. Employees can experience each lesson on video, or downloading audio and teaching files. The online exams confirm new employees grasp the training. Have them take courses on their own, or even better as part of a group discussion.

Give your new employees the tools to succeed. Balance their “hard skills” training with soft skills development.

Fast Company magazine reports that emotional intelligence (EQ), a key part of soft skills, can be developed and improved (unlike IQ, which is static). Researcher Daniel Goleman has concluded soft skills are twice as important as cognitive abilities in predicting outstanding employee performance.

Soft skills are learned systematically, and best in groups. Many people welcome the process of change whereas for others it can be difficult and uncomfortable at times. Yet improved soft skills have a dramatic effect on your company’s bottom line.

The challenge is where to start.

Dave’s Charm School provides comprehensive courses separated into individual lessons with online exams. Employees can experience each lesson on video, or download the audio and teaching files. The online exams confirm new employees grasp the training. Have them take courses on their own, or even better as part of a group discussion.
You do not have to create anything.

The group leader typically watches a lesson in advance, noting where you want to inject a typical scenario your employees face, perhaps a good or bad example that has occurred at your company, and points you want to emphasize or expand upon.

Everyone has a soft skills gap, but it does not have to be this way. Your people succeed by balancing their “hard skills” training with soft skills development.

Udemy reported 72 percent of companies surveyed provide training that is only related to employees’ roles.

Yet, when an employee fails it almost always includes mistakes in soft skills.

Your performance improvement plans must include soft skills development as well as hard skills standards to achieve lasting success. This is a challenge because most companies lack a soft skills training system.

Assign individual lessons or complete courses from Dave’s Charm School as part of an employee’s performance improvement plan. You can choose from 15 comprehensive courses separated into individual lessons with online exams.

Employees can experience each lesson on video, or downloading audio and teaching files. The online exams confirm new employees grasp the training. Have them take courses on their own, or even better as part of a group discussion.