Bridging the Soft Skills Gap in the Workplace

The ongoing gap in soft skills continues to present significant challenges in today’s workplace, despite its clear impact on organizational success. As detailed in this Forbes article, this issue is not one that can be solved with quick fixes or avoided by hiring strategies. Instead, it demands intentional efforts to cultivate skills like communication, adaptability and emotional intelligence among employees. 

Another Black Friday Has Come and Gone. How Do You Feel?

Black Friday, the annual rite of “shopping therapy” happened last week and in the United States the numbers were strong. According to Mastercard SpendingPulse, U.S. in-store and online retail sales over the Thanksgiving weekend were up 3.4% over last year.  Retail experts attribute the growth to a consumer sense of easing inflation, the looming threat of potential tariffs and heavy retail discounting.  And they project sales to continue strong through the entire holiday shopping season.   

The Soft Skills Gap: How Companies Can Overcome Challenges with Recent Grad Hires

A recent study by Intelligent.com found that one in six companies hesitate to hire recent graduates due to gaps in key soft skills, including communication, adaptability, and problem-solving. While academic institutions often focus on technical proficiency, many hiring organizations find that graduates lack the essential soft skills required to thrive in professional environments. Employers report that graduates often struggle with poor communication skills, difficulty adapting to dynamic workplaces, challenges in receiving and acting on feedback, and insufficient problem-solving abilities. 

How Agile is Your L&D?

Companies face challenges everyday in gauging employee effectiveness, particularly in the context of new hybrid and remote-working models prompted by the pandemic. According to McKinsey research, data indicates that employee disengagement and attrition could cost a median-size S&P 500 company between $228 million and $355 million annually, emphasizing the need for a more segmented approach to address varying employee experiences. In “Some employees are destroying value. Others are building it. Do you know the difference?,” Aaron De Smet, Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi, Angelika Reich, and Bill Schaninger discuss research identifying six distinct employee groups, ranging from highly dissatisfied and disengaged to thriving stars. 

The Agility Gap: Infographic

TRACOM released the findings from a new study on Organizational Agility. This study included interviews with Senior HR and L&D Executives who identified a significant Agility Gap facing organizations. It found that organizational leaders – both C-Suite and HR – had widely recognized the need for Agility capabilities, but few are actually developing these skills.

Video: How to Design Successful Agility & Resilience Training

Meet Mariam Amir-Ahmadi, Principal Director at Accenture Austria, responsible for leadership development and coaching in the German-speaking regions of the organization. We asked Mariam how Accenture trains its worldwide audience using TRACOM programs. She shares what’s important to consider when choosing a program for a specific audience and what it takes to make Agility and… Read More

Participants Respond to Agility Training with Positivity

  “I think as people become more comfortable in responding to all the uncertainty and change around them, as they become more agile, they can help their organizations do that and serve their customers better.” —Stace Williams, Founder and Principal Consultant, Interactive Dynamics   “One of my frustrations prior to attending the class today is… Read More

Columbia Business School Professor Speaks on Impact of Social Intelligence

THE REAL FACES OF SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE The TRACOM Group went on a client road tour this past year to collect the stories, successes and insights of our clients. The video stories collected include personal and professional anecdotes of how Social Intelligence programs — SOCIAL STYLE, Behavioral EQ, Resilience and Agility — have impacted the lives,… Read More