Soft skills are critical to IT success, but most organizations fail to prioritize soft skills training for IT professionals. Here's how to upskill your employees where it matters.
How important are soft skills for IT professionals?Very important, most IT leaders agree. In a recent survey of 1,250 HR and business unit executives conducted by consulting firm West Monroe Partners, 98% said they typically assess the soft skills of candidates for IT positions through behavioral or cultural interviews, personality tests, or written exams. Sixty-six percent of respondents said they rejected originally qualified candidates for IT positions due to a lack of soft skills.
Soft skills are very important for IT people because they need to overcome bigger obstacles," explains Greg Layak, Managing Director of West Monroe. "They have to work together on very challenging issues. They must communicate in a way that business people can understand and understand the business problem. That's why, he said, many employers would rather leave an open position than fill it with a candidate who lacks soft skills. He said that while the current labor market is "extremely tight", "we better not hire than hire the wrong people." Hiring a developer who isn't very collaborative and doesn't work well with a team isn't a neutral value-added. This is negative. ”
But once IT staff is hired, there is a disconnect. Technology professionals need soft skills to succeed in their jobs – 78% of respondents said they assess soft skills as part of their IT staff's regular performance reviews, and that their progress may be limited if such skills are lacking. But it's not entirely clear how they should develop these soft skills throughout their careers. Only 59% of respondents said their organization provided any type of training in the field to technical employees.
Obviously, more is needed. In the survey, 71% of respondents said that a lack of collaboration skills among IT professionals led to delays in the completion of technical projects, and 43% said it led to a decrease in the quality of outcomes. "We are in a time of high technological disruption," said Kate S**age, Head of Human Resources and Talent for Capgemini's North American practice. "People understand the need for soft skills, but they don't necessarily know how to value them.
This is a shame because soft skills are more valuable than many IT employees realize. New York City PR firm Makovsky & CoAllan Berkovitz, director of IT, says that without them, it would be difficult or impossible to create innovations that would help the company achieve its goals.
With soft skills, people will recognize what you do and take you seriously as a leader," he said. "Without them, people would feel like IT is a utility that keeps the lights on and the wifi works. ”
He says IT leaders with the right soft skills can use their understanding of the business and communication skills to come up with innovations that can reduce costs, increase productivity, or increase sales. If they lack these soft skills, their business may stagnate.
What soft skills does IT need?
What exactly are the soft skills that IT employees need to be successful?Unfortunately, "soft skills" is a very vague term that encompasses a wide range of abilities, from writing clear and concise emails to reading body language instinctively. So what are the most in-demand soft skills for IT employees?Here's what the experts say:
Communicate. In Simonroe's survey, communication took the first place. Sixty-two percent of respondents complained of problems due to poor communication skills from IT staff, and 38 percent reported problems due to poor written communication skills.
Cooperate. Working well in teams or working well with business professionals was another priority for survey respondents, with 44% of respondents saying there were problems with technology projects because IT staff lacked collaboration skills. As more IT employees work directly with business leaders, these skills are likely to become even more important. More than half of the respondents said that direct collaboration between the two functions of their company is growing.
Leadership. In addition to surveys, IT experts point out other soft skills that are essential but often lacking in IT professionals. Chief among them are: leadership – even for technical employees who don't hold managerial roles. "It doesn't have to be an IT director or a CIO;It could be a desktop support technician or a server administrator," Berkovitz said. "They still need to build confidence in their abilities so that they can admit that they don't know something, learn from Xi experience, and then guide others to learn from Xi. They need to have the mindset of being an educator, not just with the rest of the IT team, but with the company as a whole. ”
Berkowitz himself said he had done it in his current position. He regularly writes for all Makovsky & CoEmployees provide 45-minute lessons. In the first 10 minutes, he gives a short demonstration – for example, a quick guide on how to use a technical tool, or how to avoid technical pitfalls while presenting. The rest of the time is spent on open discussions and training. "It's helped employees see me more as a leader here," he said. "They come to me more often with questions, not just when they have problems. If they try to do something and can't come up with a solution, they ask me. ”
Understand and solve business problems.
This is what Dawn Platt, the principal of Grant Thornton, calls the "advisory mentality." "Whether the customer is an external customer or an internal colleague, IT staff need to be centered on customer service leadership," she says. "It's a soft skill that's harder to train than communication. What does my client ultimately want to achieve?”
