The hard job of teaching soft skills

Editor's note: Appearing online at scmr.com on the third Wednesday of each month, the Academy looks at education within the supply chain. If you are interested in future topics, you can see a full list of upcoming topics on our Editorial Calendar.

As technology investment ramps up, continuing communication issues between suppliers and customers have not gone away. In fact, a survey earlier this year from HICX, a provider of a supplier experience platform, found that communication is a major issue.

“We found that supplier experience is still a problem,” Costas Xyloyiannis, HICX’s CEO, said. “Presently, 59% of suppliers struggle to do their best for major customers, compared with 61% in the previous (2021) study. This very minor improvement is concerning. With supply chain resilience so critical to business success in today’s economy, it’s time this figure drops.”

 

The major issue, the survey found, is communication. Nearly all respondents (98%) said they need their biggest customers to communicate better.

Collaboration is not happening often enough either. Nearly half of respondents said they find it hard to resolve queries with their customers and this is leading to a more difficult relationship.

Communication and collaboration are just two of what many consider “soft skills.” Soft skills, which can also include things such as emotional intelligence, problem-solving and critical thinking, adaptability, time management, and even leadership skills, are often not taught or embraced by organizations. The reason is often because modern management wants results that can be measured—“we can’t manage what we can’t measure.”

“The phrase alone conjures images of being polite, agreeable, or simply ‘nice’ in the workplace,” wrote career coach Zakkery Gage in a recent LinkedIn post. “But here’s the hard truth: soft skills are anything but soft. In fact, they’re strategic, powerful, and the foundation for long-term professional success.”

Soft skills and retention

In a technological explosion, soft skills are gaining in importance. A LinkedIn report said that 92% of hiring managers are now putting importance on soft skills, indicating that it is harder to identify candidates with the appropriate level of these skills.

“This data underscores that being an effective communicator, a creative problem-solver, or a collaborative team member isn’t just ‘nice to have’—it’s a key career differentiator,” Gage wrote.

“As a result of the adoption of AI, supply chain professionals are taking on tasks that require more social and deep work skills (or those enabling workers to focus intensely without distraction),” wrote Marisa Brown, senior principal research lead for APQC, in a July 2021 Supply Chain Management Review Benchmarks column. “AI and its resulting automation of tasks leaves the humans on staff to engage in work involving analysis and insight. Technology is no substitute for the relationship-building skills that support listening to stakeholders, communicating effectively with business partners, innovating and thinking strategically about how to approach challenges.”

An APQC survey identified the top six skills needed for the successful implementation of AI. Those were, in order, active listening, communications, creativity and innovation, technical skills in data science, strategic thinking, analytic skills, and complex problem-solving.

In essence, soft skills.

As companies face talent shortages and retention issues, it is the development of soft skills that can power a more engaged workforce.

“I think the dynamic of the workforce has changed,” Scott Berkman, chief procurement officer at Elior North America, a company of 12 distinct food and hospitality companies that feeds more than 4 million people daily, told Supply Chain Management Review. “The view on how people view employment has changed over the last few years. Talent can either be DNA-based where folks have the right attributes to apply and make them successful in an organization, or they can have the right technical attributes. However, the right technical attributes don’t guarantee success.”

Lorraine Gavin, principal analyst, Gartner Supply Chain, in an article published in August on scmr.com, noted that resistance to change provides an opportunity for managers to listen.

“The natural reaction to resistance is often to try and convince employees to come around to a new way of thinking through arguments and providing more information,” she wrote. “However, individuals can only process so much information, and during periods of change, there is even more information than usual.

“By shifting approach and engaging employees through listening, leaders can guide them in their transition process,” Gavin added. “As employees engage with the change, welcome the interaction and be willing to hear resistance. Acknowledging negative attitudes and opinions is not the same as agreeing with them but is a powerful way to build trust.

“Once lines of communication are open, leaders can further engage employees by asking questions and allowing them to answer for themselves (and a group if they are together). In this process, we help them to recognize the problems faced, the risks and benefits of doing nothing and the potential advantages of doing something different. This opens the door for leaders to help employees imagine how they can most effectively manage their transition to a new way of working,” she said.

Teaching soft skills

So, if listening, accepting emotional intelligence, and embracing critical thinking are such valuable tools, why do businesses still struggle in these areas?

“Soft skills don’t exist in a vacuum; they enhance and amplify your hard skills,” Gage wrote. “Imagine a project manager who can masterfully use complex software tools but struggles to lead and motivate a diverse team. Or a financial analyst who can churn out perfect models but can’t present data insights in a way that moves stakeholders to action. In both cases, the lack of soft skills can limit their effectiveness. Conversely, when combined, soft and hard skills make a professional truly formidable.”

Once a business makes the leap to embrace soft skills, it must signal to all layers of the organization that soft skills will be a part of the job equation, and in some cases, it must teach those skills.

Techniques can vary, but some widely considered best practices include workshops and professional training programs, mentorship, interactive learning tools, and role-playing exercises.

Or, simply listening and embracing what your employees are telling you.

Developing soft skills will not replace advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, but without them, businesses will miss out on all the advantages these technologies can provide.

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