很多人并不覺(jué)得軟技能是個(gè)多么重要的東西。 數(shù)字學(xué)習(xí)平臺(tái)D2L是富達(dá)、埃森哲等跨國(guó)企業(yè)的培訓(xùn)軟件提供商。談到軟技能的問(wèn)題,該公司的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人、首席戰(zhàn)略師杰里米·奧格爾認(rèn)為:“‘軟技能’這個(gè)詞聽(tīng)來(lái)有些貶義,容易給人一種軟弱的感覺(jué)。我更喜歡稱其為‘持久技能’或‘人際技能’。” 軟技能的確是一種“持久”的技能。奧格爾指出,有研究表明,所謂的“硬技能”,特別是IT行業(yè)的硬技能,平均18個(gè)月左右就會(huì)過(guò)時(shí)。而團(tuán)隊(duì)合作的能力、講故事的能力、理解客戶的能力等技能則永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)過(guò)時(shí)。不過(guò)你換了多少次工作,這些技能都會(huì)一直伴隨著你。至少到目前為止,人工智能在這些方面還沒(méi)有辦法取代你。 另外,幾乎任何地方都對(duì)這些“持久技能”和“人際技能”有巨大需求。比如職業(yè)網(wǎng)站領(lǐng)英(LinkedIn)最近對(duì)美國(guó)的4000多名經(jīng)理人和高管進(jìn)行了一項(xiàng)調(diào)查,結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn),“軟”技能已經(jīng)成了他們首要的培訓(xùn)目標(biāo)。從全美大學(xué)與雇主協(xié)會(huì)的調(diào)查報(bào)告中可以看出,最近幾年,就業(yè)市場(chǎng)上的高學(xué)分的理工科畢業(yè)生固然不少,但招聘經(jīng)理們更想要的,卻是那些能解決問(wèn)題、能和團(tuán)隊(duì)成員和睦協(xié)作的人才。 去年5月,麥當(dāng)勞對(duì)美國(guó)的6247名成年員工進(jìn)行了一項(xiàng)調(diào)查,有88%的受訪者認(rèn)為,培養(yǎng)人際技能是“重要”或“非常重要”的,特別是對(duì)剛?cè)肼殘?chǎng)的年輕人。值得注意的是,在18歲至24歲受訪者中,有近一半人(46%)坦承,他們這個(gè)年齡群體(也就所謂“Z世代”或“95后”)普遍缺乏這些技能。麥當(dāng)勞還調(diào)查了員工最終想在哪些領(lǐng)域發(fā)展自己的職業(yè)生涯。排在前五名的答案分別是:藝術(shù)與娛樂(lè)業(yè)、自主創(chuàng)業(yè)、醫(yī)療行業(yè)、食品服務(wù)業(yè)和科技行業(yè)。 根據(jù)調(diào)查結(jié)果,麥當(dāng)勞制定了一項(xiàng)為期五年的大規(guī)模內(nèi)訓(xùn)計(jì)劃,以幫助麥當(dāng)勞的85萬(wàn)名美國(guó)員工培養(yǎng)團(tuán)隊(duì)合作、客戶服務(wù)和所謂的“責(zé)任意識(shí)”能力(所謂責(zé)任意識(shí),就是要教育員工為什么要做一個(gè)可靠的人,為什么要守時(shí)等等)。 這項(xiàng)內(nèi)訓(xùn)計(jì)劃的口號(hào)是“做你想做的”,將于12月正式在全美啟動(dòng)。最吸引人的一點(diǎn)是,員工可以申請(qǐng)?jiān)谧罡信d趣的領(lǐng)域跟隨一個(gè)知名人士學(xué)習(xí)。麥當(dāng)勞將這些導(dǎo)師稱為“影響者”。比如在醫(yī)療保健領(lǐng)域,麥當(dāng)勞聘請(qǐng)的“影響者”是畢業(yè)于哈佛醫(yī)學(xué)院的梅約醫(yī)學(xué)中心皮膚科名醫(yī)米娜·辛;創(chuàng)業(yè)領(lǐng)域的“影響者”則是對(duì)沖基金經(jīng)理、風(fēng)投家、知名主播、曾參與創(chuàng)辦20多家企業(yè)的詹姆斯·阿爾塔徹。 麥當(dāng)勞美國(guó)人力資源總監(jiān)梅麗莎·克爾西表示,麥當(dāng)勞的目標(biāo)是“向員工展示,在他們所選擇的領(lǐng)域,人們的日常生活是什么樣的,成功又是什么樣的。我們鼓勵(lì)‘影響者’談?wù)勊麄兪侨绾螌W(xué)到‘軟’技能的,又是怎樣將這些軟技能運(yùn)用到他們的工作中的。” 此外,麥當(dāng)勞還與一家名叫“成人與體驗(yàn)式學(xué)習(xí)理事會(huì)”的非盈利機(jī)構(gòu)合作開(kāi)發(fā)了一套職業(yè)規(guī)劃指導(dǎo)工具,以手機(jī)APP的形式向所有員工免費(fèi)提供,從而使員工能夠在時(shí)間允許的條件下,按照自己的學(xué)習(xí)進(jìn)度完成各個(gè)訓(xùn)練模塊。另外,麥當(dāng)勞還推出了一項(xiàng)“機(jī)會(huì)之路”學(xué)費(fèi)報(bào)銷項(xiàng)目,所有員工均可免費(fèi)請(qǐng)專業(yè)顧問(wèn)提供職業(yè)咨詢,幫助他們制定長(zhǎng)期職業(yè)目標(biāo)。目前已有近五分之一(17%)報(bào)名該項(xiàng)目的員工申請(qǐng)了職業(yè)咨詢服務(wù),請(qǐng)專業(yè)顧問(wèn)為他們規(guī)劃職業(yè)發(fā)展。 麥當(dāng)勞并未透露該公司在“做你想做的”項(xiàng)目上的花費(fèi)。不過(guò)該公司曾公開(kāi)表示,僅學(xué)費(fèi)報(bào)銷一項(xiàng)的支出就已增長(zhǎng)了近三倍,達(dá)到1.5億美元左右。目前已有3.3萬(wàn)余名員工參與該項(xiàng)目。克爾西表示,她希望接下來(lái)的培訓(xùn)能吸引更多員工報(bào)名參加。克爾西大方地承認(rèn),對(duì)于麥當(dāng)勞的大多數(shù)員工來(lái)說(shuō),麥當(dāng)勞只是他們職業(yè)生涯的一個(gè)中轉(zhuǎn)站,而并非終點(diǎn)——畢竟很多麥當(dāng)勞的員工只有十幾歲,或者還是在校大學(xué)生。 