National Soft Skills Association

To promote and enhance programs that increase soft skills

The Soft Skills Disconnect

By 493 Comments

Research conducted by Harvard University, the Carnegie Foundation and Stanford Research Center has all concluded 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 (hard skills). These statistics were extrapolated from A Study of Engineering Education, authored by Charles Riborg Mann and published in 1918 by the Carnegie Foundation. The cited figures come from the data on pages 106‐107.

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That is not a typo, it is correct—1918. So we have known for almost 100 years that soft skills are critical to the success of any organization. So why is it that in another study by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) The State of the Industry Report (Green and McGill, 2011), U.S. employers spent $171.5 billion on employee learning and development in 2010, and 27.6% of those training dollars went to soft skills training?

If soft skills are six times more important than hard skills for job success, why is almost ¾ of all the training dollars going to hard skills?

social-skills-disconnect-infographic

About the Author

National Soft Skills Association™ (NSSA) is a national clearing house on past and present research and to identify the best practices within the soft skills field.

Comments

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Trackbacks

  29. […] has long touted the importance of people skills in any successful business plan. In fact, a 2016 Harvard University study used figures from 1918 that found 85% of job success comes from people skills, a set of behaviors […]

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  47. […] According to a study conducted by Harvard University, the Carnegie Foundation, and Stanford Research…, a whopping 85% of job performance comes from having soft skills, and only 15% from technical skills. We’ve known for over a hundred years that qualities such as empathy, emotional intelligence, and communication are essential for succeeding in a key role, and yet, if we look at the statistics, there is a major disconnect between the resources that go into hard skills and soft skills training. […]

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  68. […] According to a study published by the Carnegie Foundation in 1918, soft skills make up 85% of job success. Eighty-five percent! Meanwhile, employers spend more money on hard skills training every year. If soft skills are that important to job success, employers need to change their direction and get on board with more soft skills training. Check out the graphic below to learn what soft skills are essential for your workplace performance. […]

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  75. […] Harvard University claimed that 85 percent of success in any job comes from having strong soft skills, and only about 15 percent comes from technical abilities. You can tell by those figures that soft skills are vital, but they are also the most lacking elements in workplaces. […]

    Reply

  126. […] According to a study published by the Carnegie Foundation in 1918, soft skills make up 85% of job success. Eighty-five percent! Meanwhile, employers spend more money on hard skills training every year. If soft skills are that important to job success, employers need to change their direction and get on board with more soft skills training. Check out the graphic below to learn what soft skills are essential for your workplace performance. […]

    Reply

  131. […] Istraživanje koje su proveli Sveučilište Harvard, Zaklade Carnegie i Istraživački centar Stanford zaključilo je da 85% uspjeha u poslu dolazi od dobro razvijenih vještina i vještina s ljudima, a samo 15% uspjeha u poslu dolazi od tehničkih vještina i znanja. Druga studija Američkog društva za obuku i razvoj (Green i McGill, 2011.), kaže da su američki poslodavci potrošili 171,5 milijardi dolara na učenje i razvoj zaposlenika u 2010., od čega je samo  27,6% tih dolara bilo namijenjeno obuci “mekih” vještina. […]

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  138. […] Research carried out by Harvard University, the Carnegie Foundation and Stanford Research Center found 85% of job success comes from well-developed soft skills and people skills. These skills are particularly valuable as technology advances and while some roles can be automated and improved with artificial intelligence (AI), soft skills are irreplaceable. While these kinds of skills can be harder to test and identify, recruitment strategies must place a clear focus and priority on them. […]

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  143. […] Scientists from Harvard, Stanford, and the Carnegie Endowment have found that “flexible skills” represent 85% of a person’s professional success, while “hard skills” make up only 15%. Soft skills indicate an individual’s ability to work with others, grow within a company, build relationships, and solve problems. Listing soft skills on a CV, demonstrating them in an interview, and developing them in the workplace can support a translator’s career and open new doors. With that in mind, here are the most in-demand soft skills you can develop to support your career. […]

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  146. […] We have known, for over a century, that soft skills (attitude) trump hard skills (technical expertise). A study from Harvard University, the Carnegie Foundation, and Stanford Research Center found that 85% of job success comes from having well-developed soft skills, while only 15% comes from technica….    […]

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