Definition Of Soft Skills Psychology Essay

Published Date: 23 Mar 2015

Skills, as we know are partly inherent and partly imbibed. Honing up of skill-sets from their current quality levels upwards involves the training process; that encompasses personal attributes, social behavior, inter-personal & group interaction, linguistic process, individual traits, friendly disposition and temperament, characterizing behaviorisms with other individuals & groups internal or external to the organization. In other words, the Emotional Quotient is handled to its optimized synchronization with their Individual Intelligence Quotient or occupational skills. Former characteristics are termed in a cluster as SOFT SKILLS. Precisely, soft skills are the abilities and traits of a person pertaining to personality and attitude, rather than to formal technical abilities which are termed as HARD SKILLS. Though hard skills can be distinguished from soft skills for the purpose of categorization, but as far as learning is concerned, there is no need to do the same.

Soft skills complement the use of hard skills in workplace, enabling individuals to navigate successfully the challenges of job to achieve personal and organizational goals. Although soft skills are different from hard skills, and available literature gives concurrence to this fact, but these are not two separate entities. Indeed they are two sides of the same coin. As Jackson (2009) states that soft skills exist in a symbiotic relationship with hard skills, these are complementary to each other.

A thorough literature review led reviewer to come across interesting definitions of soft skills stated by different authors. These definitions, as reviewer opines, are not mere providing synonyms for soft skills but defining these skills in their totality giving their in depth meaning.

2.1.a Definition of Soft Skills as Defined by Various Authors

In order to understand the real meaning of soft skills and its implications various definitions from varied sources have been analyzed; which are presented as follows.

"Soft skills are the range of general education skills that are not domain- or practice-specific, which include communication and interpersonal skills, problem solving skills, conceptual/analytical and critical skills, visual, aural and oral skills, judgement and synthesis skills."(Boyce et al 2001)

"Soft skills relate to goal-directed behaviors used in face-to-face interactions in order to bring about a desired state of affairs." (Hayes 2002)

"Soft skills are personal qualities, attributes, or the level of commitment of a person that sets him or her apart from other individuals who may have similar [technical] skills and experiences." (Perrault 2004)

"These are non-technical traits and behaviors needed for successful career navigation, [which] allow you to more effectively use your technical abilities and knowledge." (Klaus et al 2007)

"Cluster of personality traits, social graces, facility with language, personal habits, friendliness, and optimism that mark each of us to varying degrees, are soft skills." (Anju 2009)

"Soft skills allow a person to better understand his or her own actions, how to work better with others, and most importantly, how to be more productive and successful." (Muzio and Fisher 2009)

"Soft skills may be viewed as the communication and interpersonal skills required to elicit the activities [and processes] performed by different stakeholders…all of which need to be accomplished through dialogue with stakeholders." (Jeyaraj 2010)

"These are managerial, intra-personal, and interpersonal skills that are used to resolve workplace problems." (Joseph et al 2010)

"Soft knowledge is intangible knowledge, which is difficult to quantify, codify, store, and transmit, because it relates to more personal characteristics and includes judgement and experience…internalised skills acquired with experience and practice." (Kajnc and Svetlicic 2010)

"Employees who can forge partnerships, build relationships, communicate effectively with the business, and find creative ways to manage costs are the most valuable to the organization." (Pratt et al 2010)

"These are skills or behaviours that make employees effective in their roles and distinguish some candidates for leadership positions." (Ranade et al 2010)

2.2 TYPES OF SOFT SKILLS

While reviewing available literature in the form of research papers, text books and online blogs, researcher comes across the finding that although every piece of writing acknowledges and talks highly about the importance of soft skills, but for every author definition of soft skills encompasses a different set of traits and skills. Indeed, this term has a meaning so vast that it is practically a tedious job to enumerate the traits representing soft skills. Furthermore, opinions might vary in preference order if one thinks of enumeration. A relatively well-accepted taxonomy of traits called the "Big Five," can be considered worth discussing if one intends to enlist some of the major soft skill traits.

These personality traits are primarily measured by personality psychologists using self-reported surveys. This "big five" taxonomy of traits enlists five most important traits which are broad enough to encompass many other narrowly de¬ned soft skill qualities. These five traits are openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism (John and Srivastava 1999). Heckman JJ (2012) also mentions many other taxonomies, such as the 'Big Three', the 'MPQ', and the 'Big Nine'. Heckman also mentions that they are conceptually and empirically related to the Big Five.

Table: The Big Five domains and their facets

Big Five Personality Factors

Facets ( Corelated Traits)

Conscientiousness

Competence (efficient)

Order (organized)

Dutifulness (not careless)

Achievement striving (ambitious)

Self-discipline (not lazy)

Deliberation (not impulsive)

Openness to Experience

Fantasy (imaginative)

Aesthetic (artistic)

Feelings (excitable)

Actions (wide interests)

Ideas (curious)

Values (unconventional)

Extraversion

Warmth (friendly)

Gregariousness (sociable)

Assertiveness (self-confident)

Activity (energetic)

Excitement seeking (adventurous)

Positive emotions (enthusiastic)

Agreeableness

Trust (forgiving)

Straight-forwardness (not demanding) Altruism (warm)

Compliance (not stubborn)

Modesty (not show-off)

Tender-mindedness (sympathetic)

Neuroticism/ Emotional Stability

Anxiety (worrying)

Hostility (irritable)

Depression (not contented)

Self consciousness (shy)

Impulsiveness (moody)

Vulnerability to stress (not self-confident)

As many are the speakers on soft skills, as many are the classification schemes. According to Whetten et al (2000) soft skills are of three types; intrapersonal, interpersonal and people management skills.

