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Wanted: Software Professionals with Soft Skills Soft skills are a quintessential qualification for professionals aspiring to move

up the value chain Amit Sarkar Wednesday, February 27, 2002

Ramesh K was euphoric, his dream assignment of a posting on an overseas software project had just come true. Just two months after taking up the assignment, he was facing problems that he had never imagined he would. Ramesh was one of the better performers the team and nobody could doubt his technical knowledge and dedication to the project. However, just a few weeks after he began work, Ramesh noticed that his immediate boss and even some of his peers were avoiding him.He could not figure out why, until one day, he was summoned for a terse talk. Ramesh was told that there was a major etiquette issue. He was told to speak softly, especially while receiving personal calls in the office. HE was also asked to avoid speaking to his Indian colleagues in Hindi during office hours. There were other requests: Please end all your e-mails with regards. Do not bring up controversial subjects like religion or racial discrimination at business meetings. When there is a need to make small talk, stick to general interest topics like the weather and sports... There was more and Ramesh found the talk extremely insulting. He realized that these were small but important issues and wished someone had briefed him about such things back home in India. Cases like the one described above were extremely common a year or two ago. The IT boom saw Indian companies deploying a large number of consultants to client sites in India as well as overseas. As tales liked the ones described above got around, companies began training their consultants in soft skills. Both corporates and consultants realized that soft skills are an essential tool in getting business in an increasingly competitive business environment. This resulted in the mushrooming of a large number of soft skill training agencies. Despite 2001 being a dull year for the IT industry, companies worldwide realized that to build better relationships with their clients, it is absolutely essential that their clients have a high level of comfort dealing with them. The level of comfort would depend a lot on the interaction they have with the company's representatives. Even as there was news of layoffs, downsizing and cost cutting, the few recruitment ads that were seen, had one thing in common- qualities like good communication and presentation skills and the ability to work in a team, were essentials in a candidate. An independent study conducted on CEOs, by Stanford Research Institute and Carnegie Mellon in the US, found that long-term job success depends 75% on people skills and only 25% on technical knowledge. Another study done by Harvard University had even more startling results85% of jobs and promotions happened because of the candidates attitude and only 15% due to the facts and figures he packed under his belt. In fact, companies lose almost 10 - 15 % of possible business due to their inability to meet the perceived level of services linked to soft skills. Given these facts, it is not surprising that online offerings on soft skills training, public speaking courses and English language classes have proliferated.

ABCs Tarun Bali, reveals that corporates in India spend more than Rs 600 crore a year in direct training costs. A recent survey revealed that the IT industry spent more than 40% of its training budget on skill building. Training was always high priority on the IT managers agenda, but amid project completion deadlines, hectic travel schedules and long teleconferences, skill building took a backseat. With the slowing down of the sector, this spending could be better utilized now, with techies having more time on their hands, says Bali. He further adds, Wipro Technologies is deploying its benched employees on various programs such as project allocations, training and fixed price projects. There are training sessions for engineers in foreign languages such as French and German. At Phoenix Global Solutions, this is the time for consolidation activities and highlighting additional skills that the employees may have acquired recently. Employees choose specific training programs for skills that they need to improve upon. Similarly, at Motorola, engineers are busy enrolling for technical and soft skills training. At Sun Microsystems too, techies are consolidating their personal skills. Training programs in both technical and soft skill areas are being organized. Nothing technical about it Make no mistake! You may be an MCA, MBA-IT or even a PhD, but one thing is certain, besides technical skills, its the softer skill-sets that make a difference if you want to move up the ladder. A survey of IT recruitment advertisements reveals that for 60% of entry-level jobs, technical skills are most important. Soft skills like the ability to work well in a team become more relevant as one moves up the ladder and would start assuming importance for candidates with over two to three years of experience. For positions like those of team leaders that demand experience and supervisory skills, it is almost impossible to find even a single advertisement which does not have phrases like excellent communication skills,strong interpersonal skills etc. Bali of ABC points out, General knowledge tests, degrees and fancy qualifications are not the only things required for high achievement. While an executive may be technically brilliant, he/she may not be able to function in a team or motivate subordinates. Attitude and mindset Organizations are increasingly looking at the emotional intelligence of both current and prospective employees. Attitude and mindset training are critical issues involved. RL Bhatia, CEO of Mumbai based Center of Change Management whose clientele includes Citicorp, Aptech, Reliance and Jet Airways adds, Training on emotional intelligence has helped several IT companies to focus their skills and evolve as professionals with a higher degree of maturity. "Training on emotional intelligence has helped IT professionals achieve a higher degree of maturity" RL Bhatia chief executive, CCM Nandita Gurjar, Head-Learning and Development, Infosys feels that critical soft-skill areas include cross-cultural sensitivity, communication, team building and customer interface skills.

