Soft Skills as Crucial Skills of the 21 st Century

IRJMSH Vol 13 Issue 2 [Year 2022] ISSN 2277 – 9809 (0nline) 2348–9359 (Print) Soft Skills as Crucial Skills of the 21st Century Dr. Prerna Vanjani Department of Humanities, IIIT Kota, Rajasthan, Email: [email protected] Abstract— Advancement in technology has brought about a great change in the life of human beings. The need to form meaningful connections with others has never been felt so much as in this present age. Ironically distance between geographical boundaries have been reduced due to the electronic media but the same kind of closeness has not been witnessed in human connections. Conversations are the lifelines to nourish relations but through the electronic mode of instant gratification, real connections are now disappearing. Nevertheless, the dynamic professional and social set up needs such tools to communicate that can reduce the chasms separating interpersonal communication. The awareness of this need has brought about a whole lot of change in not only professional field but also personal field. The present century needs a whole new set of skills to make communications meaningful and connections more fruitful. This study takes into account latest research that suggest how crucial soft skills are to save our communication from becoming extinct in the present scenario. The thrust of the paper is on core soft skills which will be instrumental in defining success in personal and professional area. The study is based on literature review and psychological research that leads to study the required traits for a balanced work –life situation. The study is based on literature reviews and its findings. In the conclusion some suggestions to enhance soft skills are also pointed out. Keywords— Critical Ability, Emotional Intelligence, Meaningful connections, Soft Skills, Success I. INTRODUCTION Communication is the basis of all human exchanges. According to psychology the need to be felt understood occupies top priority for any human being. Humans not only have the ability to inspire, encourage, empower but also to suppress, insult and demotivate another being because of the quality of his communication. With technology growing in leaps and bounds, real face -to face communication has taken a back seat. It has in fact, become a lost art which is at the verge of being forgotten or totally lost. This study focuses on the need to learn core soft skills by proper training so that competitive advantage can be achieved in workplace and personal life II. NEED OF NEW SKILL-SET The rapid growth of technology has left the masses puzzled. With economies in major flux, there seems to be an unprecedented need to know what will upgrade an individual’s career in the professional world. There is an urgent need to decipher the upcoming demands so that the next generation of professionals can be better equipped to face the uncertainty of the future. It is exciting to know that continuous up-skilling opportunities exists in each kind of role. This paper discusses how some skills can give a whole lot of new perspective to the job arena as the twenty first century comes with its whole new set of challenges. Professional skills become a bucket of skills which are required to evolve and fine tune an individual. Conversations has become a lost art. In fact, poor soft skills nowadays have become a major epidemic of modern world. Imagining a world without communication seems scary as through conversations only strong relationships are built and intentions conveyed to one another. Through this link humans are able to manage their emotions and develop bonds that last lifetimes. Language competency also is a major prerequisite to connect to others. Further, the art of using vocabulary that is most appropriate and in context is always an added advantage. Messages which use appropriate vocabulary and International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanity ( IRJMSH ) www.irjmsh.com Page 212 IRJMSH Vol 13 Issue 2 [Year 2022] ISSN 2277 – 9809 (0nline) 2348–9359 (Print) syntax forms an important dimension of effective communication. Thus soft skill are in great demand in the 21 st century. Even in the field of Software and technology, companies increasingly need people to cross the divide of “software / development” and “sales / business development”. The dynamic industry now need a fusion of required technical knowledge along with exception people-skills. In addition to this the skills needed in today’s world are also changing in a lot of ways. Employers are crediting more value to Emotional Quotient (EQ) over Intelligence Quotient (IQ). The major shift in organizations has been that they are now trying to bring in the humanness in the professional world. This enhances the individuals to maintain their uniqueness as well as they are motivated to excel in an area which is completely of interest to them. Thus the modern age has not opened up a plethora of skills which are termed as important. To understand the growth of this transformative change, the different stages of development have shown that the economy has evolved over the years progressively. The first industrial revolution came with the advent of mechanization, steam power and water power. This was followed by the second industrial revolution, which revolved around mass production and assembly lines using electricity. The third industrial revolution came with electronics, I.T. systems and automation, which led to the fourth industrial revolution that is associated with cyber physical systems. The term ‘Industry 4.0’ describes