WHAT IS THE SECRET TO SUCCESS ? 

How do you create a successful organization in this ever changing, highly competitive world of business?

In the past, it was enough to have knowledgeable, skilled employees and innovative products. However, in this day and age, it is not enough. Customers are becoming empowered. They know what they want, and they want it now. They expect to be treated like Kings and if they are not, they just take their business to your competitor. Furthermore, your competitors are most likely offering very similar products, know-how and prices.

So what gives can give your organization that competitive edge?

More and more organizations are realizing that the “human element” in business is vital. This is what we term “soft skills”. When we train/ study for our careers we are only taught the “hard skills”, that is the knowledge and skills required to do the work. However, this does not guarantee success in the workplace. Someone may have an excellent cv in terms of qualifications and experience yet they turn out to be inefficient or unproductive. This may be because certain “soft skills” are lacking. For example: they may battle with time management and therefore do not produce results on time;  they may have poor self esteem or lack self confidence; they may be disliked due to poor interpersonal skills; they may not be effective in managing conflict, stress and anger etc. 

These “soft skills” make up something called EQ (Emotional Intelligence), which involves the ability to understand, manage and express emotions appropriately in order to effectively manage relationships. Research has shown that at best IQ (Intellectual Intelligence) contributes only 20% towards success in business, whereas EQ contributes at least 80%. The ability to manage oneself and relationships is a vital skill in business. This is the magic ingredient that will distinguish you from your competitors.

By employing a soft skills development program in your organization you will be investing in the creation of a healthy, harmonious, positive, motivated, dependable, resourceful, ethical, self-directed and customer focused workforce. The result will be a more successful business.

Furthermore, the benefits of soft skills workshops are multiplied when combined with coaching. Implementing change requires hard work and dedication. Often delegates come away from soft skills workshops feeling inspired to implement the information and skills they have learnt, yet they quickly fall back into old, counterproductive habits and ways of coping and relating because it is easier and familiar.  Implementing a coaching program helps to entrench and cement soft skills in that the coach supports and motivates employees over a period of a few months to reach their goals and perform at their peak. This brings about real, long term, and sustained change and improvement. 

Thomas Crane, author of “The Heart of Coaching” talks about creating a performance enhancing culture in organizations which among things includes soft skills workshops and coaching.  He cites the following research statistics:

 Organizations with a performance enhancing culture       vs.         Organizations without a performance enhancing culture
Revenue Growth                                                682%                                                                                 166%
Employment Growth                                           282%                                                                                  36%
Stock Price Growth                                             901%                                                                                   74%
Nett Income Growth                                           756%                                                                                    1%

These statistics clearly show that success lies in creating a performance enhancing culture.

Find out more about our soft skills workshops and executive coaching