Soft Skills Training

There’s been a lot of coverage in the news these days about how Americans are lagging behind the rest of the developed world in terms of basic skills, such as math, science and literacy. This is an important issue to be addressed in our school systems.

But what about the competency of American office workers already in the workforce? Yes, they need the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic. But they also need the kind of ‘Soft Skills’ that are not typically learned in school.

Also known as ‘people skills’, these include interpersonal communications, conflict resolution and negotiation, personal effectiveness, team building, influencing and selling skills. Workers who are not proficient in these soft skills may not be as effective and productive as they should be in their jobs.

Bridge the skills gap

A good corporate training regimen can help your company develop and maintain the critical skills needed to succeed.

Is your sales team not making the numbers they used to generate? Even the top sales person could use a refresher in negotiation skills. In fact, being a talented negotiator even comes in handy when purchasing supplies or lobbying for internal resources to support your department’s latest project.

Has your customer service team received some negative comments recently? You can’t overestimate the importance of good customer relations.

And of course, team building is key to helping your office run like a well-oiled machine. 

Does your team need to freshen up some skills to get back in top form?

John Males is Founder and President of Fathom Corporate Training. With more than 20 years of experience in management, sales and negotiations, he helps clients increase employee satisfaction, lower turnover, increase revenue and raise profit margins.