Kantrowitz (2005) and Bacolod et al (2009) on the other hand classifies soft skills on the bases of job type. According to him there are certain jobs which are 'low soft skill occupations' such as assemblers, car washers, garbage collectors, data entry, etc. On the other extreme there are high soft skill occupations such as CEOs, funeral directors, receptionists, salespersons, secretaries, social workers, teachers, therapists, etc. Regarding this job-type oriented classification an interesting point is highlighted by Kantrowitz (2005); author feels that even in low soft skill occupations where interpersonal (people) skills are not required much, intrapersonal skills such as self regulation are essential. The best opinion having reviewer's concurrence is given by Crosbie (2005); as per the author in era of highly interconnected world where little work gets done alone, there is hardly any occupation where an employee doesn't need some of interpersonal skills.

2.3 INTELLIGENCE: GOVERNING FACTOR FOR SOFT SKILLS

There have been radical changes in the meaning of 'intelligence' in last few decades. Considering 'intelligence' provides an important perspective on soft skills, indeed an obvious factor affecting or predicting the development of soft skills, reviewer considers concept of intelligence worth reviewing. There are a number of studies that have examined the relationships between intelligence and performance and that are quite relevant to the soft skills debate.

It was when Harvard professor of education 'Howard Gardner' dismantled the prevailing monolithic view of academic intelligence around 25 years ago, there came the concept of 'multiple intelligences' (Gardner 1983; Gardner and Hatch 1987). There are now 'practical intelligence', 'emotional intelligence', 'social intelligence', 'ecological intelligence' and 'spiritual intelligence' (Albrecht 2006; Goleman 2006, Goleman 2009, Zohar and Marshall 2001)

Practical Intelligence (PI)

As per Sternberg and Hedlund (2002) PI is the intelligence acquired experientially, and is needed to solve practical problems and to succeed in everyday working life. Practical intelligence makes a person 'street smart' instead of 'book smart'. Further strengthening the claim of importance of PI, Stenberg states that PI accounts for those aspects of performance where traditional measures of IQ apparently cannot account for. Reviewer feels that PI is the essence soft skill development.

Emotional Intelligence (EI)

It is universally accepted that emotions affect our lives; literate or illiterate, all agree to this highly studied theory. The best and precise scientific statement, as reviewer finds in the work done by Lam and Kirby (2002), states that emotions tend to occur involuntarily based on the responses of the limbic system, but once they have happened, and have been recognised by the higher-level cognitive systems, it becomes possible not only to guard against potentially distracting emotions but also to build on enhancing emotions in ways that facilitate individual as well as team performance. So if emotions can be mastered successfully, life can be reached to its highest dimension, and this is called emotional intelligence. EI skills if acquired correct, can help individuals to consciously monitor and manage their own emotions as well as those of others.

It is worth noticing that it is seen by Chia (2005) that there is a positive relation in the job offers received by an individual made by accounting firms to accounting graduates. Considering high impact of EI on employability author recommends promoting 'the relevance of soft skills for potential accounting professionals'

In a quite famous international bestseller 'Emotional Intelligence' Daniel Goleman (1995) claims that EI 'can be as powerful, and at times more powerful than IQ'. Further strengthening his claim Goleman (1998) states that 67% of abilities 'deemed essential for effective performance were emotional competencies'.

Intuitive Intelligence

Intuitive intelligence is again a highly developed domain of mind. If intuition has to be defined, Dane and Pratt (2007) states that intuitions are affectively charged judgements that arise through rapid, non-conscious and holistic associations' As per Sadler-Smith and Shefy (2010) there are three attributes of intuitive intelligence, namely expertise, understanding and self awareness.

SOFT INTELLIGENCE

These three intelligences i.e PI, EI and II collectively termed as 'softer intelligences' are cardinal in determining an individual's soft skills. These make a high impact on decision-making, strategy development, creativity, ethics and interpersonal functioning.

2.4 IMPORTANCE OF SOFT SKILLS

Although the whole research is oriented towards highlighting the importance of soft kills, reviewer finds some real life examples from literature which evidently clarify and prove that soft skills are so essential to possess that without them prospects of growth are almost stunted.

While technical skills help in letting your foot in the door, soft skills keep these door sopen. Work ethics, attitude, communication skills, emotional intelligence and a whole host of other personal attributes are the soft skills that are crucial for career success. Hard skills are essential in work that is technical, scientific and professional, but insufficient for effective performance. Technical skills are supposed to be supplemented by non-technical, job-related skills for their effective implementation.

Heckman JJ and Kautz T (2012) present some hard evidences on soft skills. Their work not only further highlights the importance of soft skills, and provides graphical data, but also leads reviewer to some other important sources to better understand the concept. Their work discusses soft skills in terms of personality traits. It gives evidences to prove the importance of personality in economic and social life. After reviewing their work it becomes very clear that success in life depends on many traits. IQ, grades, and standardized achievements tests can not be the sole criteria of success or outcome. Indeed personality traits predict and cause outcomes. The message gets more impregnated in mind when Heckman and Kautz quote a real life example given by Alfred Binet the creator of the ¬rst IQ test (the Stanford-Binet test);

"A child, even if intelligent, will learn little in class if he never listens, if he spends his time in playing tricks,in giggling, in playing truant."

