Soft Skills: An Essential in the 21st Century Managers' Toolkit
word count: 2 316
Discuss the ‘people skills’ or ‘soft skills’ required in the 21 st century managers’ essential toolkit.
This essay offers a suggestion of changes that occurred in the business environment of the 21st century and what they were driven by. It looks at why managerial 'soft ' skills gain more attention nowadays and provides challenges modern managers might face in the near future. It then offers various personal qualities a successful manager should possess in order to be a leading force within her organisation, dissecting each of the chosen 'people ' skills via providing theoretical background and real-life examples. It does not draw an exact line between old and newborn attributes, as all in all these have stemmed from the human behaviour, which is highly circumstantial. The essay also does not focus on either public or private sector, as the skills described are believed to be essential for managers in any type of business.
In the last two decades, the world has dramatically changed. Mainly in
Western, developed countries, a shift from production to service-driven economies brought new challenges to how effective management is viewed and achieved. The current workplace climate is a fresh phenomenon, bringing new challenges and forcing managers to adapt in order to strive.
Since the economic crisis, companies are looking for managers who can create more with less. A rise in people with traditional degrees and certificates in the
UK (Office for National Statistics, 2013) causes higher supply of workforce with sufficient technical skills, creating a need for companies to distinguish a person 's potential input within a workplace via further means. Looking for the right manager to promote effectiveness and productivity in a company during an economic downturn, firms are now starting to understand the trend of putting higher importance on managerial 'soft ' skills. An employee with good 'people ' skills will get
Discuss the ‘people skills’ or ‘soft skills’ required in the 21 st century managers’ essential toolkit.
This essay offers a suggestion of changes that occurred in the business environment of the 21st century and what they were driven by. It looks at why managerial 'soft ' skills gain more attention nowadays and provides challenges modern managers might face in the near future. It then offers various personal qualities a successful manager should possess in order to be a leading force within her organisation, dissecting each of the chosen 'people ' skills via providing theoretical background and real-life examples. It does not draw an exact line between old and newborn attributes, as all in all these have stemmed from the human behaviour, which is highly circumstantial. The essay also does not focus on either public or private sector, as the skills described are believed to be essential for managers in any type of business.
In the last two decades, the world has dramatically changed. Mainly in
Western, developed countries, a shift from production to service-driven economies brought new challenges to how effective management is viewed and achieved. The current workplace climate is a fresh phenomenon, bringing new challenges and forcing managers to adapt in order to strive.
Since the economic crisis, companies are looking for managers who can create more with less. A rise in people with traditional degrees and certificates in the
UK (Office for National Statistics, 2013) causes higher supply of workforce with sufficient technical skills, creating a need for companies to distinguish a person 's potential input within a workplace via further means. Looking for the right manager to promote effectiveness and productivity in a company during an economic downturn, firms are now starting to understand the trend of putting higher importance on managerial 'soft ' skills. An employee with good 'people ' skills will get
References: Associated Press (2012) Zuckerberg describes 'The Hacker Way ' at Facebook. NewsOK [Online] Available at: http://newsok.com/zuckerberg-describes-the-hacker-way-atfacebook/article/feed/383390 [Accessed 26 February 2014] Boyatzis, R. and Goleman, D. (2008) Social Intelligence and the Biology of Leadership. Live, Love, Parent, and Lead. London: Pearson CIPD (2013) MEGATRENDS : The trends shaping work and working lives [pdf] Available at: Chambers, J. (2005) John Chambers of Cisco Systems: The Power of the Network to Change the Way We Work, Live, Play, and Learn Gaudin, S. (2009) Study: 54% of companies ban Facebook, Twitter at work. Computer World [Online] Available at: Goleman, D. (2011) The must-have leadership skill. Harvard Business Review [Online] Available at: http://blogs.hbr.org/2011/10/the-must-have-leadership-skill/ [Accessed 2 Hocutt, M. A. (1998) The impact of employee empowerment on the quality of a service recovery efforthocutt Kiel, D. and Watson, D. (2008) Affective Leadership and Emotional Labor: A View from the Local Level Lavy, I. and Yadin, A. (2013) Soft Skills – An Important Key for Employability in the "Shift to a Service Driven Economy" Era Malone, P. B. (1980) Humor: A double-edged tool for today 's managers? Academy of Management Review Morgan, J. (2012). The Collaborative Organization: A Strategic Guide to Solving Your Internal Business Challenges Using Emerging Social and Collaborative Tools Seshan, G. (2008) The boss is always right? Not anymore. Rediff [Online] Available from: http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/jan/01boss.htm [Accessed 2 March 2014] Silverman, R. E. (2012) Workplace Distractions: Here 's Why You Won 't Finish This Article.