the growing trend towards automation and data exchange in technology and processes within the manufacturing industry, including: the internet of things (IoT), the industrial internet of things (IIoT), Cyber-physical systems (CPS), Smart manufacture, Smart factories, Cloud computing. As the world moves in Industry 4.0 phase where rapid and extraordinary technological advances are the new normal. In such an environment, old skill-sets are expiring faster than the advent of new technology. Thus, quick adaptability and flexibility is in high demand by job providers. All the dynamism of the industry and new set of problems have made lifelong learning capability as an essential way of life. Quite interestingly, rapid technological change has been the driving factor behind the change in the skills necessary in today’s workforce. Not just technical skills but the skills that lets a candidate increase his versatility and appeal as an active professional have suddenly come to the fore front. Giants in business are particularly eyeing these prerequisites for allowing the suitable candidate to come on board. III. HARD SKILLS VERSUS SOFT SKILLS Hard skills refer to all the technical knowledge, domain knowledge or academic knowledge that makes a person qualified for a specific job but soft skills refer to people-skills or interpersonal skills. Hard skills are those skill sets that are easy to quantify and are also teachable abilities. Lazarus has suggested how the global trend has changed and has given more importance to Soft skills in career growth. The highly competitive market now does not need employees who only possess technical skills (Lazarus, 2013). The person with a combination of hard and soft skills has become a valuable asset in any organization (Griffith & Hoppner, 2013). Thus highlighting the role of individual soft skills. (Seetha, 2014). Soft skill refer to a cluster of personal qualities, habits, attitudes and social graces that makes someone a good employee and makes him compatible to work with . It can simply mean as the personal style of an individual, his interpersonal mannerisms, his social courtesies and also his confidence level. It actually related to the qualities that makes a person stand out in a group and make him unique in his own manner. A recent study conducted by IBM Training & explored about what skills are needed for success in the modern workplace. Over the course of an hour, five questions were posted on twitter to spark a discussion. In total, the 5 questions yielded 8,604 total impressions and 452 engagements likes, retweets, responses, etc. This discussion was a great way to study what the people all around the globe thought about needed skills of this era. The discussion offered some questions to the audience in the chat groups as what were soft skills, their need, their changing requirements and how they can be developed overtime. The responses of the participants brought in many other viewpoints, which enriched the overall research and experience and it clearly suggested that soft skills were now in high demand. (https://www.ibm.com/blogs/ibm-training/top-skills-you-need-to-succeed-in-the-modernworkplace) 1V. LITERATURE VIEW Engelberg, 2015 defines soft skills as social skills to understand and interpret the relationship in connection with other people. This set of skills, include thinking skills, listening skills, communication skills, problem-solving skills, decision-making skills, negotiating skills, and others. Companies have relied heavily on the research that has already been done in this area. Many soft skills like communications, teamwork, motivation, problem-solving, enthusiasm, and trust have become essential skills. (Ellis, 2012; Rasul, 2013). As stated by Dana, Soft skills are critical to success in business (Dana, Hancock, & Phillips, 2011). Companies suffer dramatically when a wrong decision about a candidate’s knowledge and skill is made. (Velasco, 2012). Empirical research International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanity ( IRJMSH ) www.irjmsh.com Page 213 IRJMSH Vol 13 Issue 2 [Year 2022] ISSN 2277 – 9809 (0nline) 2348–9359 (Print) has suggested that the present century will need an umbrella of skills that can transform the dynamics of the professional world and determine the level of success. This study undertakes nine key skills which individuals will need to urgently upgrade in their work habits if they want to be considered positively in their careers. V. NINE CORE SOFT SKILLS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Critical thinking Creativity Problem Solving Emotional intelligence Interpersonal communication skills Active learning growth mindset Leadership skills Collaborative learning ability Learnability Critical thinking is a cognitive process that includes skills to analyze, evaluate, infer, and solve problems. Critical thinking, simply put is a systematic and organized thinking process that facilitates evaluation of any information. Having critical thinking skills encourages students to be skillful in dealing with natural and social environments, practically and effectively. Cottrell talks about how critical thinking has an advantage over the normal understanding process. It involves not just descriptive, explanation but goes a little deeper by stating with reason, judgment and logic. It also critics a situation along with talking about its significance. (Cottrell, 2020) Critical thinking also means asking and answering questions to help you make sense of something. Interestingly, University of Plymouth generated a model to learn