Home > News > May 2006 > 30-May-2006

Communication skills valued most, says survey

According to mew survey from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), UK employers value communication skills and team-working above leadership in the 'soft skills' they look for in a workforce.

A recent You Gov survey of over 800 employers found that employers look for communication skills (61%) followed-by team-working (58%), self-motivation/initiative (41%) and problem-solving (28%).

Leadership skills were second from the bottom of the list with only 6%, whilst understanding money was bottom of employer's lists with just 4%.

The National Employers Skills Survey 2005, another recent piece of research from the LSC, also showed the major skills gaps employers are currently facing relate to 'soft skills'. Over half of the employers surveyed cited team working and customer handling as gaps in most employee's skill sets.

Rob Wye, director of strategy and communications at the Learning and Skills Council believes that both individuals and business have a role to play in improving the skills of the UK workforce: "'Soft skills' should be part of everyone's professional make-up and need to be nurtured to bring out the best in people.

"Individuals should make a conscious effort to continually improve their 'soft skills' and businesses must look at how they can develop their workforce at every stage of their career."

According to the report, whilst differences of opinion exist between the genders on skills, they are not poles apart from each other. The main distinctions include:

• Female bosses value communication skills (73%) much more than men (58%)
• Problem solving skills are ranked lower by women than men (24% versus 29%)
• Women revealed that interpersonal skills are more important to them than to men (30% versus 20%)

The report says that the predominant differences in opinions on soft skills between the employer age groups show that older managers value problem solving more than the young - 28% compared to 15% - and surprisingly place more importance on IT skills - 20% against 12% of the 18-29 year olds. However, 27% of 18-29 year olds believe that time management is a valuable soft skill compared to just 10% of the over 50s.

Joanna Yates, Occupational Psychologist at The Mind Gym believes that striking a balance is key: "There is a fine line between being assertive and confident and too over-powering and domineering, which can often lead to tensions in the work place.

"Key 'soft skills' such as the ability to work in a team and communicate effectively are becoming more and more significant in the fast-moving world of business. We all have these skills inside us, but often we need to work at developing them to help us achieve our full potential".

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