People Skills: Developing Soft Skills—A Change Management Perspective

Author(s): Robert E. Levasseur

Source: Interfaces , November-December 2013, Vol. 43, No. 6 (November-December 2013),
pp. 566-571
Published by: INFORMS

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43699350

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 Interfaces infTfļfffl
Vol. 43, No. 6, November-December 2013, pp. 566-571 ®
ISSN 0092-2102 (print) | ISSN 1526-551X (online) http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/inte.2013.0703
©2013 INFORMS

People Skills: Developing Soft Skills -

A Change Management Perspective
Robert E. Levasseur
Waiden University, St. Augustine, Florida 32084, robert.levasseur@waldenu.edu

This is another in a series of articles about some of the most effective models, methods, and processes of orga-
nization development (OD), also known as change management, a discipline that offers much to professionals
intent on solving real- world problems. Because it is based on a systemic view of organizations, OD includes the
whole universe of fuzzy people issues that increasingly determine the success or failure of efforts to implement
otherwise flawless technical solutions. This article examines the increasingly important set of personal abilities
known as soft skills. The primary focus is on how modern change management principles and practices can
facilitate the development of soft skills, such as self-awareness, communication, collaboration, and leadership.
Key words : soft skills; skills development; change management; organization development; coaching;
mentoring; training; self-awareness; communication; collaboration; leadership.

consistent with the definitions in the literature, is:

What successsuccess
are soft in comparison
in comparison to hardskills?
skills?How
Whytoare
important hard skills? are Why they are to (1) personal (e.g., self-awareness), (2) interpersonal
people who have good soft skills in such short sup- (e.g., communication), (3) group (e.g., collaboration),
ply? What is the best way to develop soft skills? How and (4) organizational (e.g., leadership). We will use
can knowledge of change management principles and this classification later when we examine ways to
practices help to facilitate the development of soft develop skills that are consistent with change man-
skills? In this article, we seek answers to these related agement principles and practices.
questions.
Importance of Soft Skills
Nature of Soft Skills
How important are soft skills versus hard skills ? Based on
the literature, the answer is that soft skills are very
What are soft skills ? Although described in different
terms, many of the definitions of soft and hard important
skills in many disciplines, such as analytics and
operations research/management science (OR/MS)
in the literature describe similar concepts. For exam-
(Sodhi and Son 2008), accounting (Stovall and Stovall
ple, Dixon et al. (2010) view soft skills as "a combina-
tion of interpersonal and social skills. Hard skills, on information systems (IS) (Richards et al. 1998),
2009),
the other hand, include . . . technical or administrative"
finance (Dixon et al. 2010), project management (Alam
competence (p. 35). For Newell (2002), soft skills et al. 2010), leadership (Newell 2002), and arguably
(e.g.,
self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy,
many more. Many researchers have tried to quantify
and social skill), are manifestations of emotional intel-
the importance of soft versus hard skills. Richards
et al. (1998) report that senior IS managers, surveyed
ligence, and hard skills (e.g., logic, analytical thinking,
on the importance of various IS skills as employ-
rigor, and strategic, long-term vision) are indications
of cognitive intelligence. Similarly, Muzio and Fisherers, rated soft skills higher than technical skills. The
(2009) relate hard skills to innate intelligence andtopsoftfive IS skills these managers identify (p. 54), all
skills to behaviors, motivation, and other aspectsofof which the authors classify as business or people
human interaction. skills (in contrast to technical skills), are the ability
How can we classify soft skills ? For the purpose toof (1) interact with internal users and external clients,
this article, a useful way of classifying soft skills,
(2) work cooperatively in a project team environment,
566

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Levasseur: People Skills: Developing Soft Skills
Interfaces 43(6), pp. 566-571, ©2013 INFORMS 567

needs),
(3) understand the business and soft skills (e.g., emotional
environment, (4) be intelligence)
self-
directed and proactive, and (5) analyze
to higher-order IS solutions
skills (e.g., self-actualization). In the
sense that
to business problems. Beard et hard skills(2008)
al. are either innate
reportor learned that

