Soft skills are a quintessential qualification forprofessionals aspiring to move up the value chain

Ramesh K was euphoric, his dream assignment of aposting on an overseas software project had just cometrue. Just two months after taking up the assignment,he was facing problems that he had neverimagined he would. Ramesh was one of the betterperformers the team and nobody could doubt histechnical knowledge and dedication to theproject.

However, just a few weeks after he began work, Rameshnoticed that his immediate boss and even some of hispeers were avoiding him. He could not figure out why,until one day, he was summoned for a terse 'talk'.Ramesh was told that there was a major 'etiquette'issue. He was told to speak softly, especially whilereceiving personal calls in the office. He was alsoasked to avoid speaking to his Indian colleaguesin Hindi during office hours. There were other'requests': ''Please end all your e-mails with'regards'. Do not bring up controversialsubjects like religion or racial discrimination atbusiness meetings. When there is a need to make smalltalk, stick to general interest topics like theweather and sports...

''There was more and Ramesh found the 'talk' extremelyinsulting. He realized that these were small butimportant issues and wished someone had briefed himabout such things back home in India.

Cases like the one described above were extremely common a year or two ago. The IT boom saw Indiancompanies deploying a large number of consultants toclient sites in India as well as overseas. As talesliked the ones described above got around, companiesbegan training their consultants in soft skills. Bothcorporates and consultants realized that soft skills are an essential tool in getting business inan increasingly competitive business environment. Thisresulted in the mushrooming of a large number of softskill training agencies.

Despite 2001 being a dull year for the IT industry,companies worldwide realized that to build betterrelationships with their clients, it is absolutelyessential that their clients have a high level ofcomfort dealing with them. The level of comfort woulddepend a lot on the interaction they have with thecompany's representatives.

Even as there was news of layoffs, downsizing and costcutting, the few recruitment ads that were seen, hadone thing in common- qualities like good communicationand presentation skills and the ability to work in ateam, were essentials in a candidate.

An independent study conducted on CEOs, by StanfordResearch Institute and Carnegie Mellon in the US,found that long-term job success depends 75% on peopleskills and only 25% on technical knowledge. Anotherstudy done by Harvard University had even morestartling results—85% of jobs and promotions happenedbecause of the candidate's attitude and only 15% dueto the facts and figures he packed under his belt. Infact, companies lose almost 10 - 15 % of possiblebusinessdue to their inability to meet the perceived level ofservices linked to soft skills. Given these facts, itis not surprising that online offerings on soft skillstraining, public speaking courses and Englishlanguage classes have proliferated.

ABC's Tarun Bali, reveals that corporates in Indiaspend more than Rs 600 crore a year in direct trainingcosts. ''A recent survey revealed that the IT industryspent more than 40% of its training budget on skillbuilding. Training was always high priority on the ITmanager's agenda, but amid project completiondeadlines, hectic travel schedules and longteleconferences, skill building took a backseat. Withthe slowing down of the sector, this spending could bebetter utilized now, with techies having more time ontheir hands," says Bali.

He further adds, "Wipro Technologies is deploying itsbenched employees on various programs such as projectallocations, training and fixed price projects. Thereare training sessions for engineers in foreignlanguages such as French and German. At Phoenix GlobalSolutions, this is the time for consolidationactivities and highlighting additional skills that theemployees may have acquired recently. Employees choosespecific training programs for skills that they needto improve upon. Similarly, at Motorola, engineers arebusy enrolling for technical and soft skills training.At Sun Microsystems too, techies are consolidatingtheir personal skills. Training programs in bothtechnical and soft skill areas are being organized".

Nothing technical about it Make no mistake! You may bean MCA, MBA-IT or even a PhD, but one thing iscertain, besides technical skills, it's the softerskill-setsthat make a difference if you want to move up theladder. A survey of IT recruitment advertisementsreveals that for 60% of entry-level jobs, technicalskills are most important. Soft skills like 'theability to work well in a team' become more relevantas one moves up the ladder and would start assumingimportance for candidates with over two to three yearsof experience. For positions like those of teamleaders that demand experience and supervisory skills,it isalmost impossible to find even a single advertisementwhich does not have phrases like 'excellentcommunication skills','strong interpersonal skills'etc.

Bali of ABC points out, "General knowledge tests,degrees and fancy qualifications are not the onlythings required for high achievement". While anexecutive may be technically brilliant, he/she may notbe able to function in a team or motivatesubordinates.

Attitude and mindset Organizations are increasinglylooking at the emotional intelligence of both currentand prospective employees. Attitude and mindsettraining are critical issues involved. RL Bhatia, CEOof Mumbai based Center of Change Management whoseclientele includes Citicorp, Aptech, Reliance and JetAirways adds, "Training on emotional intelligence hashelped several IT companies to focus their skills andevolve as professionals with a higher degree ofmaturity". "Training on emotional intelligence hashelped IT professionals achieve a higher degree ofmaturity" RL Bhatia, chief executive, CCM

Nandita Gurjar, Head-Learning and Development, Infosysfeels that critical soft-skill areas includecross-cultural sensitivity, communication, teambuilding and customer interface skills.

