AS the world shifts towards the digital economy, employees with digital skills are in demand. But while digital competency is a requirement among job recruits, so too are soft skills.
The recent 2019 Emerging Jobs in Malaysia report by global professional network LinkedIn highlighted the labour market values talent with a set of complementary hard and soft skills.
“Our findings underscore the demand for jobs which require hybrid skills, primarily to help organisations in the country navigate their digital transformation journey.
“As the competition for talent will only grow fiercer, so organisations need to build an adaptable workforce with both types of skills,” said Feon Ang, vice-president of talent and learning solutions for the Asia Pacific at LinkedIn.
Job seekers with skill competencies for the position and the necessary soft skills such as empathy, relationship-building and communications will continue to be in great demand by employers across industries.
For employers, Ang added, the challenge is to identify and hire those with the right combination of soft and hard skills, which can indicate in the long run the willingness of these potential employees to learn, reskill and upskill to prepare for the future.
Soft skills such as adaptability, collaboration and leadership have emerged to be of increasing importance for professionals, even for roles that are seemingly technical.
For example, data scientists need to communicate their insight creatively to help consumers make sense of interesting data; user experience designers need analysis skills to help companies make users’ experiences better; and content writers need to be adept at storytelling to ensure their content resonates with their audience.
However, soft skills have for some time been regarded as lacking in fresh university graduates.
“To stay relevant in this new digital era, we encourage everyone to have a learning and growth mindset — regardless of where you are. This means being open to reskilling and upskilling opportunities, whether you’re a first-year university student, or 10 years into your career,” added Ang.
Associate Professor Dr Nor Hisham Hamid, who is deputy vice-chancellor of student affairs and alumni at Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP), noted that highly competent and good technical talents will not guarantee that a company will achieve its organisational goal or even help an individual to succeed or survive, especially among the 21st century workforce.
“While technical talents may get their foot in the door, people skills are what open most of the doors to come. Strong soft skills ensure a productive, collaborative and healthy work environment, all vital attributes for organisations in an increasingly competitive world,” he said.
So how are universities helping students to be equipped with the in-demand soft skills?
PREMIUMON COMPLEMENTARY SKILLS
Given the fast paced challenging business conditions, telco company Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd needs graduates who have the challenger mindset, who are not afraid of failing and will come back stronger to take on the fight again.
In short, chief human resources officer Elisabeth Stene said Digi is constantly looking out for a candidate who is able to keep up with its pace of work and thrive under pressure including tight deadlines.
The ability to communicate well and confidently, solve problems, think critically and be resilient are key soft skills graduate job candidates should have.
“Our new recruits are hired not only based on their hard skills but also for the soft skills that have made an impression on our recruiters to hire them in the first place.
“With the right soft skills that match Digi’s workplace culture and the way we work, these new recruits will be able to stand on their own and be productive, in addition to having the ability to proactively take charge of their career path,” added Stene.
Soft skills are critical and go hand-in-hand with hard skills at Accenture, a global management consulting and professional services firm.
Its Asean Talent and Organisation Practice Lead (Resources) management consultant senior manager Kalel Khusahry said its strategy for its clients is to help them lead in this era of epic disruption and “that means our people have to be digitally fluent, able to understand the impact of digital transformation and translate that into business results”.
“We call digital natives ‘digeratis’, who are able to effect change using digital means. The workforce of the future is driven by the rise of digital technology in every area of our lives, hence, the need to embody this key trait,” he added.
Structured and critical thinking is important because as consultants, employees need to look at client’s needs, ask the right questions and translate answers into innovative and value-adding deliverables.
“In the course of the work, there will be many challenges. Sometimes in a large project, it can get complex with multiple interlocking factors to consider. We need our people to bring method to the madness.”
Effective communication is the gel to engage with clients and teammates, and the workforce needs to be agile-ready. Therefore, new graduates need to be nimble and adapt to the ever-changing working environment.
PREPARING STUDENTS
Through its engagement with various employers through the years, Taylor’s University has observed that more and more of them are looking beyond technical skills for a role and they value soft skills on the same level as technical knowledge.
Professor Dr Michael James Keppell, pro vice-chancellor, learning and teaching at the Integrated Teaching and Lifelong Learning Centre at Taylor’s, said: “Universities have to ensure that students are well able to meet the needs of the future workplace. Graduates have to be effective talents at the workplace.”
Recognising this as well as the impact that the Fourth Industrial Revolution will have on the workplace, Taylor’s University revamped its approach to education by taking on a broadbased and holistic view.
“Through the Taylor’s Curriculum Framework, which was launched last year, our students are able to co-curate their education with us and it allows them to be future-ready by equipping them with in-demand skills, known as the Taylor’s Graduate Capabilities that will stand the test of time in an ever-transforming global workplace,” he added.
With the framework,the university has incorporated two modules — Life Skills for Success and Well-Being and Millennials in Malaysia: Team Dynamics and Relationship Management — which will allow students to enhance emotional intelligence and interact with others. These modules carry two credit points and are mandatory for all first-year undergraduates.
“Students go through a transformative learning journey which will see them develop a tool-kit of the most essential soft skills; skills that will help them manage and navigate the world of today and tomorrow.
