Millennials Lack Soft Skills Required To Excel At Work: Study

A survey has found that millennials in India lack skills that are required for their career advancement. Conducted by HBR Ascend, an online learning companion for millennials and graduating students, the survey collated the various responses to know the hurdles that the young Indian workforce grapples with and the skills they require to excel at work.

The survey saw responses from 1,700 Indians across different age groups.

Important findings of the survey:

• 40.33 per cent of respondents said that excessive workload hampered their productivity.
• “Office Politics” was another strong barrier thwarting them from giving their best.
• Millennials lack soft skills such as stress management, negotiation or persuasion.
• It is important to have critical skills -- emotional intelligence, stress management, persuasion and analytical thinking which are usually not imparted in schools or colleges.
• Only 13 per cent of respondents felt that emotional intelligence was an area of strength for them.
• A meagre 4.5 per cent of respondents agreed that they had the persuasion skills needed to be successful at the workplace.
• Only 8.5 per cent respondents felt that analytical thinking is an area of strength for them.

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The Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) also published a study in March, pointing towards the same fact that learning these skills needs to start early, before young people go to university or into employment.

While lack of soft skills dampen the spirit of millennials looking forward to excel at workplaces, office politics and the pressure to slog day and night are two other factors that hamper their productivity.

"After a time, when you keep doing 15-15 hours shifts 6 days a week because you have so much work, your productivity takes a hit. You aren't able to produce what you used to produce in 8 hours as taking less or no breaks does more harm than good and your health goes for a toss," says a corporate professional working in Gurgaon who wishes to stay anonymous.

She also added that office politics is ubiquitous and if you believe that it doesn't exist, you are living in a different world.

Read Also: How Millennials Are Changing The Workplace