Soft Skills Training

The Challenge of Obtaining

Management and Participant Buy-In
I dont have the time
Its only a nice to have
I cant see any changes
We cant afford it
Other needs are more urgent
I cant spare them for that long
Are you frustrated by Managers
resisting soft skills training?
How To Gain Buy-in for Soft Skills
Training
What core non-technical skills do you
need?
How do you get management support?
How do you ensure return on your
investment?
What are the
Challenges?
Lack of management buy-in
Difficulty in evaluating effectiveness
Dislocated from the business
Cynical participants
How to Make Soft Skills Training
Successful
Relate it to your customers needs

Link it to business requirements
Demands on Training Community
Knowledge about key business drivers
Able to talk costs and benefits
Understand process of strategy
development
Able to translate requirements into
practical action
1. Identifying non-technical skills
Who are our Customers?
The Company

Managers - of units, divisions or
departments

Individuals
Priority Customer 1:
The Company
Organisational strategy
Culture Challenges
Vision and objectives Standards

Organisational Effectiveness
Core competencies
Opinion Surveys
Succession Planning and Career Development
Re-engineering

How to Start: 7-S Framework
Structure
Systems Strategy
Skills
Staff
Style
Shared
Values
Strategy
Strategic direction
Vision statement
Key objectives
Critical success factors
Core competencies
Structure
Issues with spans of control, reporting
relationships, authority
Centralisation vs. decentralisation
Business unit organisation structures
Matrix management

Systems
Processes
Benchmarking
Total quality
Re-engineering
Internal customers
Procedures
Orientation
Systems
Technology and Roll out

Shared Values
Organisation Culture
Articulation of values
Identification of behaviours which
demonstrate the values
Buy-in and implementation of values
Style
Way managers behave:
Walk the talk
Priorities and focus
Leadership style
Meeting style
Staff
Composition and development
Qualifications
Skills
Training
Appraisals
Succession
Skills
Core competencies
Job profile competencies
Assessment centres
Development centres
Priority Customer 2: Managers
Department objectives
Changes ahead
Team issues
Internal customer surveys
Standards reviews
Priority Customer 3: Individuals
Appraisals
Career Plans
Personal Development
Plans
Assessment and
Development Centres
2. How to Get Management Support
Get a sponsor: your key customer
Identify stakeholders: supporters and
blockers
Use data to substantiate the need
Design so that work links are clear
Design to fit learner needs
Evaluate and publish effectiveness
If Management Wont Talk to You!
If you believe an initiative is important: GET
FACTUAL EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT YOUR VIEW:
focus groups
interviews
surveys or email questionnaires
performance or productivity data
relate it to a business objective or to the
companys/departments effectiveness
THEN PUBLISH IT WIDELY
3. Return on Investment:
Evaluation Levels
REACTIONS
Happiness Sheets
LEARNING
BEHAVIOUR
Work application
RESULTS
Business
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
How to help workplace application
Design application support processes
BEFORE launch eg.:

Line Management Auditing standards
involvement
Action Plans Learning logs
Learning Sets Mentoring
Resource centres CBT
Self development aids or manuals
Level 4: When is it worth the
effort?
When hard data has some face validity
eg. Improved sales retention after sales
training
Team productivity improvements
When the link to achieving the companys
objective is not clear
When management agree in advance to the
evaluation process

Your Role in selling soft skills
Identify priority customer groups
Link Soft Skills to Strategy or Effectiveness
Use a 7-S framework to establish needs
Identify stakeholders: supporters and
blockers
Use data to justify investment
Design application aids at the start
Publish evaluation results

Any questions?