We call them “soft skills”: communication and interactional skills that demonstrate emotional intelligence. It’s been well established (for nearly a century, in fact) that “85% of job success comes from having well‐developed soft and people skills, and only 15% of job success comes from technical skills and knowledge” (source: National Soft Skills Association). Yet development of soft skills makes up only about 27% of money invested in employee training. If anything, these numbers show that the importance soft skills in developing a strong business culture may be severely underestimated.

The Role of Empathy in Business Culture

Of all the soft skills affecting business culture, the one that might be most foundational is a sense of empathy: being able to view a problem through the eyes of another. In the workplace, this can be empathy with a client, an employee, or a manager. Want to know how EDSI programs incorporate empathy, and how empathy development can translate to concrete gains for your company? Read on!

Cultivating Empathy

One of the benefits of the Employee Development Systems courses is that they focus on understanding. Beginning with the DiSC personality profile, these courses encourage participants to understand their unique personality and communication styles, and to learn more about the styles of their coworkers. Realizing how different people might have different approaches to problem solving, different conflict management styles, and different ways of interacting helps team members reach new levels of success, motivation, and productivity. Our products foster this understanding and then encourage active listening as a way to walk in someone else’s shoes.

The Hidden Benefit of Empathy: Profit

If empathy is employed by leadership at the top, it can funnel through the organization and translate to profitable changes. Employees who have taken Increasing Personal Effectiveness, which centers on soft skills such as communication, empathy, and personal accountability, report increased productivity and improved communication skills. Couple that with the work of sales teams, who will gain listening skills and learn how to better address the needs of potential clients. Empathy is also key in development phases, allowing leaders to listen about ways to make products stronger or more cost-effective.

If you’re interested in training programs to increase productivity, performance, motivation, and effectiveness and to build a stronger business culture in your organization, consider how soft skills development might make a difference. Empathy and soft skills are not just abstract concepts! They improve a company’s business culture and lead to tangible results.

Employee Development Systems delivers results-oriented training programs that increase productivity, effectiveness, & performance. Contact us today to find out what we have done for other organizations and how we can help yours.

Photo by sinclair.sharon28 via Flickr