Soft Skills: The Neglected Factor in Workplace Participation?

Abstract

The rhetoric proposes that transitions from ‘Fordist’ to ‘post-Fordist’ structures will result in a flexible, multi-skilled workforce operating in a decentralised, participative environment. Whilst employee participation and a consensual management style have frequently been espoused as prerequisites for cultural change and improved organisational performance, the importance of soft skills in the process is seldom mentioned. This paper attempts to redress the balance by examining participation and soft skills against a framework of management style and organisational culture. Two different companies were studied, one which had undergone a culture change program in an attempt to move from a Fordist to a post-Fordist structure and one which had not. The results indicate that ‘intention to empower for participation’ is not enough, as without enhanced soft skills the process is unlikely to prove successful.