Skill vs Management: How To Set Your Priorities

A lot has been written about the need for engineers, developers and other highly-skilled individuals in the technical field. However, results emerging from new studies have shown that businesses are increasingly looking for individuals with better interpersonal skills, letting the technical aspects take a back-seat. Is our education system well-equipped to keep up with this changing industrial trend?

While we should not stop teaching computer sceince and maths, it is about time that we start training our kids to engage and communicate, dress appropriately and then eventually arrive on time.

As per the results of a number of new surveys, employers today are not challenged simply by the lack of quality and talented software engineers and developers. The problem, in truth, is a far more deep-lying one!

In fact, the dearth of interpersonal skills such as creativity, collaboration and communication, along with an utter disregard for flexibility, appearance and punctuality seem to be a much bigger problem among the latest batch of individuals entering the job market.

As per a recent survey, it has been found that as many as 60% employers find individuals to be lacking interpersonal and communication skills. Twice as many employers reported a lack of soft skills over that of technical ones as the biggest gap among new employees at the entry level. Moreover, one in five employees have been found to lack interpersonal skills, flexibility, punctuality, appearance and a motivation in general.

The solutions that have been proposed so far for fixing the education system are not much help, truth be told! There are a number of agencies that promote learning at home, in front of your computer on a couch, wherever you like and as per your convenience. Any form of real life interaction and accountability is generally missing from such courses.

So how to create the right balance between collaboration and communication?

There are four C's that form an integral part of all twenty-first century skills: collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and communication. If the education ministry is able to have its way, these Cs will be tested at par with science, maths and the likes.

The SRM management course is tailored meticulously as per the industry dynamics and an ever-changing economic scenario. A two-year, semester-based program, the course offers industry internships that result in a structured project at the end of the academic year. Personality development is one aspect the course stresses on so that entry-level managers and professionals can look to enhance their interpersoanlity skills alongside everything else.

Ranked the no.1 private university in the country, SRM University has taken massive strides towards growing in the education sector while helping budding professionals enter the job market with the right skills in tow.