a survey of 276 employers through educationthat

shows or training,
the they are more preva-
primary
soft skills required by ISlent than soft skills, which
employers are develop
(1) as a result
oral of inter-
and
personal(2)
written communication skills, interaction
a strong and self-reflection,
work ethic, much like it
takes time to workand
(3) teamwork skills, (4) initiative, one's way(5) up interper-
Maslow's hierarchy
sonal skills (p. 230). to the state of self-actualization (which, as Maslow
suggests,
In a qualitative study of project somemanagement
people never reach). pro-
fessionals, Azim et al. (2010)Corroboration
determine of the that
idea that the hardkey
skills (e.g.,
mathematics,
to managing complex projects is softcomputer programming)
skills. Seventy- are learned,
whereas soft
five percent of the participants skills (e.g., communication,
interviewed say that collabora-
tion) are developed comes
people skills are the most important factor for deal- from Stovall and Stovall
ing with project complexity. Less than 25 percent feelwhy
(2009), who maintain that the root cause of
schools are graduating
that the hard skills of process and productstudents who lack soft skills is
knowl-
edge are most important. "People deliver successfulthat
that "teaching the technical skills ... is something
lends itself to individual
projects and not just the application work, not group
of methods and projects"
(p. 102). Clearly, their assumption
tools" (Azim et al. 2010, p. 397). The most important is that without suf-
ficient et
soft skills identified by Azim opportunity
al. (2010)to interact
are with peers or mentors,
"commu-
students will be less well-versed in the soft skills
nication, motivation, delegation, ownership and sense
(which require
of achievement" and leadership human(p.
skills interaction
397).for their develop-
ment) than hard skills
"Even at Google, technical skill ranks behind (which they can learn
theprimarily
on their own). Regardless of the need for soft skills,
human touch" (Bryant 2011, p. 1). In an effort to deter-
most students, particularly those in the more technical
mine the characteristics of its best managers, people
disciplines, are likely to have better hard skills when
analytics teams at this quintessential high-tech com-
they graduate, thus placing the burden primarily on
pany applied data mining to Google's internal data
the employer to develop their soft skills.
on management performance. Their findings strongly
suggest the importance of soft skills, even in a com-
Developing
pany that ostensibly values hard Soft Skills
skills. As Bryant
(2011) reports, soft skills, What
such as
is the besthaving a soft
way to develop clear
skills ?vision
To answer this
for the team and facilitatingquestion, we must understand
employee career howdevel-
human beings
opment, characterize Google'sdevelop.best
Based on that understanding, we can then
managers.
decide which methods are likely, in theory, to foster
Lack of Soft Skills the greatest development of each type of soft skill.
Nature of human development. There are many per-
Why do so many technical people lack soft skills ? Attempt-
spectives on how humans develop, but a holistic
ing to answer this question feels a little bit like trying
perspective, such that both Lewin and Bronfenbren-
to determine whether leaders are born or made. How-
ner advocate, has great appeal for systems thinkers
ever, a review of the literature did produce some ideas
like OR/MS and analytics professionals. Lewin (1951)
on the subject worth mentioning. Muzio and Fisher believes that behavior is the result of interaction
(2009) discuss hard and soft skills in light of Maslow's
between a person (P) and his (her) environment (E):
hierarchy of needs model. Maslow (1987) defines five
levels of need from the most basic of physiologi- Behavior = /(P, E). (1)
cal and safety to the higher-order ones of love and
Because skills are basically developed behaviors,
belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. Muzio a andsmall leap to suggest that:
Fisher liken hard skills (e.g., innate and cognitive
intelligence) to lower-order skills (e.g., physiological Skill development = /(P, E). (2)

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 Levasseur: People Skills: Developing Soft Skills
568 Interfaces 43(6), pp. 566-571, ©2013 INFORMS

