The working world is changing fundamentally; that means that employees will need to acquire new skills to succeed — for their own sakes and that of their organisations. Of course, specific workplace skills, whether it is welding or digital marketing, are essential. But McKinsey research has consistently found that employers are putting a higher premium on “soft skills,” such as empathy, communication, adaptability, critical thinking, and initiative.
That makes sense. The McKinsey Global Institute has estimated that time spent on work that requires higher cognitive and social/emotional skills will rise substantially by 2030 (8 and 24 percent respectively). The organisation of the future will rely ever more on teamwork, initiative, and cross-functional collaboration.
The problem is that teaching soft skills is a lot more difficult than teaching welding. A survey of human resource professionals found that a third or more are finding it difficult to recruit problem-solvers who can deal with complexity or have the needed creativity skills.
In late 2021, McKinsey launched Forward, a free 22-week online learning program that equips recent entrants to the labour force with soft skills. So far, Forward has enrolled more than 190,000 young people from across Africa and the Middle East, as well as Azerbaijan, Pakistan, and Turkey.
While the feedback has been positive, this has admittedly been a process of trial and sometimes error. One thing we have understood more deeply is that teaching soft skills at scale is more than just transferring knowledge. At least half the battle is instilling a growth mindset in which individuals accept that they will always be a work in progress, and that they therefore need to embrace adaptability and intentional learning. Building soft skills is not like a crash diet. Instead, it is more like an exercise program, requiring steady application.
Based on our research and experience, here are three principles for organisations to keep in mind as they do the hard work to get soft skills right.
Learning is social. We start from three premises: curiosity can be cultivated, learning itself is a skill — and both of these are best done in collaboration with others.
At Forward, participants are eager for peer interaction, with broad participation in discussion boards and offline study groups. Those who interact with faculty and peers early on the journey are twice as likely to complete the course as those who do not. We have also seen how healthy peer pressure can encourage learning. For example, individuals who think they are lacking in specific skills become more willing to face their fears and work to improve in the context of a group where others are relying on their input.
And here’s a small but important thing: Offer regular breaks. Down time allows participants to get to know each other and improves learning outcomes and skill acquisition.
Use a mix of formats. Digital learning predominates in most programs. That makes sense for reasons of scale and cost; even so, it should not be used exclusively, especially not for soft skills. The best results come from combining online content with other methods, such as games, simulations or expert and peer coaching. Almost 90 percent of Forward participants said that simulated group work and interactive workshops helped to reinforce their digital lessons. Digital instruction itself can apply the same principle, by incorporating videos, quizzes, scenarios, and case studies.
Teaching skills to colleagues is another way to reinforce learning. One manufacturer developed an app that coached supervisors on how to recognise people for good work. And then, because learning is social, user-generated content — stories, photos, messages—was added to the app. The results were positive, measurable, and almost immediate.
Practice needs to meet purpose. The point of soft-skills training is to meet the needs of individuals when and where they need it. The workplace itself is the context and provides the most useful situations in which to practice and receive real-time feedback. Timing also matters. Learning and practicing new soft skills when one is seeking, or just had, an expansion in responsibilities, will likely yield better outcomes. For extra motivation, behavioural-reinforcement tools can encourage people to put their new skills into practice. The implication is that programs that try to cater for a very wide range of learners who are at different points in their careers may not be as effective.
As automation and artificial intelligence evolve, social and emotional abilities will become more important. Moreover, the reality of an interconnected and complex world makes skills like adaptability even more valuable. Research has proved that companies that emphasise adaptability deliver better returns than those that don’t
The case for organisations to upgrade soft skills, quickly and at scale, is that is in their own best interests. Even so, many leaders hesitate, citing uncertainty and cost. There’s an answer to that: training may be expensive, but the price of not training is even higher.
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