Análisis por Sector

Taylor (2016b) indicates that due to the tacit nature of soft skills and its difficulty to measure, “there is no globally accepted definition of soft skills” and defines soft skills “as intra- and inter- personal skills essential for personal development, social participation, and required to function in a specific employment environment” (Taylor, 2016b:3). For the purpose of this study, Taylor’s definition of soft skills is used.

Joseph, Ang, Chang, and Slaughter (2010) and Taylor (2016b) agree that soft skills can be categorised into four core types that cover managing tasks, career management, self- management and people management. According to Bancino and Zevalkink (2007) these core soft skills sets can be further broken down into aspects of face-to-face communication, nonverbal communication, active listening, writing and presentation skills, self-awareness, social awareness, relationship management, conflict management, leadership, team-work, emotional intelligence, negotiation skills, change management, and team problem solving.

Other important soft skills qualities listed by industry include to work contently with people from different cultures, have the ability to speak and write well, multidisciplinary thinking, problem-solving and being dependable (Gewertz, 2007). González-Morales, De Antonio, and García (2011) add managing clients and their expectations, conflict management and critical thinking to the soft skills required. Business executives indicate that communication skills,

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responsibility, professionalism, flexibility, teamwork, and work ethic as important soft skills graduates should possess (Robles, 2012; Liebenberg, Huisman & Mentz, 2015b).

A European-based study on business graduates’ employability showed that graduates’ perceptions of employability change from a soft versus hard skill angle within their first six months of employment. The study highlights the importance of hard business-related knowledge (core competencies in the field) and the value of soft business-related skills, including the need for work-related experience. The findings show that it is imperative that universities cover more aspects of soft skills involving communication and presentation skills and that they also ensure work-related experiences in the form of internships if they are to produce highly competent, flexible and employable individuals, able to meet the ever-changing demands of current European business (Andrews & Higson, 2008).

It has been generally agreed that the main area of concern of employers is the soft skills gap (Amiruddin et al., 2016; Taylor, 2016b). Taylor (2016b) highlights that according to industry the most important soft skills required entail communication, flexibility, self-management, teamwork, multi-disciplinary thinking, client management, decision making, conflict management, work ethic, interpersonal relations, negotiation, self-confidence, critical thinking, emotional intelligence and professionalism. Taylor (2016b) concludes that further research is required on where/whom the responsibility for the development of soft skills lie and how to develop soft skills as this is seen as a difficult issue.

A further consideration in this context is that of ethics. Diedericks (2012) mentions the importance of promoting ethical behaviour on the part of employees and how this has become an integral agenda of organisations in the IT industry. In a conference paper entitled ‘Development of soft skills in accordance with governmental critical outcomes’, Taylor (2016a) expresses the need for including work ethic and professional practice in the development of academic programmes. This highlights the issue of soft skills such as communication skills, motivational skills, interpersonal skills, teamwork, people management, work ethic and problem solving and the lack of their incorporation into the learning outcomes of academic programmes (Taylor, 2016a). Thus, those responsible for the development of academic programmes should include more soft skills in the learning outcomes so that this topic is explicitly covered. This would then ensure that the development of soft skills is taken to higher levels during each year of study (Taylor, 2016a).

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Simon and Jackson (2013) claim that employees in analyst positions require people skills to enable them to meet the requirements of both users and consumers. Calitz, Cullen and Greyling (2014) and Pradhan (2015) adds communication skills, professional proficiencies, critical thinking, problem solving and information and communication technology (ICT) skills to the significant employability skills that would improve an individual’s skill sets, thus enabling the individual concerned to meet the changing demands of the workplace. It is clear that people skills, which fall within the soft skill category, are an important aspect that should be incorporated into a graduate’s skill set (Calitz et al., 2014).

It has been argued that key soft skills aspects are required if IT graduates are to be relevant in the job market (Liebenberg, Huisman & Mentz, 2015a; Raman & Koka, 2015). Raman and Koka (2015) draw on research findings and suggest that IT graduates should possess key soft skills that include communication skills, interpersonal skills and motivational skills. Stewart, Wall and Marciniec (2016) highlight that soft skills are just as valuable for IT graduates as the hard (technical) skills that are required for employment. Findings show employers are continuing to complain about graduates not possessing the soft skills and recommend that more research is required to ascertain the soft skills gap (Liebenberg et al., 2015b). Mabiza, Mahlalela and Mbohwa (2017) point out that technical graduates often encounter challenges with soft skills when engaging on a professional level and that communication skills are as important as technical skills.

The skills gap analysis performed by Patacsil and Tablatin (2017) indicate that soft skills, including communication and teamwork aspects, are the most important of the skill sets required by industry in relation to employing IT graduates. These are closely followed by negotiation and critical thinking skills. Thus, in order to meet industry needs, it is recommended that educational institutions assist students to acquire the soft skills as outlined in Figure 2.5. This may be done by investigating what is being developed and taught in institutions (Calitz et al., 2014; Büth, Bhakar, Sihag, Posselt, Böhme, Sangwan & Herrmann, 2017; Patacsil & Tablatin, 2017).

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Figure 2.5: Soft skills

Figure 2.5 depicts the combination of each aspect that contributes to soft skills according to the literature as presented in Table 2.1. If these key aspects of soft skills are instilled in graduates by the curriculum, then graduates would be better equipped to satisfy industry’s needs.

Communication skills Interpersonal skills Work ethic Teamwork Motivational

skills Negotiationskills

Self- management Flexibility Multi- disciplinary thinking Client management Decision making Conflict management Self-

confidence thinkingCritical Emotional intelligence Professionalism

Soft

skills

38 Table 2.1: Soft skills

Soft skills aspects References

Communication skills Andrews and Higson (2008); Robles (2012); Calitz et al. (2014); Liebenberg et al. (2015b); Pradhan (2015); Raman and Koka (2015); Taylor (2016b); Mabiza et al. (2017); Patacsil and Tablatin (2017)

Interpersonal skills Diedericks (2012); Simon and Jackson (2013); Calitz et al. (2014); Raman and Koka (2015); Taylor (2016b)

Work ethic Diedericks (2012); Robles (2012); Calitz et al. (2014); Liebenberg et al. (2015b); Pradhan (2015);; Taylor (2016b)

Teamwork Robles (2012); Liebenberg et al. (2015b); Taylor (2016b); Patacsil and Tablatin (2017)

Motivational skills Raman and Koka (2015); Taylor (2016a); Taylor (2016b)

Negotiation skills Bancino and Zevalkink (2007); Taylor (2016a); Taylor (2016b); Patacsil and Tablatin (2017)

Flexibility Andrews and Higson (2008); Robles (2012); Taylor (2016b) Self-management Joseph et al. (2010); Taylor (2016b)

Multi-disciplinary thinking Gewertz (2007); Taylor (2016b)

Client management Bancino and Zevalkink (2007); González-Morales et al. (2011); Simon and Jackson (2013); Taylor (2016b)

Decision making Pradhan (2015); Taylor (2016b)

Conflict management Bancino and Zevalkink (2007); González-Morales et al. (2011); Taylor (2016b)

Self-confidence Bancino and Zevalkink (2007); Taylor (2016b)

Critical thinking González-Morales et al. (2011); Calitz et al. (2014); Pradhan (2015); Taylor (2016b); Patacsil and Tablatin (2017)

Emotional intelligence Bancino and Zevalkink (2007); Taylor (2016b)

Professionalism Andrews and Higson (2008); Robles (2012); Simon and Jackson (2013); Liebenberg et al. (2015b); Pradhan (2015); Taylor (2016b); Mabiza et al. (2017)