critical thinking as an important life skill. According to this model, central to critical thinking was asking meaningful questions. The model was divided in three stages which incorporated questions to be asked of three different types: Descriptive, Analysis and Evaluative. Thus, it was accepted that, Clear focus is on the ‘questioning’ was very important. In human dealings also, it is an integral part. It is an impartial, objective manner of looking at things. Questions help to understand, analyze, and evaluate something. It also means to evaluate the truthfulness and value of information in a systematic, purposeful and efficient manner. When this approach is adopted to deal with different situations, it allows one to be inquisitive, open-minded, objective and analytical. Critical inquiry improves high learning skills, problem solving skills and also accelerates active learning skills. It also involves approaching any situation without any preconceived notions. This approach is highly suitable for the 21 st century learner who is learning in multiple dimensions. Creativity is another essential skill for innovation. Even in education creativity brings about novelty. Creativity enhances inventive thinking in any domain and provides problem solving solutions. Lot of research has gone into suggesting the importance of using creativity in the educational process (Hall, 2010; Wise & Ferrara, 2015). Creativity theorists have advocated that teaching creativity at all levels of education and training develops a lot of innovation and critical abilities. (Werry, 1949). Thus, creativity as a skill is fundamental to human thought, development and survival. Even creative theories are important supporting instruction and learning. Through this skill new perspectives are involved in analyzing situations. Applications of creativity theory in education has benefited in bringing a lot of new approaches in teaching- learning process like open assignments, building upon past knowledge in the development of new experiences, creating and/or investigating, presentations encouraging dynamic thinking through varying scenarios, showcasing multiple solutions, and considering mind expansions. In addition to creativity, Problem solving is also another core skill which has acquired great importance. Problem solving is the ability to use appropriate methods to tackle unexpected challenges in an organized manner is defined as problem solving. It has indeed become a much needed soft skill. Though a person may be born with a natural ability to solve problems this ability can be honed and developed throughout life. It can be cultivated and nurtured so that any kind of challenge can be faced. Simply stated, problem-solving is the act of finding answers and solutions to complicated answers. Traditional research explains problem solving in terms of principles of associative learning derived from the studies of classical and instrumental conditioning. According to some theorists, an individual enters a problem situation with an existing complex of stimulus response associations as a result of prior experience. He then associates the situation with the preexisting implications. Then in the course of problem solving, the associative complex gets rearranged as some tendencies are weakened through extinction (failure) and other strengthened through reinforcement (success). This process involves prior learning and further accelerates new learning based on experience. In contrast to this, Gestalt International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanity ( IRJMSH ) www.irjmsh.com Page 214 IRJMSH Vol 13 Issue 2 [Year 2022] ISSN 2277 – 9809 (0nline) 2348–9359 (Print) psychologist showed a different view of problem solving. These were the theorist who believed that ‘the whole of anything is greater than its parts’. These theorists emphasized the importance of the structure of the problem situations and the formation of new combinations of old ideas. They were particularly interested in how people solve problems by rearrangement of objects. One of the famous Gestalt psychologists, Kohler (1925) in his book, The Mentality of Apes, used an example to demonstrate how the brain functions while solving a problem. Kohler hung some fruits from the top of a cage to reach it. The cage contained several sticks and crates. The solution depended on finding a correct way to rearrange the objects. According to the Gestalt analysis, solving the problem required the reorganization of the objects into a new structure. Gestaltists argued that discovering the correct organization usually occurred as a flash of insight. ‘Insight’ as per them was the sudden discovery of the correct solution following a period of incorrect attempts based primarily on trial and error. Insightful solutions seem to occur in a flash. The function of the brain to look for possible solutions and the suddenly focus on the possible outcome to solve it was like that insight. Thus this became an interesting discovery. Another study stated by Duncker (1945) showed that a problem arises, when a person has a specific aim but he/she does not know how to achieve it. He further defines a problematic situation as a barrier that subject is clearly or indefinitely aware of and to its overcoming he/she needs a creative search of the new knowledge, new ways and activities. Training the mind to search for ways that have not yet been tried gives rise to innovation and creativity. Thus problem solving becomes a mental attitude that is much required in this century to solve problems of new age. Emotional Intelligence