Importance of Soft Skills in the Workplace 1. The importance of soft skills in any workplace was highlighted in a 2018 research study by the Stanford Research Institute International and the Carnegie Mellon Foundation. Assessing the opinions of Fortune 500 CEOs, the study found that 75% of long-term job success depended upon people skills, while only 25% depended on job-related success. In addition, researchers at Harvard University, Boston University, and University of Michigan found that workers in all industries who are given soft skills training are 1% more productive than those without them. This small percentage translates into a 256% return on investment (ROI) for the company (Hansen, 2018). 1 The need for soft skills among health care providers is particularly important, because an interaction between a patient and a caregiver in the health care environment represents some of the most important moments in that patient’s lifetime. Unfortunately, a soft skills gap in the abilities of health care workers appears to be present in today’s health care environment. Davis (2020) suggests that the shift in focus in the education system, the demands of technology, and the stress associated with staff responsibilities may compound this deficit. 2 Given the personal and economic impact of soft skills in all types of health care environments, health professions instructors have an obligation to provide learning activities to prepare new graduates to effectively use these skills. Numerous soft skills are important when interacting with patients, families, and other members of the interdisciplinary team. However, four skills, Meaningful Communication, Adaptability, Time Management, and Empathy (MATE) , are essential to success in the health care arena (and other parts of one’s life as well)! Most instructors agree that these four skills are very important, but how can they be integrated into the student’s course of study? How can faculty provide opportunities for students to gain the MATE skills, while also emphasizing cognitive and psychomotor competencies that are also necessary and often more easily evaluated? Learning MATE Skills 2. The first step in providing learning opportunities to develop MATE skills is to demonstrate the importance of such skills in the health care environment. Providing examples of various patient outcomes based upon a caregiver’s communication skills, adaptability, time management, or empathy can help students understand the importance of such skills. For example, Theresa Brown, in Healing: When a Nurse Becomes a Patient , tells a story of her experience with a radiologist’s office staff. The day she was told she had a mass in her breast, she was trying to schedule an immediate appointment for a biopsy and was told that the office scheduler had just left the office. “ You just missed her; she leaves at 3 pm .” (It was exactly 3 pm at the time of this interaction.) 3 The office staff made no effort to help in any other way. Asking students to reflect on the way they would feel as a patient in such a situation emphasizes how important meaningful communication can be. Secondly, students should be able to reflect upon their own skills and develop strategies to improve in the areas in which they find themselves weak. An evaluation and reflection tool to assist with this endeavor can be found on the last page of this paper.
2
Powered by FlippingBook