The first thing that comes to our minds when we are talking about the importance of education and training is that it fosters knowledge, skills and attitudes that enhance the value of professionals at workplace. Trained employees add value.
In a knowledge economy acquiring knowledge is supreme. In a corporate world where constant transformation is the common standard, workers need to dive into a constant flow of learning in order to respond to the never ending demand of new technologies and tools. Only competent people can live up to the challenges they are faced with in their everyday work life. When corporations assume that training is the key to success, they invest in their work force. If companies want experts, they need to offer training. (more…)
We tend to think that driving change in business is a tedious endeavour. Changing minds and taking action is complicated. We are aware of the complexity of change in business, yet we find real examples that show us otherwise.
Change – A success story. There is a fascinating story of a manager who successfully changed the mediocre purchasing policy of his company. Spending millions of dollars on items that made no sense was a major waste for the company. All he had to overcome was the board of directors who refused to believe in the opportunity of change. (more…)
Some concepts in business jargon are having a hard time to get rid of undesirable connotations, such as “Soft Skills”. In a tough corporate world dominated by tough people, “soft” sounds like weak, hesitant, not strong enough, “goody-goody”, undemanding, permissive, lax, ineffective, … you name it. From that point of view, obviously Soft Skills seem tremendously non-priority skills.
Nevertheless, as I have observed in my professional practice, behind these ideas lies a lack of knowledge and deeper understanding of the relevance, necessity, and impact of Soft Skills in business and team management. (more…)
…not too seriously. Years ago, I worked for the German Federal Foreign Office during the German presidency of the European Council.
As a Liasion Officer I accompanied foreign delegations and their respective leaders such as presidents, prime ministers, foreign ministers and defence ministers of countries such as the United Kingdom and Sweden. In short, I was always the link between the Foreign Office and the foreign delegations and at any time of the day or night.
(more…)
Anyone can aim to improve themselves, at any time, regardless of their level of experience.
In the contemporary workplace, you need more than technical skills to be productive and effective. Employers are looking for personnel who can perform their jobs well – but who can also engage in the company culture and be a valued member of the workforce. To do these things successfully, soft skills are vitally important.