▪️ Mike Nager ▪️’s Post

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Building America's Manufacturing Talent Pipeline with Lab Design and Books | Automating US Production to Compete Globally | Award Winning Author | Industry 4.0 Thought Leader | Keynote Speaker and Workshop Facilitator

I've been talking about 𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 a lot lately. Especially when it comes to the role of the humans in #SmartManufacturing and other industries that are heavily automated. Heck, I dedicated chapter 18 of "𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁'𝘀 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴" to the topic, www.smartstudentsguide.com The folks over at National Association of Colleges and Employers have released their yearly report, and this gem of a graph was included. Turns out, employers feel that new hires are behind their expectations when it comes to these essential soft skills. So, what can be done? The educational experience in nearly any field can be improved with project-based learning and scenarios that resemble the real workplace. Competitions are also a good activity, requiring a more holistic approach to getting things done, versus just learning about them. By the way, there are attempts to rename Soft Skills to something different. The term always seemed to be less important than 'hard skills' people are primarily studying. The first rename I heard was "Durable Skills" referring to the fact that these skills once learned tend to stay with you for your whole career. But "Essential Skills" seems to be pulling ahead, although I have now heard more than once the simple and obvious "Human Skills" being used. What do you call them?

  • From National Association of Colleges and Employers
Vince Arnold, CISA, CISM, CISSP

Strategic Cybersecurity Leader | Cybersecurity Instructor | Minimizing Cyber Risk by Leading Fortune 500 Enterprise Security & Risk Oversight

5mo

Thank you for sharing Mike and fully agree. In fact, per ISACA's State of Cybersecurity 2023 Global Update on Workforce Efforts, Resources and Cyberoperations Report, one employer survey question asked was, "What are the biggest skills gaps you see in today's cybersecurity professionals?" Soft skills (e.g., communication, flexibility, leadership) topped the list.

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