Bruce Tulgan has authored a book about how to get young employees up to speed on "soft skills." Hard skills are the technical skills needed to execute the job, and he feels that young people have a lot of them. Soft skills, on the other hand, are frequently weak. Soft skills, according to Tulgan, include professionalism, critical thinking, and followership. People are employed because of their hard skills, but fired because of their lack of soft skills, he claims.
Since 1993, Tulgan has been studying generational differences in professional abilities. “Generation Z” (born between 1990 and 1999) are the newest employees to enter the workforce, and his findings reveal a significant gap in soft skills between these young people and older workers.
The soft skills gap has been exacerbated by trends such as globalization, technical advancements, institutional insecurity, the information environment, and an increase in diversity. Two other developments have also had a substantial impact on the fall in soft skills. Tulgan 1 refers to it as "helicopter parenting on steroids." “No children or young adults have ever been insulated, scheduled, supervised, or supported to the extent that Gen Zers have been.” As a result, GenZers' relationships with authority figures are a little hazy. They expect authority officials to help them succeed, to be helpful, and to treat them as customers. When authority figures see a difference, they are often taken aback.
Second, because Gen Zers have been persuaded their entire lives that "all styles are equally valid," they are less likely to want to fit in at work and more likely to strive to make the workplace fit them. Soft skills are mostly concerned with fitting in, while Tulgan sees Gen Zers as the ultimate non-conformists. They struggle with the reality that a functional workplace cannot exist where everyone sets their own rules of conduct. Of course, not every member of Generation Z is lacking in soft skills. Professionalism, critical thinking, and followership are skills that many young people excel at. Unfortunately, there aren't enough to fill all of the entry-level positions.
Tulgan talks about how to hire for soft talents and how to train individuals to use them. Soft skills must be incorporated into the basic employment requirements. Look for red signals while hiring, such as a potential hire arriving late for the interview. Regardless of his hard skills, do not hire this person. Additionally, try giving prospective employees a sneak peek at the job by job shadowing or showcasing recordings of actual workers doing the job. That way the new hire won’t be surprised at having to do the boring, difficult parts of the job in addition to the exciting and challenging parts.