CIOs Are Looking for Soft Skills

In a new survey by technology recruiters Robert Half, they poled 1,400 CIOs. CIOs were asked, “In which of the following areas do you think your IT staff could most use improvement?”

• Technical abilities............................................................ 25%
• Project management skills.................................................. 23%
• Verbal and written communication abilities............................... 15%
• Organizational skills.......................................................... 14%
• Interpersonal skills............................................................ 12%
• None/no improvements needed.............................................. 3%
• Other/don't know.............................................................. 8%
  

While “technical abilities” were ranked first as a single classification, the combination of verbal and written abilities, organizational skills, and interpersonal skills, in other words those abilities that are typically thought of as “soft skills,” accounted for 41% of the areas that need improvement.

“Technology changes rapidly, making it crucial for IT staff to constantly learn new skills to keep pace with industry advancements,” said Katherine Spencer Lee, executive director of Robert Half Technology. “While it’s ultimately up to the individual to keep his or her technical abilities current, the best employers invest in ongoing professional development for employees at all levels.” Lee continued, “Professional development programs also can aid a company’s recruitment and retention efforts. In today’s competitive IT hiring market, employees want to work for firms that encourage them to build new skills and assume more challenging responsibilities.”

We all know that technical professionals need solid technical skills, and most organizations budget for training programs that help technical pros keep pace with industry advancement. However, in order to take advantage of the technical skills, CIOs are beginning to recognize that they need to upgrade the soft skills of their teams as well.

Randy Bancino

Profitable Growth Partners, LLC.

How Important are Soft Skills?

According to a recent study by Robert Half:

The Most Valuable Qualifications for Technical Professionals
· 43% Industry specific knowledge
· 32% Soft Skills
· 15% Certification in Relevant Technology
· 8% IT Related undergrad degree
· 1% MBA
· 1% Don’t Know

The Most Important soft skills for Technical Professionals
· 37% Interpersonal Skills
· 20% Written or verbal communication
· 17% Ability to work under pressure
· 11% Overall business acumen
· 7% Professional demeanor
· 8% Other/Don’t Know

Who invests in Soft Skills Training for Technical People?
· 53 % of all companies surveyed
· 62% of companies with more than 1000 employees
· 70% of business services firms

Increasingly, companies are improving the productivity of individual technical staff, increasing the project success rates for the technical team, and improving the bottom line of their companies by paying attention to the soft skills of their technical teams. While many believe that they MUST invest in continuing to develop the technical skills of their teams, the REAL ROI comes from leveraging those technical skills with upgrades to soft skills such as communication, emotional intelligence, teamwork, and leadership.

Do you believe it? How have you improved the service levels of your technical team? We invite you to comment, and share your experience and thoughts with other technical leaders...

Randy Bancino

Profitable Growth Partners, LLC.

Profitable Growth Partners Published in Techniques Magazine

By Randy Bancino and Claire Zevalkink
In many technical professions the complete focus of education and training is on technical topics either directly or indirectly related to the technical discipline. Students are generally required to master various mathematics skills, science skills, and detailed technical skills directly related to the specific discipline they are planning to enter. However, increasingly technical professionals in various disciplines such as information technology, engineering, research and development, etc. are required to broaden their skill sets to master what have traditionally been called “soft skills.” Soft skills, as defined by Wikipedia, are “the cluster of personality traits, social graces, facility with language, personal habits, friendliness, and optimism that mark people to varying degrees. Soft skills complement hard skills, which are the technical requirements of a job.”
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Words That Work

“Communication” is one of the central themes in both our Profitable Growth Partners Boot Camp for Managers™ program and our Soft Skills for Hard Core Technical Professionals™ series. Recently I was reading an excellent book (there are many) on the subject. Words That Work, by Dr. Frank Luntz provides an insightful look into the way we use words. The book contains excellent stories about how changing the words we use can re-frame an entire conversation, and he also provides practical tips on how to use the right words to make your point clearly and effectively.

Dr. Luntz also provides the “10 rules of successful communication:”

1. Simplicity: Use small words. Avoid words that might force someone to reach for the dictionary, because most Americans won’t.

2. Brevity: Use short sentences. Be brief as possible. Never us a sentence when a phrase will do.

3. Credibility Is as Important as Philosophy. People have to believe it to buy it. If your words lack sincerity or if they contradict accepted facts, circumstances or perceptions, they will lack impact.

4. Consistency Matters. Repetition. Repetition. Repetition.

5. Novelty: Offer something new. Words that work often involve a new definition of an old idea.

6. Sound and Texture Matter. A string of words that have the same first letter, the same sound or the same syllabic cadence is more memorable than a random collection of sounds.

7. Speak Aspirationally. The key to successful aspirational language is to personalize and humanize the message to trigger an emotional remembrance.

8. Visualize. Paint a vivid picture.

9. Ask a Question. A statement put in the form of a rhetorical question can have much greater impact than a plain assertion.

10. Provide Context and Explain Relevance. You have to give people the “why” of a message before you tell them the “therefore” and the “so what.”

Often the book comes from the advertising or political perspective, but there are great insights for all of us who have to communication, and persuade, and inspire.