Today's Business Lessons
Competencies and values training
One
of my colleagues once said to me, “my boss does not believe in soft
skills training, Francis. But we know that this is what we need in the
company.”
This is not unusual.
Even more so if the chief of organization cannot get a justified
return of investment for the money spent on the training. But I do not
blame them. I knew that they were not instructed to look deeper at the
realities within the organization.
Many business organizations are huge on technical competencies, but
short on soft-skills and values-based trainings. Some business owners
deem their employees as skills providers, and because of this, they fail
to recognize the considerable and untapped values contained in each of
their employees.
Famous business consultant Mike Myatt said: “It’s the cumulative
power of a person’s soft skills, the sum of the parts that creates real
value. It’s not what a person knows so much as it is how they’re able to
use said knowledge to inspire and create brilliance in others that
really matters. We live in a time that has moved well beyond
competency-driven models, yet organizations still primarily use
competency-based interviews, competency-based development,
competency-based performance reviews, and competency-based rewards as
their framework for doing business.”
Many business companies pay lip service to things like character,
trust, passion, integrity, innovation and team work. You can find these
corporate buzzwords neatly presented in their corporate web sites or
hung as polished plaques on their walls, yet they don’t practice what
they preach. They don’t put utmost value on guiding their employees.What most companies do to implement these corporate buzzwords is to
print pretty words behind corporate ID’s, reproduce them on coffee mugs,
carve them on pencil cases and require employees to memorize corporate
values. Though admittedly economical, petty memorization do not make the
employees appreciate these soft skills. Sincere guidance and training
help employees internalize these values and live them out. What many
people do not understand is that corporate values, life values and
leadership skills are life skills. The challenge is how to make everyone
in the organization see this.
You can easily measure competency, but not soft skills. The real
challenge here is to understand that just because something is hard to
measure, does not mean it is unimportant. Look at the common problems
that arise in the workplace, don’t they usually involve ‘soft skills’?
Another reason for the creeping shortage of soft-skills in the
workplace is the finding of qualified, able and credible coach to do the
guidance. The truth of the matter is that most employees behave like
children. They refuse to listen to what their parents say but they
believe teachers that say the same. I find this humorous because every
time I do ‘Values-trainings’ and engage the participants in active talk,
I can see the senior executives or even the CEOs shaking their heads as
if saying, “but this is what I have always been telling them...”
You see, soft skills training are vital. Mike Myatt said: “The value
organizations should be cultivating and curating in people is their
ability to align purpose, vision, values, character, and commitment with
demonstrated competency. Competency isn’t the entirety of a person’s
worth, and it certainly shouldn’t be the gold standard of their
measurement. It’s a small part of the equation, but in many cases,
corporations treat it as if it’s the only thing that matters.
Here’s the thing – you can possess the greatest technical wizard, but
that doesn’t make you a great leader. If you don’t care, aren’t
collaborative, can’t communicate, refuse to take input and feedback, or
you even allow your hubris to overshadow your humility, then you might
be intelligent, but you’re not very bright. The really sad part of the
story is how often a person is rewarded in a competency-based system.
Don’t just let corporate values be buzzwords, but do some serious
training and create a company culture that is based on these points.
You’d be surprised at how much more your business can achieve when your
people do not only perform well, but behave well.
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