Talking in terms of success in school, Binet and Simon (1916) also agree that one needs many other things than intelligence to succeed in studies. Attention, will, sound character, tranquility and industriousness are the essentials for success. Success in life relies not only on cognition. It is further proven when we come back to research carried out by Heckman JJ and Kautz T. It questions analysts and policy makers who rely solely on achievement tests to monitor school performance and school systems. It is seen that a certain class of subjects lacking in some important personality traits performs almost equally well as other class with enriched traits in achievement test, but at the same time performs much worse in many other aspects of life.

The more researcher explores literature on importance of soft skills, the more she feels that soft skills bring out the inner qualities of man. These traits are the essence of expression. The definition of personality traits given by Roberts (2009) is the outline of researcher's thought;

"Personality traits are the relatively enduring patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that re¬‚ect the tendency to respond in certain ways under certain circumstances."

Soft skills enable individuals to manage successfully the challenges and opportunities of their job role (Hayes 2002; Perrault 2004). Soft skills are highly needed in developing, expanding and maintaining relations over the boundaries. Communication skills are cardinal to develop trusting relationships. A study published in 'European Journal of Engineering Education' observed the weekly team meetings of engineering students attending two US universities and one Asian university as they collaborated as a single global virtual (GV) capstone GV team. Study indicated the importance of student choice of virtual communication tools, the refining of communication practices, and specific actions to build trusting relationships. As student developed these attributes, collaboration and success was evident. (Zaugg and Davies 1). In a study on soft skills & employability in UK retail sector, Nickson and group discuss how UK government policy has emphasized the importance of qualifications in enhancing employability. The important finding which comes in light is that it is soft skills that are required to access entry level jobs for front-line work in retail (Nickson D, et al 2012 .2). These skills not only enhance the performance of individuals but also of teams and of organizations (Whetten et al 2000, Martin et al 2008).

It is true that there is practically no field or profession where soft skills are not needed. As per Beard et al (2009) there is an increased demand for soft skills in the IT professions. Gokuladas (2010) mentions that engineering students' education in terms of the soft skills they acquire has a significant influence on their employability in campus recruitment drives. If talk about accounting profession then accountants are not mere 'bean counters' now. In accounting, soft skills and hard skills exist symbiotically, just like in any other profession. As per Wolosky (2008), there is need for accountants to engage in relationship-building and act as internal consultants.

The QS Top MBA Jobs and Salary Trends Report 2010 shows that demand for 'soft' skills has drastically increased in importance for MBA recruiters worldwide. The survey of over 5,000 MBA recruiters in 36 countries, shows that MBA recruiters already have very high expectations of rigorous finance, marketing and e-business or IT skills from business school graduates. MBA recruiters are now looking for another set of abilities to complement their businesses in today's competitive economic climate, and that is soft skills (Geraghty Ross 3)

Soft skills have that high importance in today's competitive world that individuals might get fired for the lack of soft skills. Quite aptly said "people get hired for their professional skills, but get fired for their lack of soft-skills", the well known case of US vice-consul in Chennai is the perfect example. Maureen Chao, in a speech recounting her experiences in India as a student, said that a harrowing train journey had left her skin "dirty and dark, like the Tamilians."  The comment led to exchanges of letters at governmental level, and she had to leave India. (4)

2.5 SOFT SKILLS DEFICIT

The problem is, the importance of these soft skills is often undervalued, and there is far less training provided for them than hard skills. For some reason, organizations seem to expect people know how to behave on the job. They tend to assume that everyone knows and understands the importance of being on time, taking initiative, being friendly, and producing high quality work.

Assuming that soft skills are universal leads to much frustration. That's why it's so important to focus as much on soft skills training and development as you do on traditional hard skills.

The soft skills deficit is also judged to be one of the main barriers to employability for those currently locked out of the labor market. CIPD surveys show a deficiency in 'employability skills' for many students and school-leavers unable to deal effectively with customers, to manage their interactions and emotions and to engage as productive members of the workforce. More worryingly, some young people have not developed the skills that would help them to hold down jobs. Some are even unable to manage the task of turning up at work on time, which has, to some derision, been identified as a 'skill'. Yet for people who cannot do it, that's precisely what it is. Soft skills are also an essential component of leadership and management skills. Poor management is as much about poor behaviour and attitude as it is about poor delivery and implementation. Sadly, as our report shows, many management education programmes spend little time on this crucial and cost-efficient area for improvement.

The question goes beyond the scope and remit of this report but, for example, as far as business education in the US is concerned, in a 2007 article headlined 'The trouble with MBAs', Fortune magazine reported that US business schools have produced 'freshly minted' quantitative geniuses but consistently failed to deliver the softer skills that employers value most (Fisher 2007). Indeed, soft skill development is one of half a dozen features of an 'idealised' MBA curriculum and considered to be as important as 'sound data analysis and the rigorous application of analytical management tools' (Navarro 2008, p108).

As Mintzberg (2004) noted, when graduates of business education are asked for one improvement in the MBA, they 'always' respond with 'soft skills'; to him this is unsurprising since managing is mostly about the 'soft stuff - working with people, doing deals, processing vague information'. The problem, as Mintzberg sees it, is that soft skills simply don't fit in at business schools for several quite good reasons:

1 Most professors can't teach them and/or don't care about them.

2 Most of the younger students aren't ready to learn them.

3 Soft skills aren't compatible with the rest of the programme (Mintzberg 2004, p41).

Williamson and group (5) explored key personality traits of engineers for innovation and technology development, in their study. It was found that engineers scored low on many qualities such as assertiveness, conscientiousness, customer service orientation, emotional stability, extraversion, image management, optimism, visionary style, and work drive.