克爾西表示:“當(dāng)然,如果員工們大學(xué)畢業(yè)之后,想回到麥當(dāng)勞做營(yíng)銷、分析或者管理工作,我們也是很高興的。但不管怎樣,讓員工接受更多培訓(xùn),特別是軟技能方面的培訓(xùn),也能在短期內(nèi)為我們培養(yǎng)一批更好的員工。” 話雖這樣說(shuō),但很多員工大學(xué)畢業(yè)后,或許真的會(huì)回到麥當(dāng)勞長(zhǎng)期發(fā)展。在領(lǐng)英公司的一項(xiàng)調(diào)查中,有高達(dá)94%的受訪者表示,他們更傾向于選擇愿意為他們提供職業(yè)發(fā)展的雇主。要知道,麥當(dāng)勞在北美的各個(gè)國(guó)家都有近50萬(wàn)名員工,你們公司的下一個(gè)優(yōu)秀的人才,可能就是它培養(yǎng)出來(lái)的。 不用謝。(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)) 本文作者安妮·費(fèi)希爾是一名職業(yè)專家,也是《財(cái)富》雜志關(guān)于21世紀(jì)工作和生活方式的專欄“Work It Out”的專欄作家。 譯者:樸成奎 |
No question about it, “soft skills” have a PR problem. “Calling them ‘soft’ sounds derogatory. It sounds weak,” observes Jeremy Auger, co-founder and strategy chief at digital-learning powerhouse D2L, purveyor of training software to Fidelity, Accenture, and many others. “I prefer to call them durable skills. Or human skills.” “Durable” indeed. Auger points to research showing that hard skills, particularly in IT, now become obsolete after an average of just 18 months. A knack for teamwork, or storytelling, or empathy with customers, by contrast, never wears out. You can take it with you no matter how many times you change jobs and, so far at least, artificial intelligence can’t one-up you. Moreover, durable-slash-human skills are in huge demand just about everywhere. Consider: LinkedIn recently surveyed 4,000 U.S. managers and executives and found “soft” skills are now their No. 1 training priority. Reports from the National Association of Colleges and Employers have been advising new grads for the past few years that, while STEM majors and high GPAs are swell, what hiring managers really want is more candidates who can solve problems and work well with teammates. So it comes as no big surprise that, when McDonald’s commissioned a nationwide poll last May of 6,247 adults, 88% said the chance to cultivate human skills is “important” or “very important,” especially for young people who are new to the workforce. Notably, nearly half (46%) of the 18- to 24-year-olds said that these skills are lacking among their own Gen Z age group. The same survey also asked McDonald’s workers to name the fields where they eventually hope to build their careers. The top five answers: arts and entertainment, entrepreneurship, health care, food service, and technology. The research capped off five years of effort to design a massive internal training effort, aimed in large part at helping McDonalds’ 850,000 U.S. employees to up their game in areas like teamwork, customer service, and what the company calls “responsibility” (meaning, for instance, why it’s important to be dependable and show up on time). Dubbed “Where You Want to