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Employer Quotes
The quotes below are from employers in this industry: Manufacturing
They are talking about this topic: General Skills
The quotes below are about this issue:
Interpersonal communication and teamwork are frequently cited as crucial skills for new hires; these skills are often lacking.
| "I've worked with lots of folks over the years on different types of training, including some of those soft skills and team-building skills. And some of the non-technical skills are critical because getting along with other people is very, very important. You can have the technical skills, but you may still lose your job if you lack the ability to get along with other people. And you need to show up on time." | Northwest |
| "You can be the best welder in the world. You can be the best wood worker in the world. But you have to be able to communicate. You have to be able to write. You have to be able to talk to other people. You have to be able to sell your ideas. I'm on a Project Lead the Way advisory board at [MnSCU college], and that is one of the things they talk about. You can be the best engineer, but if you can't sell your ideas, you're no good to us. So, those are some of the skills that need to be integrated into some of our technical programs." |
Northwest |
| "Communication for all leaders." | Northwest |
| "One interesting thing that we've learned is that our older workers tend to not want to email; they would rather pick up the phone. They developed that communication skill. But the new trend, coming out of high schools, is that people like to hide behind texting and emailing. They don't have the good verbal communication skills that they need. We're finding that sometimes we have the opposite problem, too, where the older workers just pick up the phone too much and can't really function on emails. But the younger ones hide behind their email. They'll send an email, and it'll be copied to the world, and it may be inappropriate. You know, it's about understanding communication etiquette—when do you email something? When do you call somebody? When do you schedule a meeting with somebody? So, that is just an interesting dynamic in our business." | Northwest |
| "Communication and facilitation and leadership—stuff like that is important. Because, as we get more global and move around the country, we need employees with those skills. If we open up a new distribution center somewhere, potentially we're taking people from our plant that are subject matter experts in a certain area and sending them to other places to help get a certain department or certain employees up-and-running. So, some of those things, those soft skills are a big thing as far as communicating and being able to get your message out. And, like I said, being able to facilitate and train—that is important to us, too, as we grow and send people to different locations to help build for the future. Those skills are big for us." | Northwest |
| "The need for communication skills is growing, and it is countered by what is coming up the pipeline in terms of the way that kids—who are coming into the workforce—are used to dealing with social media and communication. I think it has put us in an even tougher spot in terms of certain types of communication, teamwork, and leadership. Communication still, at least for now, often has to take place face-to-face with real people. Also, the folks coming in seem to default more towards an impersonal attitude of, 'I'm going to take care of this right here,' without a broader perspective of being a team worker and without a leadership element." | Northwest |
| "It is kind of a balancing act. People may have the technological ability, but they also need interpersonal skills to have that teamwork piece and so forth." | Northwest |