A conversation with Kathleen Unger, Founder, President, and Chair of the Board, VoteRiders
Hello, and welcome to Part II of a two-part series on the importance of soft skills in the work environment.
I recently spoke with Kathleen Unger, Founder, President and Chair of the Board of VoteRiders (VoteRiders.org). VoteRiders’ mission is to ensure that no eligible voter is prevented from casting a ballot that counts due to voter ID laws, either directly from lack of acceptable ID, or indirectly because of voter confusion. VoteRiders is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization, and they do important work for the USA.
Kathleen asked me a few questions about how to hire for soft skills, how to reward employees who exhibit excellent soft skills, and how to ensure employees will be able to adapt and evolve in the current work environment. If you missed Part I of this series, or if you’d like a brief refresher, you can click here for a review.
Let’s jump right in and continue with the second half of my interview with Kathleen…
How should an employer screen for and assess soft skills in an employee candidate?
Two ways: through the cover letter that accompanies their resume, and more importantly, via a face-to-face interview. Resumes usually tell the story of a candidate’s credentials and/or technical skills, such as whether they have a real estate license, or experience with driving a forklift. They either have what you’re looking for, or they don’t. But next, it’s essential to figure out whether the candidate has the soft skills to do the job successfully.
Let’s start with the cover letter. It’s a great opportunity for the candidate to reveal a little about their personal traits, such as whether they’re passionate about people, or whether they love to tackle difficult projects. (Many of my past blogs and articles actually speak to the importance of showcasing one’s soft skills in a cover letter.) So start by reading the candidate’s cover letter thoroughly, and attempting to “read between the lines,” to see whether you can peek a little further into the candidate’s inner thoughts, feelings, and personal preferences.
Next, the face-to-face interview is an even more accurate way to determine a candidate’s soft skills. There’s nothing like an in-person meeting to figure out who you’re dealing with. Paper is one thing. Zoom is another. (And by the way, we’ve been lucky to have that option during the height of covid restrictions, so yay for Zoom and other similar platforms.) But seeing the candidate’s eye contact and facial expression, hearing their voice tone and loudness, and observing their body language is most helpful—yes, even if you’re hiring remote workers, or your office has fully converted to “work from home” mode. Whenever possible, it’s best to hire people who’ve passed an in-person interview with a well-trained, observant hiring manager. Hopefully, we’ll get back to this practice becoming commonplace once again.
Despite the strong job market and competition among employers for talent, why should organizations place a high priority on finding/hiring workers with good soft skills? Can they afford to be this particular?
They can—and should—be this particular!
Here’s the first reason. Companies of all types and sizes should always ask where they can save money without compromising the product(s) they deliver. (Excellent organizations ask this question on a regular basis.) One answer that often comes back is: by decreasing employee turnover. It’s very costly, and you’re gaining absolutely nothing for your time and effort by having to fill the same position, ad nauseam (think minimum-wage workers behind the counter at your local movie theatre). What would this have to do with soft skills? Because it’s not only important to determine whether your candidate has the technical skills necessary to perform the job, but it’s also equally important (perhaps more so) to determine whether they’ll fit into your existing company culture. And “fitting in” is all about possessing a variety of soft skills. The #1 reason employees leave on their own volition within the first 6 months is because they never connected properly with their co-workers, their managers, or the company in general, and this can be avoided to a great degree by hiring the type of employee whose soft skills match up with the company culture.
Here’s the second reason. If an organization has any contact whatsoever with customers, vendors, clients, patients, etc. (which every organization does), it’s your employees’ soft skills that will protect and keep those associations healthy and strong. (This assumes your company delivers an outstanding product, which of course, is paramount.) Successful business relationships are forged and maintained by real people, interacting in human situations, utilizing their well-developed soft skills.
If a candidate lacks valued soft skills, how can and to what degree can the employer beef up this person’s soft skills after the hire (e.g., via training/education, etc.)?
I’m a huge believer in the value of employee training. (After all, I’m the founder of a very large public seminar company, so my answer isn’t surprising!) Simply stated, training works. However, it’s essential to provide the right kind of training, depending upon the type of skill you’re attempting to strengthen in the new hire.
Many companies have their own in-house training departments. If you’re reading this and you come from one of those organizations, congratulations. It means that your company values employee growth, and that workers have access to a wide variety of learning experiences. However, many equally-wonderful-but-smaller companies may simply not have the budget for such a luxury, in which case, there are many reputable companies that deliver training through live seminars (admittedly limited right now, due to covid), instructor-led webinars, and computer-based training—all of which work, and all of which have their place in the education world. It seems apparent that technical training, such as mastering Microsoft Word or learning how to read project management flow charts, is easily and successfully delivered via a computer screen. However, for learning soft skills, such as communication, leadership or customer service, in-person training is preferable.* Live training sessions provide the benefit of firsthand skill-modeling from the instructor, as well as an opportunity for trainees to practice their soft skills with other participants.
*We’re currently navigating through the challenges of returning to face-to-face training. For the time being, in-person soft skills training may not be readily available, in which case I would default to the “some type of training is better than no training whatsoever” motto and find an appropriate training video. Both LinkedIn Learning and good old YouTube are wonderful resources, and the latter is free.
Whether it’s sending an employee to a seminar at a local community college, creating a company lending library for everyone to use, or bringing in an outside trainer for a one-day workshop, investing in employee training is well worth it, and can definitely shore up any soft skills gaps you may find in an otherwise-qualified candidate.
That’s a wrap! One more grateful shoutout to Kathleen Unger for her excellent topic suggestion. You and your organization rock, Kathleen, and it was a pleasure interviewing with you.
What’s on your mind? I’ll be happy to tackle it in a future article, and as always, please feel free to write to me with your feedback, comments, and topic suggestions. See you again soon!