WIREDGOV

It’s a common complaint from employers that although there are hundreds of job applicants for any one potential role, many of these prospective employees are lacking in the vital soft skills they need to succeed in the world of work.

In fact, according to research conducted by REED NCFE, a total of 96% of thousands of employers picked mindset over skillset as the key element they look for in those they seek and retain.  In an economy full of challenges, employers are really starting to focus on complimentary skills and mindset as they can demonstrate a return on investment for them, sometimes with something as simple as reduced staff turnover.

That’s not to devalue the significance of technical, sector specific skills which are of course essential in order to perform well at work. However these skills can be more easily taught on the job than personal attributes (communication skills, critical thinking, team working, presenting yourself well, time management, problem solving etc), which tend to be fine- tuned over a period of time and developed with experience.

But what about the young people who need those skills now? Is it really only through life and work experience that they can gain these elusive transferable skills? Or can they be taught, measured and certificated?

Well, I would argue that yes, you can teach and accredit soft skills and this can be of real benefit to the learner. Through accredited qualifications, learners can be supported to not only develop these skills but also to showcase them in order to improve their job prospects.

An employer’s first impression of an applicant is through their CV. Therefore, if a learner can demonstrate on their CV that they have successfully completed a qualification in a workplace skill then I believe this will differentiate the candidate in a highly competitive marketplace.

For a start, it shows real motivation and get-up-and-go that the job seeker has pro-actively completed some formalised learning in order to improve their presence in the workplace.

That being said, I do understand the scepticism which surrounds courses such as these. After all, measuring a soft skill can never be done in a quantitative way; it is open to subjectivity and can only truly be measured through behaviour. What’s more, an employer always wants more than a piece of paper – they want a demonstration of skills; they want tangible evidence that the applicant can walk the walk as well as they can talk the talk.

It’s for this reason that qualifications in soft skills should always be supported by work experience, so that the learner has a chance to contextualise their skills and gain confidence in using them. NCFE offers a number of qualifications in this area which accredit the skills developed prior to, during and post placement in a work experience environment. REED NCFE has also taken an innovative approach to their Job Search and Employability qualifications which have been shaped by James Reed's research into employer behaviours, carried out in association with Harvard Business School.

It is also worth noting that qualifications in soft skills are never intended to be a replacement for sector specific or academic training. In general, they are short courses with low guided learning hours; bite-sized chunks of learning which are incredibly worthwhile additions to any core programme of learning. If skillset is what you do, then mindset is how you do it. It's easy to see how mindset skills complement the sector specific skills taught to learners.

There’s no doubt about it, the importance of transferable skills cannot be underestimated. It’s no longer enough to be a functional expert (particularly in today’s fluid job market with people changing career direction multiple times in their working life). If mindset is the key to workplace success, then I truly believe there are qualifications out there to help learners unlock it.