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Soft skills worth an extra £4,600 in wages, according to report

Journalist: Arunth Sriganthan, People Management

ended 07. March 2023

I'm writing a piece for People Management about a report from the social enterprise Skills Builder Partnership, KPMG, CIPD and Edge Foundation which reveals that highly transferable skills such as communication, problem solving, interpersonal and self-management are worth an extra £4,600 a year in wages to the average worker. 

Other findings include:

  • 92% of UK workers recognise the importance of essential skills for success within their career.
     
  • For one in five, a good education is not enough to succeed. The absence of essential skills predicts the worst outcomes in life satisfaction and wages.
  • Only 13% of the population experience real social mobility (enjoying strong income, job satisfaction and life satisfaction) and have a portfolio of good essential skills, literacy, numeracy and education.

I am looking for comment on the following:

1. How can organisations foster soft skills in employees?

2. What could having essential skills do for those out of the labour market?

Full link to the report is: https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5a86b2cd68b41700017162ca/63fccf26f9c14143430c5aab_Essential%20Skills%20Tracker%202023.pdf

My deadline is 11:30am tomorrow.

Many thanks,

Arunth Sriganthan

2 responses from the Newspage community

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Catriona Johnson
Director at Serenity Wellness
Compassion as a skill is invaluable. Being able to see that the person in front of you who isn’t behaving in the way you want from the perspective of ‘If I was them, with their life experiences and difficulties, I would behave like that too’, relieves a lot of suffering for both parties. Coming from a nursing background and then moving to Human Resources I saw a real difference in how soft skills, or the lack of them, can impact communications and the dynamic within companies. I wholeheartedly believe that soft skills such as compassion, effective communication and problem-solving should be better recognised and reflected in pay.
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Dr Jo Burrell
Clinical Psychologist at Ultimate Resilience Ltd
Leaders and managers play a central role in fostering soft skills within a workplace. Managers who engage in and model prosocial behaviours such as kindness, inclusion and interest encourage their staff to do the same. These behaviours help to build trust and cooperation in teams and support individuals to manage stress more effectively. Training your managers and leaders to employ coaching skills such as active listening has been shown to benefit employee engagement and business performance. A leader who has great interpersonal skills is contributing to a culture of psychological safety. For those seeking to re-enter the labour market, excellent communication skills and emotional intelligence will help to form positive working relationships, making them more able to collaborate with and support colleagues.