Be,” the new training campaign kicks off in December. One intriguing feature: Any employee can apply for the chance to spend time shadowing a prominent person, or what McDonald’s calls an “influencer,” in the field that interests them most. One of these, in health care, is Meena Singh, M.D., a dermatologist trained at Harvard Medical School and the Mayo Clinic. Another, in entrepreneurship, is James Altucher, a hedge fund manager, venture capitalist, and podcaster, who has founded or co-founded 20 startups. The goal, says McDonald’s U.S. chief people officer Melissa Kersey, is to “show employees what day-to-day life is like, and what success looks like, in their chosen field. We’ve encouraged the influencers to talk about how they’ve learned their ‘soft’ skills, and how they apply them in their work.” At the same time, a new set of career-planning and mentoring tools—designed in partnership with the nonprofit Council for Adult & Experiential Learning—will be available for free to all employees, in mobile-app form so that people can work on the training modules at their own pace, when their schedules allow. Partly because almost one in five (17%) employees enrolled in McDonalds’ “Archway to Opportunity” tuition-reimbursement program has asked for counseling to help them decide on a career path, everyone will also be able to consult professional advisers, again at no charge, who can lend a hand with long-term goals. McDonald’s won’t say what it’s spending on the “Where You Want to Be” campaign, although it has reported publicly that tuition reimbursement has nearly tripled recently to about $150 million. Some 33,000 of the company’s workers have already participated in that, and Kersey says she hopes the new training will encourage more to sign up. She’s enough of a realist to concede that McDonald’s is a way station on the road to some other career for most of its workers—many of whom are, after all, still in their teens or in college. “We’d love it, of course, if people come back after they finish school and do marketing, or analytics, or management for us,” Kersey says. “But either way, more training, especially in soft skills, makes them better employees for us in the short term.” Noted, but even so, Kersey may get her wish. An overwhelming 94% of employees in the LinkedIn study said they’d be inclined to stick with an employer who helped them develop their careers. In the meantime, considering that McDonald’s has nearly a million employees in every part of North America, the company might just be training your next great hire. You’re welcome. Anne Fisher is a career expert and advice columnist who writes “Work It Out,” Fortune’s guide to working and living in the 21st century. |