Based on this model, having

that incorporatesaits strong desire
driving forces, ongoing process, (P)
to acquire a skill is necessary, and desiredbut
outcome:not sufficient, to
its development. Favorable Human environmental
development is the process factors
through wliich(£) the
must also be at play. For example, a person may
growing person acquires a more extended, differen- want
to learn to play the violin,tiated, butand without
valid conceptionthe of the money to
ecological envi-
pay for lessons will not be able to develop that skill.ronment, and becomes motivated and able to engage
Similarly, a person may not in activities
want that reveal
to the properties
learn of, sustain, or
mathemat-
restructure that environment at levels of similar or
ics, but if acquiring that skill is necessary for earning
greater complexity in form and content, (p. 27)
a college degree, he or she will have to develop that
ability. In summary, according to Bronfenbrenner (1979), if
Bronfenbrenner (1979) takes Lewin's simple and you want to catalyze human development, change the
elegant model one step further. He too sees the envi- systems in the environment of the person for the bet-
ronment in which a person lives as a critical ele- ter. The corresponding interaction between the envi-
ment in human development. However, he differenti- ronment and the person will take the form of either a
ates the environment in terms of its superstructures, change in role or setting and will result in an ecolog-
which he terms the ecological environment. "The eco- ical transition to a higher-order environment. If the
logical environment is ... a set of nested structures, personal motivation to change is present, the result
each inside the next, like a set of Russian dolls" will be individual growth and development.
(Bronfenbrenner 1979, p. 3). Briefly, the inner-most For example, if you want a child to learn to read
level (i.e., the microsystem) contains the individual better and faster, read with that child and make it
and the people in the immediate surroundings (e.g., fun. This favorable change in the child's mesosys-
home and parents for a child); the next level (i.e., tem, which constitutes a change in the role of the
the mesosystem) consists of those systems (and the child from individual learner to active participant
people in them) with whom the individual has fre- in an enjoyable and collaborative learning process,
quent and important interactions (e.g., school and will encourage an ecological transition; in all likeli-
teachers for a child); a third level (i.e., the exosys- hood, the child will become motivated to learn to
tem) includes people and events that influence the read on his or her own. The result will be human

individual, but are not in turn influenced by the indi- development.

vidual (e.g., the workplace of the parents in the case Consider a slightly more elaborate example con-
of a child); and the final level (i.e., the macrosys- cerning the effect of a change in the federal laws
tem) is the culture or broader society that surrounds designed to eliminate all vestiges of the glass ceil-
the individual, but does not directly influence the ing in organizations. This change in the macrosys-
individual on a regular basis (e.g., the educational tem, assuming effective implementation, would result
system). in workplace changes (i.e., the exosystem) that could
Fundamental to Bronfenbrenner 's theory is the improve the circumstances and attitude of a parent,
notion of ecological transition. "An ecological transi- which could in turn positively impact the microsys-
tion occurs whenever a person's position in the eco- tem of a child. For example, if the parent earns a
logical environment is altered as the result of a change higher salary as a result of the new laws and can
in role, setting, or both" (Bronfenbrenner 1979, p. 22). afford to spend more time at home with the child, the
These transitions occur frequently and mark the occa- end result could be more rapid growth of the child,
sions of development for an individual. For exam- attributable directly to a favorable change in the eco-
ple, attending or graduating from school, accepting logical environment.
or quitting a job, and marrying or divorcing are eco- Developing soft skills in theory. What do the theo-
logical transitions that have significant development ries of Lewin and Bronfenbrenner tell us about the

opportunities associated with them. development of soft skills? Education and training are
Bronfenbrenner (1979) encapsulates all these con- arguably the basic mechanisms for developing hard
cepts in a single definition of human development skills (Dixon et al. 2010). Essentially, developing hard

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Levasseur: People Skills: Developing Soft Skills
Interfaces 43(6), pp. 566-571, ©2013 INFORMS 569

