This power point presentation gives an overview of soft skills, difference between soft skills and hard skills and determinants of soft skills.

1. SOFT SKILLS

2. MEANING
 Social skills
 Communication skills
 Character traits
 Attitudes
 Career attributes
 Social intelligence and
 Emotional intelligence

3. TYPES
 Internal soft skills
Self-confidence, self-awareness, self compassion,
accepting criticism, critical thinking/problem
solving, flexibility, perseverance, emotional
management, perceptiveness and growth mindset.
 External soft skills
Collaborative teamwork, effective
communication, self promotion, managing conflicts,
adaptability, networking, influence, negotiation and
expectation management.

4. NEED
To have success in one’s profession
To excel in the work place and to
stand out in a crowd of regular job
seekers with ordinary skills and talent.
To be a good employee
Socially acceptable profile and skills
are needed to become a good employee.

5. NEED
• For the success of an organisation
To deals with customers and to have face to face
interaction the organisation trains the employees
to use soft skills.
• For the success of business
Soft skills helps a business man to convey
his idea to the mass more clearly and
effectively.

6. ATTRIBUTES
 Interpersonal Skills
 Team Working
 Negotiation Skills
 Communication Skills
 Time Management
 Stress Management
 Multitasking
 Decision Making
 Body Language
 Adaptability

7. Hard Skills
Examples of hard skills:
• Proficiency in a foreign language
• A degree or certificate
• Typing speed
• Machine operation
• Computer programming

8. Soft Skills
Examples of soft skills:
• Communication
• Flexibility
• Leadership
• Motivation
• Patience
• Persuasion
• Problem Solving Abilities
• Teamwork
• Time Management
• Work Ethic

9. SOFT SKILLS Vs HARD
SKILLSBase Hard Skills Soft Skills
Contents Technical and job related skills. People skills, non-technical, intangible, personality
specific skills.
Complement It cannot be replaced with soft
skills
Soft skills complement hard skills.
Nature Hard skills can be taught It cannot be taught can be developed through training
Lack of skill Generally workers have hard skills Many potential job seekers lack the soft skills that a
company needs
Specific Hard skills are specific Soft skills are not specific
Ability to teach Hard skills are teachable abilities Soft skills are not teachable abilities
Tangibility Hard skills are tangible Soft skills are less tangible
Measurable It is easily measurable It is not easily measurable

10. IMPORTANCE
– It plays an important role for the success of
personal and professional life
– It helps to excel in the workplace i.e., soft skills
helps to separate from the crowd of co-workers.
– If a person has socially accepted profile and skills,
then he became a good employee. These can be
achieved through soft skills.

11. ACQUISITION
Team Player
Writing Down the Best and Worst Traits
Managing Time
Getting Feedback
Giving Feedback
Live Consciously

12. DETERMINANTS
Soft
skills
Biological
factors
Family and
social
factors
Cultural
factors
Situational
factors

13. 1.Biological Factors
a. Heredity
 Transmission of the qualities from ancestor to
descendant through a mechanism in the
chromosomes of germ cells.
 To certain physical, mental and emotional
states.
 It plays an important role in the soft skill
development.

14. b. Brain
Left Hemisphere Right Hemisphere
Speech Emotional
Logical Holistic
Linear Spiritual
Sequential Recognition
Dominant Musical
Active Creative
Intellectual control

15. c. Physical Features
– A person’s physical features have some influence
on his personality.
Example - A child’s physical characteristics
may be related to his approach to the social
environment.

16. 2.Family and Social Factors
o Family is the first proximate society for
individual.
o Person learns many things from social settings.
o Family gives the identification of individual
o These groups have their impact through
a. Socialisation and
b. Identification.

17. a.Socialisation
Socialization starts with the initial contact
between a mother and her new infant.
After infancy, other members of the immediate
family – father, brothers, sisters and close
relatives or friends, then the social group –
peers, school friends and members of the work
group, play influential roles.

18. b. Identification
• It occurs when a person tries to identify
himself with some person whom he feels ideal
in the family. Generally a child in the family
tries to behave like his father or mothers.
• Family and social factors include
– Home environment
– Family members
– Social groups

19. 1.Home Environment
Children in a cold, unstimulating home are generally, emotionally,
maladjusted. Children in a warm, loving and stimulating
environment will have good habits and be kind.
2. Family Members
Parents and siblings also contribute to personality.
3. Social Groups
A person is exposed to agencies outside the home.
Example – school, friendship and other work group.
Social groups influence personality. Similarly socio-
economic factors affect soft skills.

20. 3.Cultural Factors
Cultural values and practices are easily
learnt by individual.
Person observes and practices the cultural
values, beliefs and norms transmitted and
being practised by their seniors, family
members, relatives and society members.
These personality traits are more permanent
and reflected in the work environment.
 Thus, managers are more interested to study
the culture of individual before making
decisions.

21. - Japanese people are encouraged to work in team
as they have the strong family culture.
- American people wish to work individually, are
more aggressive and believe in individual
competition.
The culture in which one lives always involves:
• Traditional practices
• Norms
• Customs
• Procedures
• Rules and regulations
• Precedents
• Values

22. IV. Situational Factors
o Situation determines action, because of change in
situation; a person’s soft skills also change.
o Human soft skills are also influenced by
situational factors.
o The effect of environment is quite strong.
o An individual's soft skills, while generally stable
and consistent, do change in different situations.