Soft Skills and Its Importance for Employment and Success in India

Abstract

India has the second largest population in the world. It is having huge manpower resources which are educated and having a lot of skills. However, in comparison to the high level of education and skills, it is seen that there are still a lot of people who are not employed. Employment opportunities do not come only with hard skills education or experience. This is important but employers also look for something more than this which is the soft skills part of it. Hard skills and experience are not enough for achieving success and progression of career. Employers prefer to employ those persons who are resourceful, ethical and self directed with good “soft skills” and this is applicable in all sectors and situations. Development of one's soft skills is equally important. Employment is a critical factor for the individual, society and the Country. Audibert and James emphasize the importance of soft skills for employees to retain in their positions as “Soft skills such as leadership, communication, teambuilding and entrepreneurial interest have become critical for hiring and promoting employees to keep positions” (Audibert and James 2002). Soft skills can be inculcated in people through variety of programs and methods. Institutions and Companies need to look at more effective ways and programs to incorporate soft skills in the employees and students. This paper is an attempt to emphasize the necessity of incorporating soft skills training programs in Institutes and Corporate in India to ensure that the employability of the young generation increases and to give some guidelines on how training conducted on soft skills can be measured to make them more effective.