skills requires having the basic

personal motivation
field to learn
theory formulation
and a learning environment that
tion (1) supports
(Lewin individ-
1951), which su
ual's
ual learning, but requires a response
minimum of to change is a f
interpersonal
interaction; whereas, softaction
skills development
of his or her requires
personal
the personal motivation factors
to learn(e.g.,
and a much more
pressure to cha
complex ecological environment to supportabout
communication the per-
the ch
sonal interaction with others,
impact). which Hence, is necessary
the ideasto of Le
foster the individual's development. In
ner regarding human developm theory, there-
fore, the development of lier,
soft skillsshare is the much samemore theoreticaldif-
ficult than the developmentwork of hard in OD skills
and because change it man
requires actively interacting with others
the advice presented in this on an ongo-
ing basis and being willingsoftto accept
skills - behavioral
at the personal, feed- int
back. In short, we cannot organizational
learn soft skills levels by reading
- has its r
a book. We need the help ment
of other people. and practices.
principles
It is not surprising, therefore,
Personal skills.that students
Self-awareness is a critical softin
skill aca-
demic disciplines, such for
asimproving
accounting, IS, "Self-awareness
individual behavior. finance,
engineering, and mathematics, which
involves knowing dovalues,
how your notbeliefs,
require
assump-
as much interpersonal interaction as, for example,
tions, attitudes, and preferences affect your behavior"
management, do not enter the job
(Levasseur 1991a,market with and
p. 131). Self-reflection finely
coach-
honed soft skills. First, they are often less motivated
ing are approaches that work well in developing soft
to acquire soft skills by skills
nature of their The
(such as self-awareness). personality
former enables
(P); and second, the academic environment (£) does
the individual to examine behavior in light of its
not support the acquisition
causesof those important
and effectiveness, skills.
and the latter entails ongo-
The job thus falls, as noted earlier, on the employer to
ing interaction between the coach and mentee until
facilitate the development of soft skills. But how can
the individual has achieved an acceptable level of
employers do this best?
ability. Given its greater fit with the requirements
Developing soft skills in practice. Few people would
for soft skills development, and thus its arguably
argue that teaching soft skills by means of courses
much greater likelihood of success, coaching, espe-
or training programs does not work. Such programs
cially when combined with active self-reflection, is an
have at least the potential to impart basic knowledge
excellent method for developing personal soft skills.
and provide limited opportunities for practicing each
Interpersonal skills. Effective communication is an
new soft skill presented. However, because of the
essential soft skill for building good working rela-
short duration and group focus of most training pro-
tionships and influencing others. At the interper-
grams, they can at best only initiate the process. The
sonal level, effective communication involves the
real development comes from continually practicing
application of specific competencies, such as lis-
the skills and processing performance feedback, based
tening actively and providing constructive feedback
on self-reflection or constructive inputs received from
(Levasseur 1991b). Because these skills are simple to
others, which fosters ongoing development of those
skills. learn, a training program is a viable option for devel-
oping them.
Group skills. The ability to work in teams is an impor-
Soft Skills and Change Management
tant soft skill that modern workers must develop. Pre-
vious columns in this series
We have examined the importance of examine
Lewin'svarious aspects
work
in the area of change management
of this core competency formany times
modern knowledge work- in
previous articles in thisers, such as leading
series teams Levasseur
(e.g., (Levasseur 2005), leading
2001
and 2010). Underlying Lewin's three-stage
collaborative meetings change
(Levasseur 1992), and launch-
ing a cooperative
model - unfreezing, moving, learning team (Levasseur
and refreezing - is1996).
the

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 Levasseur: People Skills: Developing Soft Skills
570 Interfaces 43(6), pp. 566-571, ©2013 INFORMS

A common element of these Conclusion

skills is the ability to facili-
tate collaborative group interaction. Equally important
In this article, we discussed the vital topic of soft skills
is the ability to work collaboratively
development to the with success ofothers
OR/ MS and asanalyt-
a
team member. Developing advanced soft skills of this
ics practitioners, as well as others whose formal edu-
type requires a more sophisticated approach than does
cation focused primarily on the acquisition of hard
enhancing self-awarenessskills. or Inimproving communica-
the process, we examined the nature of soft
tion skills. Self-study and training are not sufficient.
skills, their importance to success in comparison to
Coaching in the art of group facilitation, often pro-
hard skills, why people who have good soft skills
vided by an OD or change management consultant, is
are in such short supply, the best way to develop
essential to the development of good group and (or)
soft skills, and how knowledge of change manage-
team skills. Augmenting such expert change manage-
ment principles and practices - primarily through OD
ment coaching with mentoring by a manager skilled
and change management coaching - can help to facil-
in facilitation can provide, additional input for devel-
itate the development of soft skills. Hopefully, this
oping excellent group skills.
knowledge will help managers facilitate the devel-
Organizational skills. Organizational leadership is
opment in modern knowledge workers of those soft
the most sophisticatedskills, softsuch asskill tocommunication,
self-awareness, develop col- and
apply. Although many models of leadership exist,
laboration, and leadership, which are so essential
one is particularly appropriate in the challenging
to their effectiveness in today's lateral, team-based
environment modern leaders face, as described in
organizations.
Levasseur (2004). Based on Lewin's three-stage change
model (Levasseur 2001), this modern leadership
model involves creating a shared vision of an idealReferences
future state, working collaboratively to achieve the Alam M, Gale A, Brown M, Khan AI (2010) The importance of
desired state, and sustaining the ideal state by contin- human skills in project management professional develop-
ment. Internat. ]. Managing Projects Bus. 3(3):495-516.
uing to develop the people, groups, and the organiza-
Azim S, Gale A, Lawlor-Wright T, Kirkham R, Khan A, Alam M
tion itself to that end. Developing this level of sophisti- (2010) The importance of soft skills in complex projects. Inter-
cated soft skill also requires coaching, which an expert nat. ]. Managing Projects Bus. 3(3):387-401.
Beard
in OD and (or) change management frequently pro- D, Schwieger D, Surendran K (2008) Integrating soft skills
assessment through university, college, and programmatic
vides, as previously mentioned. Supplementing expert efforts at an AACSB accredited institution. J. Inform. Systems
coaching with self-development, training, and man- Ed. 19(2):229-240.
agement mentoring can be an ideal approach to devel- Bronfenbrenner U (1979) The Ecology of Human Development : Exper-
iments by Nature and Design (Harvard University Press, Cam-
oping leadership skills.
bridge, MA).
Table 1 summarizes the suggestions for developing Bryant A (2011) Google's quest to build a better boss. Accessed
each type of soft skill - personal (e.g., self-awareness), July 26, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/business/
interpersonal (e.g., communication), group (e.g., col- 13hire.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.