can be defined as the ability to perceive, control, and evaluate emotions. According to Daniel Goleman “Emotional Intelligence is the ability to sense, understand, value and effectively apply the power of emotions as a source of human energy, information, trust, creativity and influence”. It is a soft skill that can be learned and imbibed in one’s personality. With emotional stability a person is able to express himself in a better manner, make conscious choices in the moment and is able to have an impact on others. Goleman did his research (1998) in over 200 companies and organizations worldwide shows that about one-third of the difference is due to technical skill and cognitive ability while two-thirds is due to emotional competence. The research also suggest that in top leadership positions, over four-fifths of the difference is due to emotional competence. Emotional Intelligence involves creativity to use emotions to solve problems. It probably overlaps to some extent with general intelligence. The emotionally intelligent person is skilled in four areas: Identifying emotions, using emotions, understanding emotions, and regulating emotions. Emotional Intelligence (EI) can be defined as the ability to perceive, control, and evaluate emotions. According to Daniel Goleman “Emotional Intelligence is the ability to sense, understand, value and effectively apply the power of emotions as a source of human energy, information, trust, creativity and influence” . It is a soft skill that can be learned and imbibed in one’s personality. With emotional stability a person is able to express himself in a better manner, make conscious choices in the moment and is able to have an impact on others. EI allows us to think more creatively and to use our emotions to solve problems. Emotional Intelligence probably overlaps to some extent with general intelligence. The emotionally intelligent person is skilled in four areas: Identifying emotions, using emotions, understanding emotions, and regulating emotions. Engelberg (2015) adds another dimension to define soft skills as those social skills that help us to understand and interpret our relationship in connection with other people. The term Emotional Intelligence is only a few years old. It originally developed during the 1970s and 80s by the work and writings of psychologists Howard Gardner, Peter Salovey and John Mayer. EI first appeared in 1985 in a doctoral dissertation by Wayne Leon Payne, which he entitled “A Study of Emotion: Developing Emotional Intelligence.” His thesis on emotional intelligence included a framework to enable people to develop emotional intelligence. According to Payne, many of the problems in modern civilization stemmed from a suppression of emotion and that it could be solved by become emotionally intelligent. Later the term was used by Daniel Goleman, who wrote the pioneering book on the subject. 1993. Another important work in this direction was Daniel Goleman's (1995) best-seller Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ and subsequent articles in USA Weekend and Time Magazine (October 2, 1995). Carmeli and Josman (2006) brought out an interesting study by showing the interrelation among emotional intelligence, task performance, and organizational citizenship behavior. Some interesting results have been derived by research that show that nearly 97% of highly successful individuals measure high in Emotional Quotient. According to Forbes nearly 85% of financial success is also due to EQ while the Intelligence Quotation covers only 15% of financial success .Moreover as per Schmidt’s study (2012) 56% of job performance depends on EQ. With soft skill effective decision making is enhanced. Even the ration of employee engagement is more if an individual has higher Emotional stability. An engaged learner is 30 % more productive than a neutral or not engaged learner. Emotional intelligence also helps employees to deal with work pressure thus it becomes a sought after skill in industry in present times. International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanity ( IRJMSH ) www.irjmsh.com Page 215 IRJMSH Vol 13 Issue 2 [Year 2022] ISSN 2277 – 9809 (0nline) 2348–9359 (Print) Interpersonal Skills are an integral part of any exchange. Professional outcomes are greatly motivated by the level of communication of any candidate. All activities and processes are directed by the communication. Such as worker behavior, safety, productivity, engagement, and withdrawal. The ability to communicate is an integral skill for workers. Individuals who lack interpersonal skills are more likely to be involved in interpersonal conflict (Moeller, Robinson, Wilkowski, & Hanson, 2012). The not so visible skills thus can play havoc in the dynamics of relations in any organization. Pattillo (2013) draw a connection between success in organizations and the level of communication that goes on among the management and workers. Elaborating at the nature of the communication, he pointed out if such an exchange is not focused and result oriented, economy will face a major loss. As language is the root of communication, it should help people to understand others emotions and aids in the formation of social skills (Benjamin et al., 2012). Forms of communication include interpersonal communication, verbal, and written (Keyton et al., 2013). As communication is a two way process, even when one is not communicating, there is listening that is going on. Thus, listening skills play an important role in the communication process (Pop & Sim, 2012). Haroutunian-Gordon, (2011) further