Companies say they desperately want employees who can communicate effectively — leaders tell me that all the time in workshops — but how many of them really mean it? It’s hard to find a job posting that doesn’t mention the communication skill set as a key requirement. And yet, when faced with the skills that candidates actually have and those that they’re weak in, hiring managers find themselves making trade-offs, particularly to meet pressing technical needs: This guy can code like there’s no tomorrow, but his communication is a challenge. Let’s get him in here fast. We’ll coach him up.
It can wait.
The thing is, communication skills can’t wait. Executives in “people functions” like human resources and learning and development (L&D) understand that communication and persuasion skills are critical in all areas of business — even software development and accounting. Those who design, manage, implement, and track employee development programs already know the business benefits of being adept at influencing colleagues and others in an organization.
So how do you also show the deep skeptics in your organization — for instance, data scientists who view the word persuasion with disdain, as a euphemism for manipulation — that a serious investment in communication skills is worth making?
You do it by making a solid case for the return on that investment. And you can take your cues from those folks in L&D. They’ve thought long and hard about ways to measure the ROI of their training programs and the best ways to communicate the benefits of those talents.
A Measurement-Based Case for Better Soft Skills
At a recent event for my company’s customers, our executive vice president of customers led a panel discussion on the ways that large technical brands are building soft skills and what the ROI has been for them. Two L&D executives shared what they’ve discovered about conveying that value in their organizations: Catherine (Cat) Lang, who heads up product training and certification for customers and partners at ServiceNow, a digital workflow company based in Santa Clara, Calif.; and Noelle Anderson, the director of enablement at Snap, the parent company for visual messaging app Snapchat. Here are five key insights from their conversation.
Collect examples of the ROI you’ve seen from previous training.
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