Additionally, many MBA candidates, particularly in Asia, fail to appreciate the value of such learning, even seeing it as a waste of time. Especially when compared with more classroom hours with a noted finance professor, for example (6)

At a recent dinner in Washington, D.C., with representatives from major American manufacturing companies, I listened as the talk turned to how hard it is to find qualified applicants for jobs. Applicants were often so underqualified, they said, that simply finding someone who could properly answer the telephone was sometimes a challenge (7).

Engineering: Morris and Watson (2004) observed that engineers are often considered to have 'a very limited knowledge of soft skills' (p26) and argued that it is 'too easy for us [engineers] to just be technicians' (p29) and ignore or overlook the vital role that soft skills play in deploying technical know-how effectively (see also Thilmany 2004 for a discussion of the stereotypical view of engineers, for example 'If we wanted to be involved with people we would be therapists [not engineers]', p5). Recent research suggests that engineering students' education in terms of the soft skills they acquire has a significant influence on their employability in campus recruitment drives (Gokuladas 2010).

SURVEY REPORTS

More than 600,000 jobs in manufacturing went unfilled in 2011 due to a skills shortage, according to a survey conducted by the consultancy Deloitte.

In the Manpower Group's 2012 Talent Shortage Survey, nearly 20% of employers cited a lack of soft skills as a key reason they couldn't hire needed employees. "Interpersonal skills and enthusiasm/motivation" were among the most commonly identified soft skills that employers found lacking.

The SHRM/AARP survey also found that "professionalism" or "work ethic" is the top "applied" skill that younger workers lack.

The National Employer Skills Survey for England (NESS) 2009 is the most recent in a series of surveys established under the auspices of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) in 2003. The aim of NESS2009 was to provide information from employers on skills deficiencies and workforce development activities, which could serve as a basis for the development of policy and the assessment of impact of skills development initiatives.The main survey was large (around 79,000 responses were received) and a follow-up survey also collected cost-of-training data from a sub-sample (N = 7,317). The NESS findings are comprehensive, and from the perspective of scoping the domain of soft skills, several issues of potential relevance emerged with respect to skills shortages and skills gaps.

1. Occupational groups in which skill shortages were highest were 'skilled trades' (31% of vacancies were skill shortage vacancies), 'professional' and 'associate professional' occupations (23% and 20% respectively).

2. Occupational groups in which skill shortages were lowest were 'administrative and secretarial' (10%), 'elementary occupations' (11%), and 'sales and customer service positions' (12%). 3. Main skills types that were lacking were:

(i) 'technical and practical skills' (62%);

(ii) 'customer handling skills' (41%);

(iii) 'problem-solving skills' (38%);

(iv) 'team working skills', (37%);

(v) 'oral communication skills' (35%);

(vi) 'written communication skills' (34%);

(vii) 'management skills' (32%).

(TWO MORE GRAPHS TO BE INSERTED HERE)

2.6 SOFT SKILL PREDISPOSITION & TRAINING

Soft skills and the softer intelligences are learned through personal experience, exposure, practice, feedback and reflection.

The foundation of practical intelligence is tacit knowledge ('street smarts') acquired through the experience of solving real-world problems in real time. But practical intelligence is also supported by technical knowledge ('book smarts') acquired in formal learning settings. In the world of work, being 'street smart' or 'book smart' is insufficient on its own; each needs the other (Sternberg and Hedlund 2002).

Soft skills don't develop overnight; they're built up over the longer term by transforming experiences through the process of learning (cf. Kolb 1984), which is a soft skill in itself. While experiential learning is something that can occur naturally, leaving it to chance can be inefficient (Revans 1983); it's more efficient to help individuals understand how they learn and enable them to learn how to learn (Mainmelis et al 2002). The ability to reflect in action is a soft skill; it helps us to deal intuitively with situations that are uncertain, unstable, unique and value-laden.

There are also individual differences operating here. Some people are more predisposed towards intuition than others, while others are more predisposed towards analysis. However, it is not a question of 'analysis or intuition'; 'analysis and intuition' are both invaluable components of our mental toolkit. And while we all have preferences for one mental gear or the other (that is, intuition or analysis), we can develop the soft skill of 'cognitive versatility' by becoming more intuitive or more analytical (see Figure 12 on page 28 and also Hogarth 2001; Sadler-Smith 2010 for a discussion of how to educate intuition).

There is the perception, and perhaps misapprehension, that soft skills are innate and cannot be learned or that they are not really worth learning compared with hard skills.

Although researcher feels that all soft skill traits are necessary in one or other domain of life, but she also admits the fact that preference of one trait over other might vary person to person and profession to profession. Different tasks require different traits in different combinations.

Heckman JJ (2012) is quite apt in his saying when he mentions that achieving certain goals requires certain traits, e.g., a surgeon has to be careful and intelligent; a salesman has to be outgoing and engaging and so forth, etc. It highlights another very important aspect of soft skills that 'these can be trained'.

Author mentions that traits are developed through practice, investment, and habituation.

In this regard, McAdams and Pals (2006) adds goals to the list of possible traits. Almlund et al. (2011) develop a model in which preferences and traits determine the effort applied

to tasks.

A study published in 'International Journal of Organizational Behaviour & Management Perspectives' carried out to see the effect of leadership behavior development programme on the MBA students, highlights an important finding. According to the study, among the study group a group of students was lacking in leadership qualities. This group of students underwent soft skills training programme in later semesters. When they were assessed again with respect to leadership behavior, an improvement in leadership qualities was witnessed (8).

