The capacity to learn is a gift; the ability to learn is a skill; the willingness to learn is a choice.

Today, soft skills training is no more optional but essential. Gone are the days when employers and employees thought certain traditional and technical professions like finance or engineering do not need soft skills to be successful at the workplace. Regardless of size, industries and jobs, employers today say that soft skills play a key role in recruitment and rue that a large number of students entering the workforce are woefully short of soft skills which would render them ineffective. Amidst the accelerating pace of technology and ever changing business conditions, it is imperative organizations develop adequate soft skills along with splendid technical skills to build an agile and vibrant workforce. The array of skills like fluent communication, excellent interpersonal skills blended with teamwork, initiative, critical thinking, problem solving skills and leadership, etc. are some of the skills that would spark employee productivity, customer satisfaction, and performance to help employees win accolades as some of the finest managers of the age. Hence, universities and organizations realize that soft skill training programs are essential to develop a wide variety of interests, skills and competencies.

As the importance of technical skills increases at the global workplaces, the emphasis on soft skills becomes intense. As it turns out, soft skills are not easy to acquire after all, and a lot of emphasis and efforts are necessary to shape the soft skills among the students so that they evolve as successful professionals by donning multiple roles. The paper “Soft Skill Development in the Higher Education Curriculum: A Case Study” by Lisa Sheldon Brown captures the features of online graduate programs designed to impart students an assortment of much-needed skills classified for 21st century global workforce and present their efficacy to suggest that the programs deliver the value promised and provide the insights to make this platform more effective.

The world of entrepreneurs paints a new picture amidst the changing technological demands. Hence, they need a lot more skills to meet their job demands that go beyond job description. It is not easy to find people with soft skills as against hard skills. The development of soft skills is complex and arduous as well as time-consuming. The paper “The Teaching of Soft Communication Skills in Entrepreneurship Development Courses at the +2 Level in India” by Sushmita Chakravarti and Saikat Chakraborty dwells at length on the role of soft skills in entrepreneurship development, especially the need for training the students in courses at the +2 level and outlines the benefits of such initiatives.

The hope that something is possible and the realization that hope is essential to achieve success which at times is far from one’s reach is extremely critical to human pursuits. A lot of managers and employees when faced with struggles and failures get paralyzed by fear and thus collapse under its weight. An era of uncertainty and turbulence in business demands an optimistic and determined outlook to stay calm and achieve the goals. The absence of such optimistic outlook is becoming one of the key challenges at the workplace, fueling alarming concern among the managers, thus emphasizing the importance of cultivating hope among the employees. The paper “The Power of Hope” by Revathi Turaga discusses some methods that individuals and organizations can adapt to keep the hope alive within and outlines certain benefits that might follow by being hopeful.

There is a world of difference between managing a project and achieving success in the project. Success in a project is often a result of a blend of technical skills and proactive communication. Project leaders who are effective and impactful in their communication are harder to find. Effective communication achieves better results while managing and implementing the projects, and the absence of it can spell doom or disaster. The paper “Effective Communication Management: A Key to Stakeholder Relationship Management in Project-Based Organizations” by Kirti Rajhans explores the instrumental role of effective communication in stakeholder relationship management and formulates a methodological framework to apply communication as an effective tool for achieving successful stakeholder relationships at all levels.