Industry Research: Feedback More Important Than Ever

And How Social Assessment™ Can Help Close the Gaps

Soft skills like critical thinking, problem solving, and communication are more in demand now than they’ve ever been before, but from a learning and development perspective, this push presents a unique challenge. What’s the best way to nurture soft skills within your organization, and how do you deliver effective feedback to ensure that’s happening? Evaluating progress when it comes to soft skills is rarely as straightforward as a check mark that something is finished or a passing grade on a quiz. There’s a need for back and forth with others—for dialogue, exchange, and iteration—to give learners the knowledge and practice they need to truly advance their skills.

As a feedback framework, Social Assessment can serve as a powerful tool in helping develop those sought-after soft skills—empowering employees to interact with a variety of stakeholders to solicit relevant and informed feedback that enables them to improve their soft skills in ongoing and impactful ways.

The world of work is changing, and soft skills are playing increasingly important roles. According to LinkedIn, 77% of employers believe soft skills are just as valuable as hard skills¹,  while in a survey from Adecco, 44% of executives pointed to a lack of soft skills as the biggest proficiency gap affecting the U.S. workforce².  When Deloitte looked at the rates of growth, it found that soft skill-intensive jobs were outpacing others by 2.5 times and are expected to make up over 60% of all jobs by 2030³. 

One of the reasons soft skills are becoming more valuable is their ability to drive real business outcomes and tangible results. Being an adept problem solver means someone can identify roadblocks quickly and architect solutions that remove or navigate around them. Having excellent communication skills means a person can communicate better with both co-workers and clients. Effective time management makes them a reliable team player, while creativity enables them to think outside the box and devise inventive, cutting-edge ideas. 

Employers are recognizing the impact those trends are having and will continue to have, which is why among large organizations, for example, improving soft skills is the second highest priority after career development. In an Australia-based case study, Deloitte found that having employees who possess strong soft skills could increase revenue by over $90,000 in the manufacturing sector alone, and they suggested that returns could be even higher in soft skill-intensive industries like professional services⁴. 

Feedback from others plays a significant role in helping employees develop their soft skills. When delivered well it can be motivating, but when given poorly it also has the potential to discourage. Providing feedback can be a challenge for many. Often, people struggle for three reasons: they feel uncomfortable, they lack the time, or they don’t have the right training or tools.

In one 2016 study, 43% of female managers and 35% of male managers were concerned about coming off as “mean” or “hurtful” when giving assessments, and about 25% were concerned they would no longer be liked⁵. Concerns like these can impact the quality of the feedback given and mean it likely won’t be as comprehensive as it otherwise could be.

Then, between meetings and looming deadlines, there’s the issue of time. Most employees meet with their managers very infrequently, less than once a month for 56% of millennials and for 53% of non-millennials⁶. This further limits the opportunities managers have to provide evaluations that could empower employees to develop their soft skills.

Training and tools can also be a hurdle when giving feedback. People may not have been taught proper techniques and methods, and systems in use may be more conducive to advancing technical skills rather than soft skills.

The good news is that employees today genuinely crave feedback. Millennials in particular want it 50% more often than others; however, less than 20% of the feedback they do receive is meaningful⁷.  What steps can employers and other stakeholders take to ensure the feedback they offer is actionable?

Social Assessment is a framework for feedback that leverages technologically enabled social learning, which has become a staple of many modern workplace learning programs and has proven to be an incredibly powerful approach—increasing retention and engagement, fostering trust, and more. Research from McKinsey, for example, suggests that using social technologies to improve communication and collaboration among knowledge workers can raise productivity by between 20% and 25% ⁸. 

Social Assessment harnesses the power of social learning tools to facilitate routine, constructive feedback loops at scale and give employees insights on their day-to-day practices so they can focus on making important incremental changes that can have big impacts. It does this using a variety of mediums, including video, digital collaboration platforms, and online discussions. 

Ultimately, what makes Social Assessment so successful is its ability to solve the most common problems people face when giving feedback—helping them feel less self-conscious knowing they are one of many contributors, making processes easier since everything is available on demand, and generating more effective feedback, especially when it’s paired with rubrics that equip employees with the information they need to hone their soft skills over time.

The demand for soft skills will only continue to grow. Social Assessment enables organizations to effectively develop employees’ soft skills by providing rich, regular personalized feedback that boosts engagement and performance, preparing organizations and their workforces to tackle future challenges and embrace tomorrow’s opportunities.