Live Webinar – December 1st, 2020 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm EST
Activity Type: Education – Course or Training  1 Hour  1 PDU free
Provider: Training Magazine Network

Webinar Description

This webinar will provide useful, practical tools to help you show the value of soft skills programs. Presented in an easy-to-understand format, this interactive session shows how to measure the business value of soft skills programs and how to calculate the ROI.

This webinar also provides detailed case study examples to show how to measure and evaluate different soft skill programs and initiatives. Participants will see what is being measured, how it is being measured, and how the data are used to improve the soft skills programs and influence more investment in soft skills.

Learning Objectives

After attending this webinar, participants will be able to:

1. Explain the value chain for soft skills.
2. Describe the need to show impact and ROI for major programs.
3. Design soft skills programs to deliver impact and ROI.
4. Explain how to measure program results at all five levels of outcomes.

Materials

Each participant in this webinar will receive a handout, an application guide, an ROI model, and a soft skills case study example from ATD’s newest book Proving the Value of Soft Skills: Measuring Impact and Calculating ROI, by Patti P. Phillips, Ph.D., Jack J. Phillips, Ph.D., and Rebecca L. Ray, Ph.D.

Soft skills programs should perform and deliver results just like other learning programs. If the program is designed to drive business impact, then it should drive business impact. From the impact, the ROI can be calculated.

Professionals involved in soft skills programs must be prepared to step up to the challenge of showing the value of major programs and initiatives, not only when impact and ROI are requested, but ideally before the request is made. Five levels of outcomes exist for every soft skills program, which represents a chain of value (reaction, learning, application, impact, and ROI). The challenge is to decide which programs are evaluated at impact and ROI.

Serious Challenges For Soft Skills

Unfortunately, L&D has faced some challenges to deliver results from soft skills that executives appreciate and understand. In our polling with practitioners, we repeatedly find the following statements to be true based on the perception of these practitioners. To deliver the value that executives need from soft skills, each of the answers should be false.

1. Most soft skills are wasted (not used after participating in a program).
2. The soft skills outcome desired by executives is rarely measured in organizations.
3. Most soft skills providers do not have data that shows they make a difference in the organization.
4. Most executives see soft skills as a cost and not an investment.
5. Executives see hard skills as more valuable than soft skills.

The Approach

We all need soft skills. Whether leadership development, communications, team building, problem-solving, empowerment, critical thinking, or even mindfulness, soft skills are important and can drive significant value. The problem is executives haven’t seen the value of the soft skills programs in terms they appreciate and understand. Consequently, they call these skills, “Fluff.”

The challenge is to evaluate a major soft skills program at the impact and ROI level. Some learning professionals are reluctant to go down this path because they are concerned that soft skills programs do not deliver a positive ROI.

This misconception is playing right into the hands of the executives who are calling soft skills programs “fluff.” The reality is that you can show the ROI, and the odds are high that the ROI is greater for soft skills programs than for hard skills programs.

To ensure that soft skills programs deliver and show business results, essential steps are necessary at the beginning of the implementation of a soft skills program, during the execution, and after implementation. With this approach, the impact and positive ROI are almost guaranteed.

Presenters:

Patti Phillips, (LinkedIn profile) Ph.D.Is president / CEO of the ROI Institute. She is an expert in measurement and evaluation,and author of Measuring Leadership Development: Quantify Your Program’s Impact and ROI on Organizational Performance. Patti applies ROI Methodology to leadership development programs, coaching initiatives. Patti also authored over 30 books including her latest books: The Bottom Line on ROI: Basics, Benefits, & Barriers to Measuring Training & Performance Improvement and Measuring the Success of Coaching (to be released 2012, ASTD).

Jack Phillips, (LinkedIn profile) Ph.D. is co-founder and chairman of ROI Institute, Inc & developer of the ROI Methodology, the most applied approach to demonstrating value of programs, projects, and initiatives. With  experience in the aerospace, textile, metals, construction materials, and banking industries, Jack served as training and development manager, as Sr human resource officer, as president of a regional bank, and a management professor at a major state university.

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Proving The Value Of Soft Skills Training

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