Echoing Gurjars opinion, Wipro VP (HR) Ranjan Acharya adds, Customer facing competencies such as listening, influencing and persuasive communication are important. Emotional Quotient (EQ) forms a key ingredient of the recipe for success. Rajan Bhatnagar, CEO of Jobcurry Systems feels,Appearance and hygiene are also aspects of soft skills training that are critical to success and need to be addressed, especially for

professionals on overseas assignments. Good presentation skills are also essential and companies must train not just their marketing and sales team but also their technical teams on how to make effective presentations, be clear and to the point during meetings, and speak clearly and confidently during conference calls. Growing recognition The Industry seems to be recognizing the importance of having more than just technical skillsets. According to Atul Mathur of Panchghani-based Outbound foundation which has clients like Siemens and Iflex, the IT industry has traditionally hired and trained only on the basis of technical skills. This led to a huge competence gap at the project manager/leader level since people were good at doing but not at getting things done i.e. project management skills were a weak area. As projects became larger and complex and customers became even more demanding, the need for leadership and team working came into sharp focus says Mathur adding that tighter deadlines needed better team co-ordination and management. Module interfaces necessitated good co-ordination and communication between developing teams. In the last few years we have seen a much greater consciousness of the need for soft skills in the industry. Gone are the days when casual T-shirts and beachwear was considered cool and appropriate for work, he says. More and more companies have realized the importance of old economy soft skills like corporate dressing, verbal and non-verbal communication, business etiquette etc. Bhatnagar remarks, We have seen a marked increase in the importance IT firms give to soft skills. The demand is for a professional who is not just a techie, but is the face of the company, carrying on his shoulders the image and goodwill his organization. Companies have realized the Bhatnagar recalls that in the past, there importance of Old Economy have been a lot of cases of candidates skills, like power dressing and coming back or being sent back to India etiquette because of their inability to adapt to the work culture overseas. IT professionals Atul Mathur need to get acclimatized - not just Outbound Foundation prepare for the weather, but also the way people dress, work, talk, interact and socialize. Employers often complain of consultants who do not possess the requisite corporate etiquette such as courteous greetings and polite social talk, adds Bhatnagar. Besides, there is a tendency to socialize only with other Indian consultants, speak in native languages, and not attempt to blend with the companys cultural and work ethos. Professionals also often abuse office facilities such as phones and Internet connections without realizing that, while these may be overlooked in India, they are frowned upon elsewhere. They are also often unaware of the concept of personal space. Consultants should also be made aware of actions or jokes that could be interpreted as harassment, meeting and introduction protocol, festivals and celebrations and other such factors that vary from culture to culture. Soft skills training therefore, should necessarily encompass all these details.

As soft skills are becoming an integral part of any training program, many IT companies are investing in this area. Typically, IT companies allocate more Tarun Bali than a third of their training budgets to the ABC Consultants development of soft skills. Acharya says, At Wipro, approximately 40% of the training budget is for soft skills. Our overall training budget is 5% of the manpower cost, which is higher than the 3% global norms.Gurjar talks about the importance of investing in technical, quality, managerial and leadership training. Dinesh Joshi, HR head of Vedaris Technology adds, Budgets allocated for soft skill training have gone up from the earlier 20%. This greater allocation for soft skill training is twofold. One, we have extensively trained our employees in technical areas hence lesser training hours on technical skill training. Second, to retain good people, we find that their attitude and other personality attributes have to be developed i.e. they need to be developed as people, hence a greater focus on soft skills. Seeking the competitive advantage The quality of people is of primary importance and a large part of this comes from soft skills. Agrees Acharya, Employers may shortlist candidates based on their technical skills, but they eventually hire them for soft skills. Bhatia adds,Over the years, the demand has changed according to market conditions. The expectations have changed as well. Individuals have realized that to exploit potential, the creative side of development needs to be incorporated. It therefore becomes imperative that soft skills need to be felt and understood more than before. Soft skills are thus equally, if not more important in your career. Bali believes that being intangible in nature, this concept is difficult to measure and understand. Talking about the media-hype on soft skills, Bali adds, Some companies see it as a quick fix solution and finally it ends up being treated as a fad. This is an immature approach to soft skill training. However, as corporate India matures, there will be an increasing need felt for soft skills. Lack of proper training in soft-skills could lead to problems in appreciating cultural differences, culture shock and a clash of management styles. Food habits could also pose a problem at times. Wipros Acharya feels, We insist that anyone going abroad goes through our cross cultural skills training,. Clearly, soft skills are being recognized for their true worth. And with an increasing number of organizations training their personnel towards it, it can only augur well for the IT industry towards making India Inc globally competitive

People relations matter a lot... success does not hinge on scholastic qualifications or technical brilliance alone

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