“In addition to the two dedicated Life Skills modules, we have also embedded these competencies and capabilities in the assessment structure of our undergraduate programmes.”
Universiti Malaya (UM), too, has academic programmes as well as short-term training courses developed and implemented to equip students with the appropriate soft skills, said its deputy vice-chancellor (academic and international) Professor Dr Kamila Ghazali.
In the design of an academic programme, the courses mandatory at the undergraduate level in the first three semesters cover communication (Bahasa Inggeris Komunikasi); managerial and entrepreneurial skills (Asas Pembudayaan Keusahawanan); information management and lifelong learning skills (Literasi Maklumat); values and attitudes (Hubungan Etnik & Tamadun Islam dan Tamadun Asia); and team skills (Jalinan Masyarakat) and co-curriculum.
At the master’s and postgraduate level, UM students are expected to acquire the ability to make evidence-based decisions critically and creatively, and to constantly upgrade knowledge and skills parallel to rapid advancement in the discipline.
“With the implementation of outcome-based education, UM has put in place the requirement for all programme owners to monitor and assess the achievements of the Course Learning Outcome, Programme Learning Outcome and Programme Educational Objective at specific time frames,” added Kamila.
INTERNSHIP AND PROJECTS
Meanwhile, UTP courses cover Professional Communication Skills, Management and Organisational Behavioural Skills, Community Engagement Project, Stress Management, Innovation and Creativity Skills, Problem Solving and Decision-Making, and Ethics and Social Responsibility.
These courses are offered to all students from foundation to final year and some are compulsory as they are the graduation requirement, said Nor Hisham.
“Soft skills are also embedded in our 28-week Student Industrial Internship Programme where students will develop work ethics, management and communication skills, adaptability and teamwork.
On the other hand, the industrial project teaches creativity, decision-making and analysis.
“Other than during internship, project- and team-based learning is one of the methods to equip students with soft skills. Courses which embed soft skills include the Final Year Project and Engineering Team Project,” he added.
The Engineering Team Project involves teams of students from various programmes working together to solve a problem using analysis and synthesis. Other than honing data analytics and interpretation skills, they learn to communicate effectively with all levels of industry and engage with the community and society at large.
CROSS-DISCIPLINE
Professor Dr Nor Aziah Alias, director of academic development at the academic affairs division in Universiti Teknologi Mara, said the institution employs a coherent and relevant curriculum that addresses all the required learning domains including critical soft skills needed for what it terms as “future-proof graduates”.
“Academic programmes contain both specific soft skill courses and embedded ones.
“The learning outcomes of each course at the university include soft skills that are formally measured.
“Final-year students are involved in capstone projects and internships that develop their ability to work under pressure and manage time and resources,” she added.
The university has embarked on many interdisciplinary courses and cross-faculty electives which allow students to learn beyond their core subjects.
“Engineering students enrol in music courses to enhance creativity and musical intelligence. This will promote a ‘learning centred ecosystem’ and generate forward thinking among students who constantly review their needs and how best to achieve them.”
Some courses which teach mathematical skills are offered at the beginning of the academic programmes while problem-solving skills are taught throughout the studies.
“Students are also exposed to inquiry-, problem- and project-based learning. Elements related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (data analytics and automation) and Sustainable Development Goals are compulsory in all academic programmes. These courses instil the ability to work in teams and independently, teachability/willingness to learn and mindfulness in students.”
In addition, the student affairs division develops rigorous co-curricular courses that address most of the required skills.
“At the university, all co-curricular courses are approved by the senate and comprise clearly stated learning outcomes related to soft skills.”
HIRING MODE
Stene highlighted that unlike hard skills, soft skills are harder to measure. To this end, Digi’s recruiters usually use the interview sessions to assess candidates’ soft skills.
“The recruitment process normally involves an average of two interviews, more often than not conducted by the person that the candidates will report to or work with.
Recruiters ask open-ended questions that allow the candidates to elaborate on their past experiences during their internships or extracurricular activities.
“Hypothetical questions are also asked where the candidates are required to answer how they will react or respond to a certain situation that they are likely to face if they are hired. The candidate’s response to these types of questions greatly helps the recruiters evaluate and determine whether he has the soft skills that will match the position he hopes to fill,” she said.
Kalel said the bulk of Accenture new hires are millennials and it recognises that a different approach is needed to help both the candidate and employer evaluate the fit for the role.
Part of the process involves candidates going through a digital assessment consisting of 12 games.
“These help assess their inclination towards adaptive thinking, logic and social intelligence, among others. The results also help our interviewers identify areas to explore during face-to-face interviews and that gives everyone a better overall picture of both hard and soft skills,” he added.
For a clearer assessment of candidates’ fit for the company, Accenture has expanded the recruitment process to include the Elevate Experience. It is a full-day experience for candidates, mimicking a day in the life of an Accenture consultant.
Recently some 40 participants from various top universities were grouped together to solve real-life challenges ofaclient. Their soft skills were assessed as they collaborated with and complemented each other, demonstrated resourcefulness in using digital technology in their solution and engaged with the client, and their responses evaluated when feedback was given.