Reports show that around 92% of businesses noted that soft skills, just like hard skills, are essential in the modern business landscape. It is the primary reason why online soft skills training has become popular these days. Having this skill set paves the road to success when it comes to job interviews.

Aside from that, its growing importance in the workplace can be seen in industries like IT, Finance, Education, HR, and Healthcare. The need for crucial skills such as collaboration, adaptability, and empathy is in demand as it can further support other technical skills. 

Individuals who own non-technical skills and personal attributes are considered first because they can easily be integrated into an organization. And with the advent of personalized online training solutions, a healthy workplace environment can be achieved.

Soft Skills: What Are They?

Soft skills are the opposites of a technical skills set and are now found to be critical ingredients when looking to hire people to be part of the workforce. These attributes are found to be helpful in organizations as they can enhance performance and assist individual workers or teams to function more effectively.

Let’s focus on some of the most important soft skills.

1. Communication

It is imperative to use clear and polite language when at work as it can help avoid misunderstandings that can spring out anytime even during a short chat with a colleague. Express your thoughts in such a way that the listener does not regard it as offensive. 

At the same time, being a good listener counts a lot as it is through active listening that you can provide the right reply. Using polite words and refraining from using “You” to avert escalating tensions.

2. Emotional Intelligence

There should be a deep understanding of the motivations and emotions hidden in different points of view as conflicts may arise any time. Empathy stems from being emotionally intelligent, with a person capable of placing himself in the other person's stead. 

Having enough level of emotional intelligence makes up for understanding others and creating an environment that is pleasant to be in. A harmonious environment creates happy workers and that creates successful organizations.

3. Time Management

The difference between a productive and an unproductive employee is time management. Often than not, workers may find themselves being buried in a pile of tasks while others may seem the opposite.

This work ethic is very important to note as those who do not work efficiently and are not mindful of deadlines may affect the workflow of a team and the company itself. Given that this skill can be taught, it must be learned and practiced by workers to create a more effective, organized, and productive endeavor.

4. Conflict Resolution

A simple confusion or misjudgment can lead to conflicts, which can eventually lead to a toxic work environment. And it is in this situation when team members may feel aversion toward others that brings forth unhappiness and dissatisfaction.

Once ignored, misunderstandings can impact team morale, workplace dynamics, and productivity as a whole. However, addressing conflicts is a soft skill owned by people who are considerate, value others’ opinions, good listeners, and know how to communicate.

online soft skills training

How to Evaluate Soft Skills 

To assess your team’s existing soft skills, create a survey or review their performance. Know the difference of assessment tools versus assessment instruments. The former is the broader form while the latter is more specific, but both work to achieve a similar outcome which is gathering evidence.

Aside from reviews and surveys, you can use checklists, observations, tests, as well as tasks in identifying your team’s skills. Here’s the path that you can take:

1. Identify Your Team’s Key Soft Skills

• Know the purpose of the test
• Ask the right questions using varied question formats
• Require the subject to assess his performance 
• Ask if the skills in place are aligned with the company expectations and goals
• Get the subject to declare his accomplishments so far
• Ask for feedback or recommendations coming from immediate supervisors or co-workers
• Ask the subject to use SMART standard goals to enhance low-performing soft skills
• Draft an easy and smooth assessment flow; Don’t make it long

Tools that you can use for your online soft skills training:

• Test Gorilla
• iMocha
• TestDome
• Codility
• HireVue
• eSkill
• Mercer Mettl

2. Determine High-Priority Skills

When testing a subject, you can start by highlighting skills that you think are more relevant to your company standards. This makes you clearly identify if the person is aligned with what the company stands for and he can bring to the table that adds to productivity.

3. Choose the Right Training Platform

Since there is a wide assortment of training platforms, the best way to get the right one is to gauge its capabilities. Here are 10 questions that can guide you:

• Is it easy to use? 
• Is it scalable?
• Is the learning experience engaging?
• Are the modules appropriate for your desired training?
• Is it aligned with your company’s objectives?
• Do the trainers have the right credentials?
• Does the platform have certifications?
• Are the integrations needed?
• Is it secure?
• Is it offering a fair price for what it offers?

Choosing a platform for effective online soft skills training is easy if you have the answers to these questions. Once an online skills training ticked all the boxes, then, you already have found the right platform for your specific need.

4. Set Specific Goals

Companies have their own set of objectives and these should be clearly defined at the onset of the hiring process. That’s the same when you are testing employees. 

It should also be a requirement to define what the testing wants to achieve such as building stronger teams or enhanced communications.

Another better way to set goals is by following the SMART model:

• S - The goal should be specific and clear as to what you want to accomplish, how important the goal is, and what you will do.
• M - To ensure it is measurable, know which data you are planning to use to calculate if the targets are met. 
• A - Make sure that the goals are attainable. Are you confident that you have the right resources and skills to test individuals? 
• R - The goals must be properly aligned with your organization or the team per se.
• T - Time is essential when conducting testing; therefore, a deadline should be set.

5. Customize Training Plan For Your Team

Customizing the training plan should be discussed with those who are going to be involved with the training. This makes up for a more favorable event which can pique their interest. 

Once assessment is done, it’s now time to draft the training. Make sure to pattern all training details based on the testing to get the best outcome.

6. Implement Training Effectively

Implementing training can be more effective if the schedule is flexible and does not hamper participants’ workload and deadlines. Get their attention by introducing games like puzzles or something that can make them more enthused. Making them compete with the rest of the crew provides them with a friendlier learning environment.

7. Monitor Progress and Impact

Monitoring progress can be ascertained by the use of tools and metrics when tracking individual and team progress during training. At the same time, the role of feedback and regular check-ins reinforces learning.  

When training ends, it is time to check on team dynamics or individual performance. This is where you can see if the training has indeed brought changes to the learners or there is still some fine-tuning to do.

Your Path To Enhanced Performance

It is easier to learn hard skills in contrast to learning soft skills. That is why companies are now focusing on behavioral attributes to go with technical know-how. What good is hiring a techy individual whose attitude is not compatible with the rest of the crew? This is where customized learning solutions can prove effective. 

Online soft skills training can be utilized to harness the full potential of each individual. But then, the question is, what if you missed selecting the best platform? Well, it’s not yet the end of the world—you can still get some insights here.