elaborates on listening as an important skill in effective communication and adds that an individual must first be a good listener. An individual should focus on hearing what an individual says, taking what they heard and drawing inferences and asking questions to clarify any parts of the conversation either not heard or misunderstood Another deciding factor is the time line of communication. Interestingly, Individuals born into different generations have differing communication styles. The Millennial generation born during 1980 to 2000, has grown up in the age of connection to each other through technology (Hartman & McCambridge, 2011).Technology has exponentially increased and these individuals are exposed to technology right from birth. Arguably, the availability of technology has contributed to their lack of soft skills. Generation Z, which spans individuals born during the years of 1993 through 2005, has only known technology (Turner, 2015). Generation Z is inclusive, with the majority of the members owning a cell phone. Electronic communication has replaced some face-to-face conversations as the preferred mode of communication (Bassiouni & Hackley, 2014), which can result in individuals lacking soft skills. The 21st century has now new ways of communication and this has brought about a see change at multiple levels. Even in the field of business, human capital is leveraged at full scale. This has led to the capacity of an individual to learn becomes more important than his or her existing experience (Galabova & McKie, 2013).Industry in all domains is searching for workers who are self-motivated and who can work independently (Wahl et al., 2012). Lean workforces have resulted in individuals taking on more work with less time for worker training. All this has changed the focus of recruitment as well as success. Now Individuals need to possess the skills to enable them to do the work themselves without asking others. The focus is on the creation of a workforce with increasingly strengthened soft skills during their career, regardless of the employer (Windsor, Douglas, & Harvey, 2012) As per the recruiting trends shaped by the pandemic, talent acquisition process has undergone a see change. With virtual work spaces and less personal interaction the industry has quickly evolved in accessing new set of skills. This becomes an opportune time to adapt in the global scenario by learning, unlearning and re learning as per the situation. Recruiters are looking for candidates who are not just academically proficient on hark sill scale but who are also able to exhibit a whore range of soft skills. According to a recent survey done by LinkedIn, the number one skill for recruiters to embrace in 2021 is adaptability. Recruiters also judged the candidature during the pandemic around the pivot of personal development. One of the recruiters pointed out how this time was particularly difficult for not only employees but also recruiters and employers. New tools to bring recruits on board were devised and also perfected. So pandemic was a learning phase for all. She recommended the recruiters in 2021 should spent more time in virtual interviewing, understanding talent metrics along with building empathy and compassion. Her comment bring the focus on soft skills. It makes it all the more clears that Recruiters are people –centric. Active Learning is an instructural approach that involves student in discussions, activities, reflection activities and makes the learner use his critical thinking ability to take decisions. With demands of the industry continuously changing, there is an urgent need to develop approaches that engage the learner and involves him in the process of development. This approach is in contrast to the passive approach of instructional method where the learner is only at the receiving end and where information is merely transmitted to students, As an active learner the individual is always involved in gaining more knowledge. Active learning supports collaboration and interaction with others, building much needed invaluable social skill. Research suggests that people remember only 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see and hear, 50% of what they see and hear, 70 %of what they say and write International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanity ( IRJMSH ) www.irjmsh.com Page 216 IRJMSH Vol 13 Issue 2 [Year 2022] ISSN 2277 – 9809 (0nline) 2348–9359 (Print) and interestingly 90% of what they do. Thus through active learning when the individual is engaged in any task then they are 30% more productive than the neutral or a passive learner. This further strengthen the claim that Active Learning is an attitude that is critically searched in any professional and this is also a skill that can be enhanced over years of mental practice. Lev Vygotsky’s (1978) idea of zone of Proximal Development further explains how collaborative learning theory has multiple benefits for the growth of ant individual. It helps in higher level thinking, oral communication, self-management and also leadership skills. As per Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, intelligence of an individual changes as he grows. Cognitive development is not just about acquiring knowledge, but to develop or construct a mental model of the world. Cognitive development occurs through the interaction of innate capacities and environmental events which in turn makes an individual involved in the developmental process. Thus when learning is continuous and persistent than it becomes a much needed skill set. Effective