Echoing Gurjar's opinion, Wipro VP (HR) Ranjan Acharyaadds, "Customer facing competencies such as listening,influencing and persuasive communication areimportant." Emotional Quotient (EQ) forms a keyingredient of the recipe for success.

Rajan Bhatnagar, CEO of Jobcurry Systemsfeels,"Appearance and hygiene are also aspects of softskills training that are critical to success and needto be addressed, especially for professionals onoverseas assignments. Good presentation skills arealso essential and companies must train not just theirmarketing and sales team but also their technicalteams on how to make effective presentations, be clearandto the point during meetings, and speak clearly andconfidently during conference calls".

Growing recognition The Industry seems to berecognizing the importance of having more than justtechnical skillsets.

According to Atul Mathur of Panchghani-based Outboundfoundation which has clients like Siemens and Iflex,the IT industry has traditionally hired and trainedonly on the basis of technical skills. This led to ahuge competence gap at the project manager/leaderlevel since people were 'good at doing but not atgetting things done' i.e. project management skillswere a weak area. ''As projects became larger andcomplex and customers became even more demanding, theneed forleadership and team working came into sharp focus"says Mathur adding that tighter deadlines neededbetter team co-ordination and management. Moduleinterfaces necessitated good co-ordination andcommunication between developing teams. ''In the lastfew years wehave seen a much greater consciousness of the need forsoft skills in the industry. Gone are the days whencasual T-shirts and beachwear was considered cool andappropriate for work,'' he says. More and morecompanies have realized the importance of 'oldeconomy' soft skills like corporate dressing, verbaland non-verbal communication, business etiquette etc.Bhatnagar remarks, "We have seen a marked increase inthe importance IT firms give to soft skills. Thedemand is for a professional who is not just a techie,but is the face of the company, carrying on hisshoulders the image and goodwill his organization"."Companies have realized the importance of Old Economyskills, likepower dressing and etiquette" Atul Mathur, OutboundFoundation

Bhatnagar recalls that in the past, there have been alot of cases of candidates coming back or being sentback to India because of their inability to adapt tothe work culture overseas. ''IT professionals need toget 'acclimatized' - not just prepare for the weather,but also the way people dress, work, talk, interactand socialize. Employers often complain of consultantswho do not possess the requisite corporate etiquettesuch as courteous greetings and polite social talk",adds Bhatnagar.

Besides, there is a tendency to socialize only withother Indian consultants, speak in native languages,and not attempt to blend with the company's culturaland work ethos. Professionals also often abuseoffice facilities such as phones and Internetconnections without realizing that, while these may beoverlooked in India, they are frowned upon elsewhere.They are also often unaware of the concept of personalspace. Consultants should also be made aware ofactions or jokes that could be interpreted asharassment, meeting and introduction protocol,festivals and celebrations and other such factors thatvary from culture to culture. Soft skills trainingtherefore, should necessarily encompass all thesedetails.

"People relations matter a lot... success does nothinge on scholastic qualifications or technicalbrilliance alone" Tarun Bali, ABC Consultants

As soft skills are becoming an integral part of anytraining program, many IT companies are investing inthis area. Typically, IT companies allocate more thana third of their training budgets to the developmentof soft skills. Acharya says, "At Wipro, approximately40%of the training budget is for soft skills. Our overalltraining budget is 5% of the manpower cost, which ishigher than the 3% global norms.''Gurjar talks aboutthe importance of investing in technical, quality,managerial and leadership training.

Dinesh Joshi, HR head of Vedaris Technology adds,"Budgets allocated for soft skill training have goneup from the earlier 20%. This greater allocation forsoft skill training is twofold. One, we haveextensively trained our employees in technical areashence lessertraining hours on technical skill training. Second, toretain good people, we find that their attitude andother personality attributes have to be developed i.e.they need to be developed as people, hence agreater focus on soft skills."

Seeking the competitive advantage The quality ofpeople is of primary importance and a large part ofthis comes from soft skills. Agrees Acharya,"Employers may shortlist candidates based on theirtechnical skills, but they eventually hire them forsoft skills". Bhatia adds,"Over the years, the demandhas changed according to market conditions. Theexpectations have changedas well. Individuals have realized that to exploitpotential, the creative side of development needs tobe incorporated. It therefore becomes imperative thatsoft skills need to be felt and understood more thanbefore. Soft skills are thus equally, if not moreimportantin your career." Bali believes that being intangiblein nature, this concept is difficult to measure andunderstand. Talking about the media-hype on softskills, Bali adds, "Some companies see it as aquick fix solution and finally it ends up beingtreated as a fad. This is an immature approach to softskill training. However, as corporate India matures,there will be an increasing need felt for softskills.

"Lack of proper training in soft-skills could lead toproblems in appreciating cultural differences, cultureshock and a clash of management styles. Food habitscould also pose a problem at times. Wipro's Acharyafeels, "We insist that anyone going abroad goesthrough our cross cultural skills training,".Clearly, soft skills are being recognized for theirtrue worth. And with an increasing number oforganizations training their personnel towards it, itcan only augur well for the IT industry towards makingIndia Inc globally competitive.