Emotional intelligence and empathy.
Interpersonal skills, such as the ability to see a situation from someone else's point of view, are very important for technical employees. "Some of the most important skills we have allow us to empathize with our customers, really understand them, and think from their perspective," said Joy During, CIO at Vivint Smart Home in Salt Lake City. In fact, she says, she finds these skills so important that she uses the term "emotional intelligence" instead of "soft skills."
One skill I was looking for, especially for budding managers, were they aware of the impact they were having on their clients?If someone makes a pitch at a meeting and doesn't notice the non-verbal cues in the room but thinks it's a great pitch, that's a problem," she said.
How to help IT staff improve their soft skills.
Most organizations have a system in place to avoid hiring people who lack soft skills. But once employees are in an organization, how do you help them develop these soft skills and keep developing them throughout their careers?Here are some tips from IT experts:
1.Start early.
Leadership skills are needed at every level," Savage said. "At every level, you have the opportunity to lead and teach people to think differently. And, she says, if an IT professional doesn't acquire leadership skills early in the management ladder, it can hinder his or her career advancement. "When it's too late for someone's career and you're teaching them leadership skills from scratch, it's very, very difficult to retrain that person," she said.
Savage found that many of today's recent graduates are not acquiring the soft skills they need during college, which is particularly worrying. "You'll see that people who come from college courses** are actually only looking at hard skills," she said. "Hard skills are definitely becoming more and more important. But we've found that you don't have to be an expert in your field to create value. What drives your career forward is your soft skills. With that in mind, she said, Capgemini is valuing soft skills earlier in its IT career than traditional employers. It even offers practical Xi programs for sophomores and juniors to work in less technical fields to develop their soft skills and learn about the company culture.
2.Don't leave anyone out.
Almost every IT organization has some technical experts who focus on a deep understanding of technology and never intend to take on a management role. IT experts agree that it doesn't make sense to expect these people to have the same level of soft skills as those who dream of one day becoming a CIO.
But nowadays, even a pure technologist needs some soft skills development. Leyoke says the stereotype of working alone in a hoodie is no longer valid. "It's very difficult to be a fully individual contributor on today's technology platform," he said. "Even the most geeky geeks want their ideas – probably cutting-edge – to be accepted by others. So, even they are aware that their need for collaboration and communication is increasing. ”
3.Provide formal training.
Layok suggests taking an extremely simple step: involve IT staff when LOB executives are trained in leadership or other soft skills. "Companies usually do leadership training for business people," he said.
According to Platt, Grant Thornton subscribes to leadership courses and other courses that IT staff can complete on their own schedules. "They cover all topics and are available all year round. ”
4.Develop an internal coaching plan.
Experts agree that it's best for IT employees to learn Xi soft skills by working in jobs that require them and being mentored by people who have worked in such jobs before. "Try to pair people and have coaches within the organization," Leyoke said. "It's not necessarily about hiring a paid coach from outside, but about assigning a coach who is likely to make further progress in soft skills development. It's more like a Xi. ”
At Grant & Full, Pratt said, "everyone is assigned a coach who is at least one level higher than themselves." This coach is responsible for coaching and ensuring that people meet their expectations and helping them develop career development plans. Coaches are assigned according to a project assignment and reporting structure, and coaching is part of their job responsibilities, she said.
5.Self-counseling.
The best IT leaders value helping their subordinates gain the soft skills they need. For example, Durling leads a team of more than 200 technical employees, so she can't coach everyone directly. But she spends a lot of time developing the leadership skills of 30 or 40 managers or above on her team. She holds an hour-long meeting with these team members once a week to brief them on the state of the business, discuss turn-overs, and listen to their questions and concerns. Then, once a year, they go on a retreat. "It's two days of what we call leadership development, but it's focused on emotional intelligence, self-awareness and adaptability," she said.
Berkowitz recalls a case where his efforts to directly mentor employees made a huge impact. "He's one of those very*** people. But at work, he has to talk to people," Berkowitz said. "So we'll do these projects together, and we're at a lot of parties. He got rid of his shell and made progress. Berkowitz said the employee didn't immediately become outgoing, and that's okay. "It would be great if I could see progress. You can't change a person overnight. ”
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