McDonald’s UK and James Caan lead a coalition calling for re-evaluation of soft skills, worth £88bn to UK PLC!

Soft skills like communication and teamwork are incredibly important to our business because of the impact they can have on our customers’ experience. As integral as they are to the performance and progression of our employees, I know that we can do more to recognise their importance which is why we are launching this campaign. In conjunction with James Caan, and a wide range of businesses and organisations I want to find ways in which we can better recognise soft skills and I’m calling on others to join us in re-evaluating and improving these skills.

Coalition members: · Confederation of British Industry (CBI) · Chartered Institute of Personal Development (CIPD) · Federation of Small Business (FSB) · National Youth Agency (NYA) · Plotr · Gelder · Association of Colleges · LearnDirect · City & Guilds · NIACE · Work Foundation · Barclays · Ginsters · People 1st · Impetus Trust · EdComs · Prospect

The Development Economics research group, commissioned by the campaign, say soft skills are worth £88bn per year, particularly in businesses that rely on “face-to-face human interaction”. The economic impact is based on factors such as increased workplace productivity and looking at what would be lost with a lack of soft skills, These negative factors include:

• increased operating costs
• losing business to competitors
• problems meeting quality standards
• delays in introducing new products or services

A manager intent on creating a team which goes the extra mile and is engaged and stable, needs to use dialogue rather than hierarchical grade, to motivate and manage the team. Because dialogue, done well, results in solid mutual understanding and commitment, rather than compliance.