laboration), and organizational (e.g., leadership) - Dixon J, Belnap C, Albrecht C, Lee K (2010) The importance of soft
skills. Corporate Finance Rev. 14(6):35-38.
described in the preceding paragraphs. Levasseur RE (1991a) People skills: Self-awareness - A critical skill
for MS/OR professionals. Interfaces 21(1):130-133.
Levasseur RE (1991b) People skills: Effective communication -
Soft skill category Self-study Training Mentoring Coaching A critical skill for MS/OR professionals. Interfaces 21(2):22-24.
Levasseur RE (1992) People skills: What every professional should
Personal P S S P know about designing and managing meetings. Interfaces
Interpersonal SPSS 22(2):11-14.
Group T T S P Levasseur RE (1996) People skills: Launching a cooperative learn-
Organizational T T S P ing team. Interfaces 26(6):112-116.
Levasseur RE (2001) People skills: Change management tools -
Table 1: This Jable indicates the
Lewin'sbest methods
change model. for
Interfaces 31(4):71-73. developing sp
types of soft skills.
Levasseur RE (2004) People skills: Change management tools - The
Note. P = Primary, S = Secondary,modernT = Tertiary.
leadership model. Interfaces 34(2):147-148.

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Levasseur: People Skills: Developing Soft Skills
Interfaces 43(6), pp. 566-571, ©2013 INFORMS 571

Levasseur RE (2005) People skills: Robert Change

E. Levasseur is onmanagement
the faculty of Waiden Uni-tools -
Leading teams. Interfaces 35(2):179-180.
versity in the School of Management, and concurrently in
Levasseur RE (2010) People skills:
the SchoolEnsuring project Insuccess
of Public Policy and Administration. addition -
A change management perspective. Interfaces 40(2):159-162.
to mentoring doctoral students and serving on dissertation
Lewin K (1951) Field Theory in Social Science (Harper and Row,
committees, he teaches courses in quantitative methods,
New York).
management, and leadership and organizational change. He
Maslow A (1987) Motivation and Personality (Harper and Row,
New York). has also taught at Boston University, University of Mary-
Muzio E, Fisher D (2009) Soft skill quantification (SSQ): Human land University College, University of the Virgin Islands,
performance vs. metric. Cost Engrg. 51(3):26-31. Franklin University, and the International School of Man-
Newell D (2002) The smarter they are the harder they fall. Career agement in Paris. Before earning his PhD, he held many
Development Internat. 7(5): 288-291. professional and leadership positions in major U.S. corpo-
Richards T, Yellen R, Kappelman L, Guynes S (1998) Informa- rations, including Nabisco and Digital Equipment Corpora-
tion systems manager's perceptions of IS job skills. J. Comput. tion, during a business career that spanned three decades.
Inform. Systems 38(3):53-57.
His research interests include leadership and organizational
Sodhi MS, Son B-G (2008) ASP, the art and science of practice: Skills
employers want from operations research graduates. Interfaces
change, the application of quantitative methods to decision
38(2):140-146. making, high performance team development, collabora-
Stovall DC, Stovall PS (2009) Professional accountants: Void of "soft tive meeting management, and organization development/
skills"? Bus. Rev. 4(1):99-104. change management.

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