Improving Soft Skills in Our Community

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Friday, August 10, 2018

One of the most common challenges faced by businesses both in Southeast Missouri and across the country is the lack of soft skills. As a community, we are focused on doing something about it.

The Work Ready Coalition with the Cape Chamber spearheaded the development of a strategy designed to create common language and improve the overall state of soft skills in Cape Girardeau. Government, schools, nonprofits and businesses came together to create Capable: Essential Skills for Life and Work. This is a community-wide campaign launching at the start of the 2018 school year.

A few key details about the campaign:

First, the Work Ready Coalition collectively decided to use the term essential skills. This refers to things such as being able to communicate, work in teams and so on. The Coalition coined this term because they feel this is a more accurate description of the skills than the term “soft skills,” and will better serve the community.

Second, this entire program is built from the concept of the Four Cs: Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking and Creativity. Each month, the conversation will focus on one of these areas. For instance, in August the program will focus on communication, specifically talking about respect. Another month will focus on communication as well, but will key in on interpersonal skills.

As the nature of work continues to change and society evolves, it is getting more difficult to find people capable of functioning at a high level in the workplace. The Cape Chamber believes our entire workforce is Capable of so much more.

Be a part of the campaign by joining in the conversation! For more resources, visit www.capechamber.com/programs.