By Mark Butler, Commissioner of Labor, State of Georgia | According to research conducted by Harvard University, the Carnegie Foundation and Sanford Research Center, well-developed soft skills account for 85 percent of job success. Soft skills, also known as “people skills” or “interpersonal skills,” refer to personal attributes such as teamwork, respect, communication, attitude and more.
Butler
Many students graduate from high school with appropriate academic credentials while lacking the soft skills needed to succeed in today’s workforce. This has become a national epidemic, with over 80 percent of all first-times hires losing their jobs because of a lack of soft skills, according to Forbes Magazine. Workforce readiness is more than just hard skills training.
Under my leadership, the Georgia Department of Labor sought to address these startling statistics by creating the GeorgiaBEST (Business Ethics Student Training) program. GeorgiaBEST concentrates on teaching students the soft skills needed to be successful.
Through the program, students must earn 25 out of 30 possible points and complete a required project to earn GeorgiaBEST certification. GeorgiaBEST teaches students leadership development, critical and creative thinking, decision-making, problem solving, teamwork, and social media ethics. They gain real world experience through work-based learning, mock job interviews, résumé critique and hearing from guest speakers from the business community. The program, just like in the workplace, tests students through everyday observation and their ability to adapt to the standards required of them.
KayLynn Samples, 2013 GeorgiaBEST Student of the Year, believes she has an advantage over others entering the workforce because GeorgiaBEST taught her the value of core work ethic traits that are needed to be successful on the job. KayLynn says: “GeorgiaBEST has helped prepare me to face tomorrow with a confident and committed attitude that will propel me to excellence.”
GeorgiaBEST certification serves as validation to employers that students have displayed strong work habits that will foster success in higher education and in the workplace. This program helps young people gain an understanding of the lifelong process of determining self and career identity.
In 2011, a total of 20 schools across the state piloted GeorgiaBEST. Today, GeorgiaBEST is in over 120 high schools across the state and now includes middle school and technical college programs. It is my belief that soft skills training not only helps build our workforce, but also helps solve some of our more pressing matters in K-12 education. A child with strong soft skills is less likely to drop out or have disciplinary issues, and most likely will have better grades. Simply put, when an individual has a strong foundation in soft skills, they and any organization they belong to will be more successful.
The key to Georgia’s economic prosperity is a reliable and consistent workforce with well-developed soft skills. Therefore, one of the Georgia Department of Labor’s fundamental goals is to equip Georgia’s youth with the soft skills they need to succeed.
In doing so, the Georgia Department of Labor increases both the employability of the individual and the profitability of the business. GeorgiaBEST has positioned the State of Georgia ahead of the curve when it comes to addressing the national soft skills crisis.
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