The Role of Soft Skills Training in Pune’s Tech-Driven Economy
What exactly is meant by soft skills?
Soft skills are not just communication skills
And communication skills are not just speaking good English
Let us understand with an example:
In an IT company, Raj is a newly joined team leader and his immediate boss Trinkesh considers him as the potential threat to his own post. Thus Trinkesh treats Raj badly regularly and thus affecting Raj’s work and team under Raj.
After a few weeks, instead of getting angry, Raj uses his EQ and empathy and tries to understand why Trinkesh could be behaving like this.
Raj arranges a 1-1 meeting with Trinkesh and very calmly discusses the matter. Post this fruitful meeting, all misunderstandings and inhibitions are cleared. Trilok is now more empowered using Raj’s services and both flourish in their work.
Every single trait, thought and actions shown by Raj comes under soft skills.
W.r.t to this example – problem solving, emotional quotient, leadership, street smartness and communication expertise shown by Raj come under soft skills
The Tech Boom in Pune and importance of Soft Skills in it
Post 2000, there has been a huge tech boom in India and especially in Pune. And it continues to exponentially grow.
Be it IT and any other industry, only the person with better soft skills capabilities can grow quickly and higher.
Eg – Assume two employees – both 5 year experienced developers join an IT together. After 20 years, one with better soft skills will be the VP of IT, while another with poor soft skills will be just a project manager.
Challenges Faced by Tech Professionals in Pune
The biggest challenge faced by all tech professionals in Pune is that none of them receive soft skills training in their graduation or formative years.
Most importantly, even when each employee is aware that soft skill is his weakness, he is so buried under office work, that he is unable to take out dedicated time to hone on this skill. And even when he takes out time, right mentoring is missed.
While it remains the X factor that drives you ahead in life, it is still given less priority wr.t. Training workshops in most companies.
Most Tech companies always organise technical training.
Although technical trainings are very important, soft skill trainings are even more important
The Rise of Soft Skills Training Programs
Luckily since the past few years, many L&D and HR and top management have realised the importance of soft skills. They are ready to explore various new and interesting forms like EQ training, theatre and also storytelling to improve their employee’s soft skills