(At Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) a two-day program was developed in collaboration with the RRT Team Leads, Organizational Effectiveness and Patient Safety Leaders.   Participants reflected on their conflict management styles and considered how their personality traits may contribute to team function.   Communication and relationship theories were reviewed and applied in simulated sessions in the relative safety of off-site team sessions.   The overwhelming positive response to this training has been demonstrated in the incredible success of these teams from the perspective of the satisfaction surveys of the care units that call the team, and in the multi-phased team evaluation of their application to practice.   These sessions offer a useful approach to the development of the soft skills required for successful RRT implementation 9)

2.7 SOFT SKILLS ON SCIENTIFIC GROUNDS

These skills can be seen as touchy/feely and ephemeral, when in fact the latest neuroscience shows that the emotional and rational sphere are highly interconnected (Lehrer 2009). Helping managers to give appropriate feedback, to listen and to reflect before reacting could be major drivers of employee engagement and motivation, for example.

Extreme Examples of Personality Change

Laboratory experiments and brain lesion studies provide some of the most compelling evidence that personality traits can change and that the change affects behaviors. The most famous example is that of Phineas Gage, a railway construction foreman whose head was impaled by a metal spike. Miraculously he retained his problem solving abilities, but he changed from being polite and dependable to being rude and unreliable. His personality change caused him to lose his job and alienate family members (Damasio et al., 2005).

Laboratory experiments show that expressed traits can be manipulated temporarily. Magnetic disruption of the left lateral prefrontal cortex can increase experimentally elicited discount rates (Figner et al., 2010) and nasal sprays of oxytocin increase trust (Kosfeld et al., 2005).

Evidence in neuroscience suggests that expression of traits is related to regions of the brain (see Canli, 2006; DeYoung et al., 2010)

The evolution of personality traits over the life cycle

The term "traits" suggests a sense of permanence and possibly also of heritability. The terms "skills" and "character" suggest that they can be learned. Most studies in psychology only report correlations between measured traits and outcomes without addressing whether the traits cause the outcomes and without controlling for the other traits and incentives that determine performance on the tasks used to measure the traits.

While traits are relatively stable across situations, they are not set in stone. They change over the life cycle. On average, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness tend to grow with age. Different facets of cognitive ability peak at different ages. Interventions, education, and parenting can affect traits in lasting ways.

Even though personality traits are relatively stable across situations, they are not set in stone. They change over the life cycle. Fig. 3 shows that Conscientiousness tends to increase monotonically over the life cycle. Other traits change in different ways over the life cycle.41

Psychologists distinguish between ¬‚uid intelligence (the rate at which people learn) and crystalized intelligence (acquired knowledge).19

Crystallized intelligence tends to increase monotonically for most of the life cycle, whereas ¬‚uid intelligence tends to peak in early adulthood and then decline.42 This evidence does not address whether these changes occur naturally ("ontogenic change") or whether they are due to changes in the environments commonly experienced over the life cycle ("sociogenic change"). No evidence is available in the published literature on the distributions of these pro¬les over the life cycle. Almlund et al. (2011) review the evidence on how parental investment and interventions promote changes in personality.

Virtual reality (VR) training in minimal invasive surgery (MIS) is feasible in surgical residency and beneficial for the performance of MIS by surgical trainees. Research on stress-coping of surgical trainees indicates the additional impact of soft skills on VR performance in the surgical curriculum. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of structured VR training and soft skills on VR performance of trainees.

The study was designed as a single-center randomized controlled trial. Fifty first-year surgical residents with limited experience in MIS ("camera navigation" in laparoscopic cholecystectomy only) were randomized for either 3 months of VR training or no training. Basic VR performance and defined soft skills (self-efficacy, stress-coping, and motivation) were assessed prior to randomization using basic modules of the VR simulator LapSim(®) and standardized psychological questionnaires. Three months after randomization VR performance was reassessed. Outcome measurement was based on the results derived from the most complex of the basic VR modules ("diathermy cutting") as the primary end point. A correlation analysis of the VR end-point performance and the psychological scores was done in both groups. Low self-efficacy and negative stress-coping strategies seem to predict poor VR performance. However, structured training along with high motivational states is likely to balance out this impairment. (Maschuw K, Schlosser K, Kupietz E, et al. Do soft skills predict surgical performance?: a single-center randomized controlled trial evaluating predictors of skill acquisition in virtual reality laparoscopy. World J Surg. 2011;35(3):480-6.)

The question of how we can voluntarily control our behaviour dates back to the beginnings of scientific psychology. Currently, there are two empirical research disciplines tackling human volition: cognitive neuroscience and social psychology. To date, there is little interaction between the two disciplines in terms of the investigation of human volition. The aim of the current article is to highlight recent brain imaging work on human volition and to relate social psychological concepts of volition to the functional neuroanatomy of intentional action. A host of studies indicate that the medial prefrontal cortex plays a crucial role in voluntary action. Accordingly, we postulate that social psychological concepts of volition can be investigated using neuroimaging techniques, and propose that by developing a social cognitive neuroscience of human volition, we may gain a deeper understanding of this fascinating and complex aspect of the human mind. (Brass M, Lynn MT, Demanet J, et al. Imaging volition: what the brain can tell us about the will. Exp Brain Res. 2013. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23515626)

One of the earliest and most consistent findings in behavioral neuroscience research is that learning changes the brain. Here we consider how learning as an aspect of coping in the context of stress exposure induces neuro adaptations that enhance emotion regulation and resilience.