leadership relies on a variety of personality traits that inspire others to work openly and honestly. Leadership skills increase the opportunities for advancement in life. Having the capacity to lead, analyze , bring the team together, encourage the team to take action, be honest , sympathetic, humanistic and be in control of situations are some common traits of any individual displaying leadership qualities. With ever changing demands of the professional world, there is a greater need to imbibe this skill. A leader is also a person who strategizes, plan, implements and quickly adapt to the changing dynamics of the work force. A leader should also be able to listen to feedback and bring about corrective action. Collaborating and sharing ideas for maintaining productivity and raising the morale of the team are some key roles that professionals of the 21 st century are expected to play. Leadership skill also involves analyze and evaluate processes and operations. Research has suggested that leadership qualities are not only inborn but can also be imbibed. Thomas Carlyle proposed the Great Man Theory of Leadership and suggested that Leaders are born with just the right traits and abilities for leading. These traits are charisma, intellect, confidence, communication skills and social skills. Quite contrary to this theory is the Behavioral Theory which focuses on the specific behaviors and actions of leaders which provide an edge to an individual’s personality. Behavior patterns like being task oriented, people oriented and completely involved and participative are some of the attitudes that all great leaders have, As the new age is filled with new problems, such skills are going to be deciding factors for success. Thus Leaders ship skill should be consciously learnt and ingrained in one’s personality. Professional world is always in look out for individuals who provide a full package of skills that belong to the domain of the theories mentioned earlier. Individuals need three primary skills that can easily define them as leaders and make them lead their followers- technical, human and conceptual skills. Technical kills refer to the knowledge of the process or technique, human skills means one’s ability to interact with others while conceptual skills to come up with ideas for running the organization or society smoothly. Collaborative Learning Johnson and Johnson (1989) in their research pointed out that Collaborative Learning is most effective in developing knowledge. With this method there is higher achievability, it encourages more caring and supporting relations, it also fosters a higher selfesteem as there are ample chances of working in team with one’s unique skill set. It also encourages a lot of transparent communication thus leading to better understanding between coworkers. Collaborative mindset is definitely a skill of the modern times when people of diverse domains come together to solve a situation without giving away their unique methods of problem solving. There is a greater scope of brain storming leading to greater level of idea generation. This further encourages out- of box thinking and leads to innovation and creativity. The theory behind collaborative learning finds strength from Lev Vygotsky’s idea of Zone of Proximal Development. It also refers to how members come together in a team formation from different domains and rely on one another to accomplish tasks that they otherwise would not be able to complete individually. Collaborative learning ability is also the key for developing critical thinking skills. It maintains that communication shared in a group is retailed longer. This facilitates development of higher learning thinking, oral communication and also leadership skills. Thus through collaboration a whole range of skills are learned by any individual. Learnability The determination to learn is arguably the most important 21st-century skill that has become important to archive success in life. Alvin Toffler has rightly said that it is not just learning that is required as, "The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." That's because, in an environment where new skills emerge as fast as others fade, success is less about what an individual already know and more about evolving with new skills. The ability to keep growing and expanding the knowledge base as per the changing demands has become the most sought after skill. Thus success is all about being aware of the change and then quickly adapting oneself for it fully equipped with the new skill -set. Thus 21st century has opened up a broader domain of skill sets that will remain in high demand in the professional and social arena. International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanity ( IRJMSH ) www.irjmsh.com Page 217 IRJMSH Vol 13 Issue 2 [Year 2022] ISSN 2277 – 9809 (0nline) 2348–9359 (Print) V. Conclusion Thus with advancement in technology no doubt a great change in the life of human beings has been experienced. Ironically the geographical distance has reduced but the divide between people has not yet reduced. Nevertheless, the professional world needs individuals that can communicate and reduce the chasms separating interpersonal communication. With the conscious use of these nine core soft skills, meaningful connections can be developed. All the nine skills when used with consistency will enhance the possibility of professional success. This new skill-set further helps to develop character of an individual and keeps him focused on a path of lifelong learning. 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