Support Sector and the Importance of Soft Skills
With the increasing growth in the Indian economy resulting from the development and advancement in 
industries such as IT Services, ITeS, Retail, Hospitality, Travel, and Financial Services, the country is facing a deepening soft skill crisis. This lack of skills poses a threat to the Indian economy along with the increase of the employee base and new hires every year in different sectors. Therefore, it is high time to acknowledge the importance of Soft skills in employees at the entry level as well as at supervisory and managerial level in the corporate sector.
One of the misconceptions is that technical knowledge and technical certification is the most important aspect in achieving success for support professionals. On the contrary, soft skills are more important and essential than technical skills in shaping a career. According to IT Training magazine, 96% of survey respondents think that soft skills are major contributors of achieving success in this field of profession. In this article, we will discuss about the importance of soft skills and how it affects the growth of an individual in the organization, process of business and the organization and most importantly how it helps in achieving maximum customer satisfaction.
Definition:
First of all, let us try to understand the meaning of ‘soft skills.' It is a sociological term which is associated with an individual's "EQ" (Emotional Intelligence Quotient), which includes a collection of personality traits, social graces, communication, language, personal habits, friendliness, and optimism that highly affect relationships with other people. These skills are complementary to hard skills which are the occupational requirements of a job and many other activities. Soft Skills are behavioral competencies that reflect the ability to communicate, provide creative solutions, resolve and negotiate conflicts, think strategically and work in a team. In short, these skills are the fundamental attributes that today's technology driven economy is demanding of its employers, employees and businesses.
Importance:
The importance of soft skills is starting to grow gradually in the corporate sector. However, it is wrong to think that possessing technical skills includes the ability to communicate and provide assistance to the customers effectively and efficiently. Soft skills are the quality that enhances the technical ability by adding balance to it. Therefore, if the support professionals and the managers of an organization have the ability to deal with the customers in a friendly and satisfactory manner that proves beneficial for the clients, then, the growth of the organization is inevitable. It helps in increasing the credibility and reliability factor in creating a cordial relationship with the customers at the same time increasing the productivity of the organization.
Narrowing the scope of benefits, it tremendously helps in building the career of an individual. If a support professional implement these skills while dealing with the customers, he/she will gain recognition from the organization, employer and peers. He will find numerous opportunities like new employment offers or even promotion. These skills also help in enhancing an individual's ethical values and developing a sense of responsibility and confidence ultimately helping them in accomplishing their objective on the long run. Moreover, hiring managers and human resource managers look for these traits while recruiting an employee. Therefore, recruiters use these parameters as criteria for selecting an employee.
Content of soft skills as per the HDI (Human Development Index):
Those people who are interested in perusing a career in customer support sector can take up training programs for soft skills certification. There are a large number of training centers which provides soft skills training. HDI laid down these parameters listed below as the main component which should be covered in the training program:
- Roles, service skills, and proficiencies
- Support processes, tools, and methodologies
- Customer relationships and problem solving
- Teambuilding
- Strategic thinking
- Career development
Certification:
Many organizations provide in-house soft skills training otherwise anyone who has the time and resources can take up a certification program. Acquiring a soft skill certification proves highly useful and qualifying an individual for a higher position in the workplace. It is a powerful weapon while dealing with the customers and rest of the contending organizations. Furthermore, it helps in assuring the customers that the organization is dedicated towards providing them sincere and world class service. Certification programs also contribute in enhancing their performance and in motivating the employees to work and exceed the expected goals. Some of the professionals require certification, as compare to others, for to qualify them for certain positions. These professionals include:
- Soft Skills Trainers
- Call Center Executives
- Team Leaders, Supervisors, and Managers
Mentionable training centers:
- Quadruple, Nandanam, Chennai
- INTSOL, Bangalore
- Athiya Organizational Competencies (P) Limited, Bangalore
- Crossroads Trailing Solutions - Mumbai
- Evolv - Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai
- Glance, Bangalore
- Incrove, Ghaziabad
Source: Ningombam Biswamitra Singh (Shiksha Team)
Date: 4th March, 2011
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