A systematic review of the literature identified 15 brain imaging studies in which humans with specific phobias or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were randomized to stress exposure therapies that diminished subsequent indications of anxiety. Most of these studies focused on functional changes in the amygdala and anterior corticolimbic brain circuits that control cognitive, motivational, and emotional aspects of physiology and behavior.

Here we consider how learning as an aspect of coping in the context of stress exposure therapy changes the brain. This perspective builds on evidence that learning reflects experience-dependent neuroadaptations in brain regions that mediate cognitive, motivational, and emotional aspects of physiology and behavior (Poldrack, 2000; Posner and DiGirolamo, 2000; Dolan,2002; Pascual-Leone et al., 2005).

Structural brain changes

Despite evidence that brain functions rely on structural scaffolding and communication across distributed networks of neurons (Mesulam, 1990; Kolb and Whishaw, 1998; Citri and Malenka, 2008; Singer, 2009) we found only a single study designed to determine whether stress exposure therapy induces structural changes in corticolimbic brain circuits (Lindauer et al., 2008).

Summary and conclusions

In summary, the literature on brain changes induced by learning as an aspect of coping in the context of stress exposure therapy highlights functional neuroadaptations in brain regions that mediate emotion regulation and resilience. Corresponding structural brain changes and the duration, frequency, and timing of stress exposure required to modify brain functions now remain to be elucidated in detail. Such studies will provide mechanistic insights for the development of new interventions that enhance the adaptive aspects of coping with stress. The neuroscience of coping is an untapped resource for the development of new interventions because little is known about the neurobiology of learning to cope with stress.

(Nechvatal JM, Lyons DM. Coping changes the brain.Front Behav Neurosci. 2013;7:13.)

2.8 SOFT SKILLS & IMPACT OF EDUCATION

First, we show how an achievement test, the General Educational Development (GED) test, fails to capture important traits that affect success in life. High school dropouts can take the GED to certify to employers and post-secondary institutions that their skills are equivalentto those of high school graduates who do not attend college. After accounting for differences in pre-existing cognitive ability, GED recipients perform much worse in the labor market than high school graduates and much more like other high school dropouts. GED recipients lack important personality traits (see Heckman et al., 2011a, 2012a).

Second, we show how an early childhood intervention, the Perry Preschool Program, improved the lives of disadvantaged children, even though the program did not

permanently change the IQ of its participants. The program changed their personality traits in a lasting way (see Heckman et al., 2012b). Other interventions and observational studies provide supporting evidence that early-childhood investments improve outcomes through their effects on personality.

The GED is a standardized achievement test that serves as an alternative to a high school diploma. High school dropouts can take the seven-and-a-half-hour GED exam to certify that they have the "general knowledge" of a high school graduate. The test is widely used. The GED testing programcurrently produces 12% of high school certi¬cates each

year in the United States. We draw on the analysis of Heckman et al (2012a) and ¬rst present results for males. The GED program provides insight into the effects of personality traits on outcomes. GED recipients have the same cognitive ability as high school graduates, but differ in their personality traits.

Figure 5

Cognitive ability by educational status. Source: Reproduced from Heckman et al.(2011b), which uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1979

(NLSY79). Notes: The distributions above represent cognitive ability factors estimated using a subset of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) and educational attainment as laid out in Hansen et al. (2004). The sample is restricted to the cross‐sectional subsample for both males and females. Distributions show only those with no post‐secondary educational attainment. The cognitive ability factors are normalized by gender to be mean zero standard deviation one

GED recipients are smarter than other dropouts. Fig. 5 shows the distributions of a factor extracted from the components of the ASVAB for male high school dropouts, GED recipients, and high school graduates.49

The sample excludes people who attend post-secondary education. The distribution of the scores of GED recipients is much more like that of high school graduates than that of high school dropouts. If they have the same cognitive ability as high school graduates, then why do they drop out of high school? Success in school requires other traits. On a variety of other dimensions, GED recipients behave much more like other dropouts.

Fig. 6 shows measures of early adolescent drug use, crime, sex, and violence extracted from three data sources.50

Male high school graduates perform better on all measures than high school dropouts or GED recipients. GED recipients are much more similar to dropouts, but in several cases are statistically signi¬cantly more likely to engage in risky behaviors than other dropouts. On no outcome measure in that ¬gure are dropouts statistically signi¬cantly more likely

to engage in risky behaviors compared to GED recipients.

Fig. 7 summarizes these adolescent behaviors using a single factor and shows that unlike the cognitive summary measures, the distribution of the noncognitive (personality) summary measure of GED recipients is much closer to that of dropouts than to that of high school graduates.

The traits that cause GED recipients to drop out of high schoolman- ifest themselves in many other life outcomes. One potential bene¬to the GED certi¬cate is that it opens doors to post-secondary education Fig. 8 shows post-secondary educational attainment for GED recipients and high school graduates. About 40% of GED recipients enroll in a 2- or 4-year college. Nearly half drop out within the ¬rst year. Fewer than 5% earn a B.A. degree and fewer than 10% earn an A.A. degree (associate degree typically completed in two years).

