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More About This Title Bridging the Soft Skills Gap: How to Teach the Missing Basics to Today's Young Talent
English
The number one challenge with today's young talent is a problem hiding in plain sight: the ever-widening soft skills gap. Today's new, young workforce has so much to offer—new technical skills, new ideas, new perspective, new energy. Yet too many of them are held back because of their weak soft skills.
Soft skills may be harder to define and measure than hard skills, but they are just as critical. People get hired because of their hard skills but get fired because of their soft skills.
Setting a good example or simply telling young workers they need to improve isn't enough, nor is scolding them or pointing out their failings in an annual review. However you can teach the missing basics to today's young talent.
Based on more than twenty years of research, Bruce Tulgan, renowned expert on the millennial workforce, offers concrete solutions to help managers teach the missing basics of professionalism, critical thinking, and followership—complete with ninety-two step-by-step lesson plans designed to be highly flexible and easy to use.
Tulgan's research and proven approach has show that the key to teaching young people the missing soft skills lies in breaking down critical soft skills into their component parts, concentrating on one small component at a time, with the help of a teaching-style manager. Almost all of the exercises can be done in less than an hour within a team meeting or an extended one-on-one. The exercises are easily modified and customized and can be used as take-home exercises for any individual or group, to guide one-on-one discussions with direct-reports and in the classroom as written exercises or group discussions.
Managers—and their young employees—will find themselves returning to their favorite exercises over and over again. One exercise at a time, managers will build up the most important soft skills of their new, young talent. These critical soft skills can make the difference between mediocre and good, between good and great, between great and one of a kind.
English
BRUCE TULGAN is the founder and CEO of RainmakerThinking, Inc., a management research and training firm, as well as RainmakerThinking.training, an online training company. Bruce is an adviser to business leaders all over the world and a sought-after keynote speaker, seminar leader, and author of numerous books, including the bestselling It's Okay to Be the Boss, the classic Managing Generation X, Not Everyone Gets a Trophy, It's Okay to Manage Your Boss, and FAST Feedback.
English
Acknowledgments xv
Part One The Soft Skills Gap 1
Prologue Meet the Newest New Young Workforce 3
Chapter 1 The Soft Skills Gap 7
The Soft Skills Gap: Growing Steadily from Gen X to Gen Y to Gen Z 10
Something Much Larger Is Going on Here: The Post-Boomer Generational Shift 11
Gen Zers Are the Ultimate Non-Conformists in an Age of Non-Comformism 16
The Soft Skills Gap: The Missing Basics in Today’s Young Talent 19
Face the Hard Realities of the Soft Skills Gap 29
Chapter 2 You Can’t Hire Your Way Around the Soft Skills Gap 33
Staffing Strategy and Hiring 34
On-Boarding and Up-to-Speed Training 39
Performance Management and Talent Development 42
Ongoing Training 45
The Human Element: What Role Are You Going to Play? 49
Become a Teaching Style Manager 51
Take It to the Next Level 54
Chapter 3 Unlocking the Power of Soft Skills 55
Drill Down: The Missing Basics 58
Unlocking the Power of Soft Skills 60
Unlocking the Power: The Rest of This Book 65
Part Two How to Teach the Missing Basics to Today ’s Young Talent 67
Chapter 4 How to Teach the Missing Basics of Professionalism to Today’s Young Talent 69
How to Teach Self-Evaluation 69
Self-Evaluation: Lesson Plan 1—Introduction 75
Self-Evaluation: Lesson Plan 2—Evaluating Yourself on Ability, Skill, and Will 76
Self-Evaluation: Lesson Plan 3—Evaluating Yourself on Productivity, Quality, and Behavior 77
Self-Evaluation: Lesson Plan 4—Evaluating Yourself on the Key Soft Skills Competencies 78
Self-Evaluation: Lesson Plan 5—Drill Down on Understanding the Key Soft Skills 80
Self-Evaluation: Lesson Plan 6—Explore Your Own Successes with the Key Soft Skills 82
How to Teach Personal Responsibility 84
Personal Responsibility: Lesson Plan 1—Introduction 86
Personal Responsibility: Lesson Plan 2—All the Factors That Are in Your Way 87
Personal Responsibility: Lesson Plan 3—Considering the Most Common Factors That Get in the Way at Work 88
Personal Responsibility: Lesson Plan 4—Response Power 89
How to Teach Positive Attitude 90
Positive Attitude: Lesson Plan 1—Considering Theories of How to Be Your Best at Work 93
Positive Attitude: Lesson Plan 2—Defining “Good Attitude” Behaviors with Your Team—or Any Individual 94
Positive Attitude: Lesson Plan 3—Considering Common Bad Attitudes 95
Positive Attitude: Lesson Plan 4—Considering Good Attitude Behaviors 96
Positive Attitude: Lesson Plan 5—For Individual Employees Who Need an Attitude Adjustment 97
How to Teach Good Work Habits 98
Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan 1—Introduction 102
Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan 2—Self-Assessment 104
Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan 3—Self-Improvement Planning 106
Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan 4—Wellness 107
Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan 5—Planning a Wellness Initiative 108
Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan 6—Self-Presentation 111
Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan 7—Using a Time Log to Start Living by a Schedule 112
Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan 8—How to Make a Basic Project Plan 116
Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan 9—Taking Notes and Making Checklists 118
Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan 10—Doing a Time/Motion Study on Yourself 120
Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan 11—Spotlight on Follow-Through 121
Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan 12—Going the Extra Mile 122
How to Teach People Skills 123
People Skills: Lesson Plan 1—Interpersonal Communication 126
People Skills: Lesson Plan 2—Self-Assessing Interpersonal Communication 127
People Skills: Lesson Plan 3—Learning to Use the “People List” 128
People Skills: Lesson Plan 4—Putting More Structure into Your Communication 132
People Skills: Lesson Plan 5—Putting More Substance into Your Communication 134
People Skills: Lesson Plan 6—Preparing for Meetings 136
People Skills: Lesson Plan 7—Email Best Practices 137
People Skills: Lesson Plan 8—Communicating Remotely 138
Chapter 5 How to Teach the Missing Basics of Critical Thinking to Today’s Young Talent 139
How to Teach Proactive Learning 139
Proactive Learning: Lesson Plan 1—Proactive Learning 143
Proactive Learning: Lesson Plan 2—Open Mind 147
Proactive Learning: Lesson Plan 3—Suspend Judgment, Question Assumptions, and Seek to Learn 150
Proactive Learning: Lesson Plan 4—Question Assumptions 152
Proactive Learning: Lesson Plan 5—Research 153
Proactive Learning: Lesson Plan 6—Study Skills—Building Knowledge 156
Proactive Learning: Lesson Plan 7—Practice Skills—Building Skill 158
Proactive Learning: Lesson Plan 8—Contemplate Competing Perspectives to Build Wisdom 160
How to Teach Problem Solving 162
Problem Solving: Lesson Plan 1—Introduction 165
Problem Solving: Lesson Plan 2—Preventing or Avoiding Problems Before They Happen 166
Problem Solving: Lesson Plan 3—Ready-Made Solutions to Commonly Occurring Problems 168
Problem Solving: Lesson Plan 4—Common Denominators and Underlying Principles 170
Problem Solving: Lesson Plan 5—Applying the After Action Review Tool 171
Problem Solving: Lesson Plan 6—Using the After-Action Review Tool to Learn from Others 173
How to Teach Decision Making 174
Decision Making: Lesson Plan 1—Introduction 177
Decision Making: Lesson Plan 2—Information Analysis: Simple Pros and Cons 179
Decision Making: Lesson Plan 3—Cause and Effect: Positive Outcomes 181
Decision Making: Lesson Plan 4—Cause and Effect: Negative Outcomes 182
Decision Making: Lesson Plan 5—Applying the After-Action Review Tool 183
Decision Making: Lesson Plan 6—Using the Decision/Action Tree 184
Chapter 6 How to Teach the Missing Basics of Followership to Today’s Young Talent 187
How to Teach Respect for Context 187
Respect for Context: Lesson Plan 1—Introduction 191
Respect for Context: Lesson Plan 2—Reading the Structure, Rules, Customs, and Leadership 192
Respect for Context: Lesson Plan 3—Where Do You Fit? 194
Respect for Context: Lesson Plan 4—How Can You Adapt? 195
Respect for Context: Lesson Plan 5—Context-Limiting Factors 196
Respect for Context: Lesson Plan 6—Complicated Relationships 197
Respect for Context: Lesson Plan 7—Positive Contexts 198
Respect for Context: Lesson Plan 8—Negative Contexts 199
Respect for Context: Lesson Plan 9—Dealing with People with Bad Attitudes 200
Respect for Context: Lesson Plan 10—Dealing with People with Great Attitudes 201
How to Teach Good Citizenship 202
Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan 1—Introduction 206
Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan 2—The “Respect for Others” Model 208
Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan 3—The “Best Interests” Model 210
Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan 4—The “Civic" Model 211
Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan 5—The “Communitarian” Model 212
Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan 6—The “Common Sense” Model 213
Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan 7—The “Solid Standards” Model 215
Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan 8—The “Personal Sacrifice” Model 217
Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan 9—The Theodore Roosevelt Model 219
Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan 10—Create Your Own Model 220
How to Teach Service 221
Service: Lesson Plan 1—Introduction 225
Service: Lesson Plan 2—Common Myths About “Service” in the Workplace 227
Service: Lesson Plan 3—Realities About Service in the Workplace 228
Service: Lesson Plan 4—Myths Versus Realities in the Workplace 229
Service: Lesson Plan 5—The “Be a Great Employee” Model of Service 234
Service: Lesson Plan 6—The “Service” Approach to One-on-Ones Between Managers and Direct Reports 235
Service: Lesson Plan 7—The Service Approach to Meeting Attendance and Participation 237
Service: Lesson Plan 8—Helping Your Boss Monitor Your Performance 239
Service: Lesson Plan 9—Putting Yourself on a Performance Improvement Plan 240
How to Teach Teamwork 241
Teamwork: Lesson Plan 1—Introduction 245
Teamwork: Lesson Plan 2—Defining the Dimensions of Teamwork 247
Teamwork: Lesson Plan 3—Your Role in Relation to the Mission 249
Teamwork: Lesson Plan 4—Coordinating, Cooperating, and Collaborating with Others 250
Teamwork: Lesson Plan 5—Supporting and Celebrating the Success of Others 252
Teamwork: Lesson Plan 6—Identifying Your “Go To” People and Building Relationships with Them 253
Teamwork: Lesson Plan 7—Becoming a “Go To” Person for Others 254
Teamwork: Lesson Plan 8—Using Influence to Get Things Done 255
Teamwork: Lesson Plan 9—Consider the Lessons About Teamwork from This U.S. Air Force Special Operations Team 256
About the Author 259
Index 261
