Solve the number one problem with today's young workforce—the soft skills gapThe 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—and driving the grown-ups crazy—because of their weak soft skills.Here's what managers say:'They just don't know how to behave professionally''They arrive late, leave early, dress inappropriately, and spend too much time on social media''They know how to text but they don't know how to write a memo''They don't know what to say and what not to say or how to behave in meetings''They don't know how to think, learn, or communicate without checking a device''They don't have enough respect for authority, and don't know the first thing about good citizenship, service, or teamwork'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 people get fired because of their soft skills.Managers ask: 'Why should it be my problem to teach these soft skills? They should have learned these things from their parents or in school. How can teach these soft skills when I don't even remember how I learned them myself?'Here's the bad news: 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.Here's the good news: You can teach the missing basics to today's young talent.Now, 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 in many different ways:as take-home exercises for any individual or groupto guide one-on-one discussions with direct-reportsin the classroom as written exercises or group discussionsManagers—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.
• Bridging the Soft Skills Gap: How to Teach the Missing Basics to Today’s Young Talent
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Part One The Soft Skills Gap
• Prologue Meet the Newest New Young Workforce
• Chapter 1 The Soft Skills Gap
• The Soft Skills Gap: Growing Steadily from Gen X to Gen Y to Gen Z
• Something Much Larger Is Going on Here: The Post-Boomer Generational Shift
• Globalization
• Technology
• Institutional Insecurity
• The Information Environment
• Human Diversity
• Gen Zers Are the Ultimate Non-Conformists in an Age of Non-Comformism
• The Soft Skills Gap: The Missing Basics in Today’s Young Talent
• 1. Old-Fashioned “Professionalism”
• 2. Old-Fashioned “Critical Thinking”
• 3. Old-Fashioned “Followership”
• Face the Hard Realities of the Soft Skills Gap
• Chapter 2 You Can’t Hire Your Way Around the Soft Skills Gap
• Staffing Strategy and Hiring
• Step One
• Step Two
• Step Three
• Step four
• Step Five
• Step Six
• On-Boarding and Up-to-Speed Training
• Performance Management and Talent Development
• Ongoing Training
• The Human Element: What Role Are You Going to Play?
• Become a Teaching Style Manager
• Take It to the Next Level
• Chapter 3 Unlocking the Power of Soft Skills
• Drill Down: The Missing Basics
• Unlocking the Power of Soft Skills
• Unlocking the Power: The Rest of This Book
• Part Two How to Teach the Missing Basics to Today’s Young Talent
• Chapter 4 How to Teach the Missing Basics of Professionalism to Today’s Young Talent
• How to Teach Self-Evaluation
• Self-Evaluation: Lesson Plan 1—Introduction
• Self-Evaluation: Lesson Plan 2—Evaluating Yourself on Ability, Skill, and Will
• Self-Evaluation: Lesson Plan 3—Evaluating Yourself on Productivity, Quality, and Behavior
• Self-Evaluation: Lesson Plan 4—Evaluating Yourself on the Key Soft Skills Competencies
• Self-Evaluation: Lesson Plan 5—Drill Down on Understanding the Key Soft Skills
• Self-Evaluation: Lesson Plan 6—Explore Your Own Successes with the Key Soft Skills
• How to Teach Personal Responsibility
• Personal Responsibility: Lesson Plan 1—Introduction
• Personal Responsibility: Lesson Plan 2—All the Factors That Are in Your Way
• Personal Responsibility: Lesson Plan 3—Considering the Most Common Factors That Get in the Way at Work
• Personal Responsibility: Lesson Plan 4—Response Power
• How to Teach Positive Attitude
• Positive Attitude: Lesson Plan 1—Considering Theories of How to Be Your Best at Work
• Positive Attitude: Lesson Plan 2—Defining “Good Attitude” Behaviors with Your Team—or Any Individual
• Positive Attitude: Lesson Plan 3—Considering Common Bad Attitudes
• Positive Attitude: Lesson Plan 4—Considering Good Attitude Behaviors
• Positive Attitude: Lesson Plan 5—For Individual Employees Who Need an Attitude Adjustment
• How to Teach Good Work Habits
• Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan 1—Introduction
• Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan 2—Self-Assessment
• Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan 3—Self-Improvement Planning
• Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan 4—Wellness
• Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan 5—Planning a Wellness Initiative
• Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan 6—Self-Presentation
• Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan 7—Using a Time Log to Start Living by a Schedule
• Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan 8—How to Make a Basic Project Plan
• Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan 9—Taking Notes and Making Checklists
• Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan 10—Doing a Time/Motion Study on Yourself
• Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan 11—Spotlight on Follow-Through
• Good Work Habits: Lesson Plan 12—Going the Extra Mile
• How to Teach People Skills
• People Skills: Lesson Plan 1—Interpersonal Communication
• People Skills: Lesson Plan 2—Self-Assessing Interpersonal Communication
• People Skills: Lesson Plan 3—Learning to Use the “People List”
• People Skills: Lesson Plan 4—Putting More Structure into Your Communication
• People Skills: Lesson Plan 5—Putting More Substance into Your Communication
• People Skills: Lesson Plan 6—Preparing for Meetings
• People Skills: Lesson Plan 7—Email Best Practices
• People Skills: Lesson Plan 8—Communicating Remotely
• Chapter 5 How to Teach the Missing Basics of Critical Thinking to Today’s Young Talent
• How to Teach Proactive Learning
• Proactive Learning: Lesson Plan 1—Proactive Learning
• Proactive Learning: Lesson Plan 2—Open Mind
• Proactive Learning: Lesson Plan 3—Suspend Judgment, Question Assumptions, and Seek to Learn
• Proactive Learning: Lesson Plan 4—Question Assumptions
• Proactive Learning: Lesson Plan 5—Research
• Proactive Learning: Lesson Plan 6—Study Skills—Building Knowledge
• Proactive Learning: Lesson Plan 7—Practice Skills—Building Skill
• Proactive Learning: Lesson Plan 8—Contemplate Competing Perspectives to Build Wisdom
• How to Teach Problem Solving
• Problem Solving: Lesson Plan 1—Introduction
• Problem Solving: Lesson Plan 2—Preventing or Avoiding Problems Before They Happen
• Problem Solving: Lesson Plan 3—Ready-Made Solutions to Commonly Occurring Problems
• Problem Solving: Lesson Plan 4—Common Denominators and Underlying Principles
• Problem Solving: Lesson Plan 5—Applying the After Action Review Tool
• Problem Solving: Lesson Plan 6—Using the After-Action Review Tool to Learn from Others
• How to Teach Decision Making
• Decision Making: Lesson Plan 1—Introduction
• Decision Making: Lesson Plan 2—Information Analysis: Simple Pros and Cons
• Decision Making: Lesson Plan 3—Cause and Effect: Positive Outcomes
• Decision Making: Lesson Plan 4—Cause and Effect: Negative Outcomes
• Decision Making: Lesson Plan 5—Applying the After-Action Review Tool
• Decision Making: Lesson Plan 6—Using the Decision/Action Tree
• Chapter 6 How to Teach the Missing Basics of Followership to Today’s Young Talent
• How to Teach Respect for Context
• Respect for Context: Lesson Plan 1—Introduction
• Respect for Context: Lesson Plan 2—Reading the Structure, Rules, Customs, and Leadership
• Respect for Context: Lesson Plan 3—Where Do You Fit?
• Respect for Context: Lesson Plan 4—How Can You Adapt?
• Respect for Context: Lesson Plan 5—Context-Limiting Factors
• Respect for Context: Lesson Plan 6—Complicated Relationships
• Respect for Context: Lesson Plan 7—Positive Contexts
• Respect for Context: Lesson Plan 8—Negative Contexts
• Respect for Context: Lesson Plan 9—Dealing with People with Bad Attitudes
• Respect for Context: Lesson Plan 10—Dealing with People with Great Attitudes
• How to Teach Good Citizenship
• Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan 1—Introduction
• Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan 2—The “Respect for Others” Model
• Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan 3—The “Best Interests” Model
• Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan 4—The “Civic” Model
• Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan 5—The “Communitarian” Model
• Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan 6—The “Common Sense” Model
• Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan 7—The “Solid Standards” Model
• Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan 8—The “Personal Sacrifice” Model
• Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan 9—The Theodore Roosevelt Model
• Good Citizenship: Lesson Plan 10—Create Your Own Model
• How to Teach Service
• Service: Lesson Plan 1—Introduction
• Service: Lesson Plan 2—Common Myths About “Service” in the Workplace
• Service: Lesson Plan 3—Realities About Service in the Workplace
• Service: Lesson Plan 4—Myths Versus Realities in the Workplace
• Service: Lesson Plan 5—The “Be a Great Employee” Model of Service
• Service: Lesson Plan 6—The “Service” Approach to One-on-Ones Between Managers and Direct Reports
• Service: Lesson Plan 7—The Service Approach to Meeting Attendance and Participation
• Service: Lesson Plan 8—Helping Your Boss Monitor Your Performance
• Service: Lesson Plan 9—Putting Yourself on a Performance Improvement Plan
• How to Teach Teamwork
• Teamwork: Lesson Plan 1—Introduction
• Teamwork: Lesson Plan 2—Defining the Dimensions of Teamwork
• Teamwork: Lesson Plan 3—Your Role in Relation to the Mission
• Teamwork: Lesson Plan 4—Coordinating, Cooperating, and Collaborating with Others
• Teamwork: Lesson Plan 5—Supporting and Celebrating the Success of Others
• Teamwork: Lesson Plan 6—Identifying Your “Go To” People and Building Relationships with Them
• Teamwork: Lesson Plan 7—Becoming a “Go To” Person for Others
• Teamwork: Lesson Plan 8—Using Influence to Get Things Done
• Teamwork: Lesson Plan 9—Consider the Lessons About Teamwork from This U.S. Air Force Special Operations Team
• About the Author
• Index
• EULA