GED recipients lack persistence in a variety of tasks in life. Fig. 9 shows the survival rates in employment,　marriage, and in the condition of not having been incarcerated. GED recipients tend to exit employment, become divorced, and enter jail at rates similar to those of high school dropouts,　while high school graduates are　much　more persistent Adjusting for their differences in cognitive ability, male GED recipients perform virtually the same as high school dropouts in the labor market. Fig. 10 shows the hourly wages and annual earnings of male GED recipients and high school graduates compared to high school dropouts for different age groups. The ¬rst set of bars shows the outcomes after adjusting for age, race, year, and region of residence. The second set of bars shows the effects after additionally adjusting for AFQT scores. The third set of bars shows the effects after additionally adjusting for standard measures of family background. GED recipients and high school graduates outperform dropouts in regressions that only adjust for age, race, year, and region of residence. After adjusting for cognitive ability, GED recipients are indistinguishable from drop- outs, whereas high school graduates earn more and have higher hourly wages. Controlling for family background characteristics does not change the story. Most of the patterns found for women parallel those found for men. However, there are some important differences. 51 While female GED recipients share similar cognitive and personality traits as male GED recipients, their outcomes differ. After accounting for differences in cognitive ability, female GED recipients do not earn higher hourly wages than other dropouts, but unlike men they have higher annual earnings because they are more likely to participate in the labor force. 52

Evidence from the Perry Preschool Program and other interventions Evidence from the Perry Preschool Program shows how personality traits can be changed inways that produce bene¬cial lifetime outcomes. The Perry preschool Program enriched the lives of 3- and 4-year-old low-income, Black children with initial IQs below 85 at age 3. 53 Participants　were taught social skills in a "plan-do-review" sequence where students planned a task, executed it, and then reviewed it with teachers and fellow students. They learned to work with others when problems arose. 54 In addition, home visits promoted parent-child inter- actions. The program ended after 2 years of enrollment and both treatments and controls entered the same school. The program was evaluated by the method of random assignment. The program did not improve IQ scores in a lasting way. Fig. 11 shows that, by age ten, treatment and control groups had the same average IQ scores. Many critics of early childhood programs seize on this ¬nding and related evidence to dismiss the value of early intervention studies. Nevertheless, the program improved outcomes for both boys and girls, resulting in a statistically signi¬cant rate of return of around 6-10% per annum for both boys and girls (see Heckman et al., 2010a,b). These returns are above the post-World War II, pre-2008 meltdown in stock market returns to equity estimated to be 5.8% per annum. 55 The Perry Preschool Program worked primarily through improving personality traits. Participants had better direct measures of personal behavior (a weighted average of "absences and truancies,""lying and cheating,""stealing," and "swears or uses obscene words" measured by teachers in the elementary school years). Participants of both gen- ders improved their "externalizing behavior," a psychological construct related to Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. For girls, the program improved Openness to Experience (proxied by academic motivation). The program also improved scores on the California Achievement Test (CAT). This evidence is consistent with the evidence presented in the previous section that shows that performance on achievement tests depends on personality traits. Other studies are broadly consistent with the evidence from the Perry Preschool study. Analyses of data from Project STAR, a program that randomly assigned kindergartners and teachers to classes of differ- ent sizes, yields results similar to the Perry Program. Using data from Project STAR, Dee and West (2011) ¬nd that assignment to a small class is associated with positive changes in personality. In a follow-up analysis, Chetty et al. (2011) examine the Project STAR program and ¬nd that students placed in higher quality kindergarten classes-asmea- sured by their peer's average performance on a Stanford Achievement Test-had signi¬cantly higher earnings in early adulthood. The curriculum　of Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) teaches self-control, emotional awareness, and social problem-solving skills and is aimed at elementary school children (see Bierman et al., 2010). A recent random-assignment, longitudinal study demonstrates that the PATHS curriculum reduces teacher and peer ratings of aggression, improves teacher and peer ratings of prosocial behavior, and improves teacher ratings of academic engagement. 56 PATHS is an exemplar of school-based social and emotional learning (SEL) programs. A recent meta-analysis shows that the program improved grades by 0.33 standard deviations and achievement test scores by 0.27 standard deviations (Durlak et al., 2011). 57 Likewise, several random assignment evaluations of Tools of the Mind, a preschool and early primary school curriculum targeting development of self-control, show that it improves classroom behavior as well as executive function, de¬ned as higher-level cognitive skills including inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive ¬‚exibility (Barnett et al., 2006, 2008; Bodrova and Leong, 2001, 2007; Diamond et al., 2007; Lillard and Else-Quest, 2006). 58 Positive ¬ndings are reported for the Montessori preschool curriculum (Lillard and Else-Quest, 2006). Unlike the Perry study, these studies do not have long-term follow　ups. There is evidence that targeted intervention efforts can improve aspects of Conscientiousness. In contrast to the multi-faceted curricula described above, studies targeting improvement in this trait are designed to isolate a particular mechanism producing behavioral change. For instance, Rueda et al. (2005) designed a set of computer exercises to train attention in children between 4 and 6 years of age. Children in the intervention group improved in performance on computer tasks of attention relative to children who instead watched inter- active videos for a comparable amount of time. Similarly, Stevens et al. (2008) designed a 6-week computerized intervention and showed that it can improve selective auditory attention (i.e., the ability to attend to a target auditory signal in the face of an irrelevant, distracting auditory signal). As is typical of much of the literature, all of these programs have only short-term follow-ups. Several studies suggest that personality can be remediated in adolescence. Martins (2010) analyzes data from EPSIS, a program developed to improve student achievement of 13-15 year-olds in Portugal by increasing motivation, self-esteem, and study skills. The program consists of one-on-one meetings with a trained staff member or meetings in small groups. The intervention　was tailored to each participant's individual skill de¬cit. Overall, the program was successful and cost- effective, decreasing grade retention by 10 percentage points. Other life experiences, like employment, can improve personality. Gottschalk (2005) analyzes evidence from a randomized control trial that　working at a job can improve locus of control, a trait related to　Neuroticism　that　measures the extent to　which individuals believe that they have control over their lives through self-motivation or self- determination as opposed to the extent that the environment controls their lives (Rotter, 1966). 59 He uses data from the Self-Suf¬ciency Project (SSP) in which some welfare recipients were randomly offered substantial subsidies to　work. The subsidy　more than doubled the earn- ings of a minimum wage worker. People in the experimental group worked about 30% more hours than those in the control group. After 36months, those who received the subsidy were more likely to have an improved locus of control.

Additional evidence Studies that account for the endogeneity of investment and education provide further evidence of the causal effect of education and cognitive and personality traits on outcomes. Heckman et al. (2011b) estimate a sequential model of education to study the effects of education on a variety of outcomes. Correcting for selection into education, they ¬nd that early cognitive and personality traits affect schooling choices, labor market outcomes, adult health, and social outcomes and that increasing education promotes bene¬cial labor market, health, and social outcomes. Heckman et al. (2006b) estimate a version of Eq. (3) to analyze the effects of increases in education on measured cognition and personal- ity measures. 60 Controlling for the problem of reverse causality that schooling may be caused by traits, they ¬nd that schooling improves both personality and cognitive traits and that these traits, in turn, boost outcomes.61 Cunha et al. (2010) estimate a model of the technology of skill for- mation using longitudinal data on the development of children with rich measures of parental investment and child traits. They control for the endogeneity of investment using shocks to family income along with other instruments. Their model is a version of Eq. (3). Traits are self-productive and exhibit dynamic complementarity- current values of traits affect the evolution of future traits through di- rect and cross effects. A leading example of a cross effect is that more motivated children are more likely to learn. They estimate parameters that summarize how past personality traits affect future cognitive traits. They ¬nd that self-productivity becomes stronger as children be- come older, for both cognitive and personality traits. The elasticity of substitution for cognitive inputs is smaller later in life. This means that it is more dif¬cult to compensate for the effects of adverse environments on cognitive endowments at later ages than it is at earlier ages. This ¬nding is consistent with the high rank stability of cognition over ages past 10-12 reported in the literature. It also helps to explain the evidence on the ineffectiveness of cognitive remediation strategies for disadvantaged adolescents documented in Cunha et al. (2006), Knudsen et al. (2006) and Cunha and Heckman (2007). Personality traits foster the development of cognition but not vice versa. It is equally easy at all stages of the child's life cycle to compensate for early disadvantage in endowments using personality traits. (Elasticities of substitution for these traits are essentially the same at different stages of the life cycle.) The most effective adolescent interventions target personality traits. 62 Monitoring school progress and creating programs to enhance skills requires a broader framework of measurement. Interventions that promote bene¬cial changes in personality have an important place in a portfolio of public policies to foster human development.

2.9 SOFT SKILLS: CHANGING SCENARIO

As per a latest report published in leading Indian paper 'Times of India' department of IT, Chandigarh administration has launched the initiatives of C-TOSS for the students in the government colleges. C-TOSS stands for 'Chandigarh training on soft skills', and it focuses on developing the outlook, communication skills, interview handling skills & life skills. The initiative was taken by the department of information technology in 2005, and was run in over eighty government schools in the city. It is worthy to note that this programme on soft skill was a great success at school level. As per the paper, it is expected to go a long way in developing and aligning the talent pool in Chandigarh as per the needs of the job market. (CTOSS and CITROP programmes in govt schools

Vibhor Mohan, TNN Feb 20, 2013, 06.58PM IST

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-02-20/chandigarh/37199130_1_programmes-chandigarh-administration-soft-skills)

Today, corporate traning means serious business growth: Pallavi Jha, Dale Carnegie Training India

The Economics Time

Anumeha Chaturvedi, ET Bureau May 29, 2012, 03.39PM IST

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-05-29/news/31887863_1_soft-skills-training-programmes-employable

Often referred to as the world's oldest training company, Dale Carnegie Training is celebrating its centenary this year. Pallavi Jha, chairperson and managing director of Dale Carnegie Training India spoke to Anumeha Chaturvedi on the company's Indian journey, and the evolution of corporate training over the years:

Which are the unique initiatives and programmes that the company has introduced in its 100th year?

INITIATIVES

As we celebrate our centenary this year, we are emphasizing a lot on digital communication. The new book on how to win friends and influence people in the digital age was launched in October 2011, and we will be running global success workshops throughout this year. We have a workshop in Bangalore next month which is about leading virtual teams.

We are talking about real problems, and are actively using technology as a medium to demonstrate that-it could be about building online relationships, or making online presentations.

Live online training is different from e learning. Since, imparting soft skills, is more about the practical aspects, webinars are going up in popularity. Through webinars people can have conversations and can see and interact with the trainers more efficiently.

What are companies looking for when they seek training in India? Any challenges that are unique to India with regards to training?

Dale Carnegie training was launched in India 9 years ago. We have trained close to 1,20,000 people in India so far, and around 3000-5000 people are getting trained on a daily basis.

Our business of training individual corporates in the United States is quite strong, but the bulk of the work in India is happening in the corporate space, and the talent shortage problem is at the heart of this.

Due to shortage of skills, there is a huge amount of poaching and attrition becomes a challenge. So, companies here try to engage employees by investing hugely in their skill development.

To address this problem, Dale Carnegie set up the first of its kind Walchand Dale Carnegie Finishing School in India for imparting soft skills to students, which also focuses on training faculty.