Soft skills: Younger Croatian managers want to improve personal skills

In Croatia, between 80 and 100 companies are engaged in business excellence in some way, but their quality is inconsistent. An additional problem is the incomplete regulation, which relates more to certified programs approved by the Ministry of Education, while for so-called open programs, it is sufficient to meet technical conditions.

Written by: Vanja Figenwald
[email protected]

Once, knowing basic mathematics and having a little business sense was enough for success. However, due to rapid market changes, specialization, and the general explosion of ideas and concepts, this is simply no longer sufficient. Not only must you be a top professional – you must also be a better person. Understanding the business excellently, firing percentages like bullets, and working from morning till night is just a prelude, the beginning of someone’s success, because besides all that, one must be a team player, speak nicely, speak foreign languages, dress tastefully, smell of quality perfume, and wear a prestigious watch… in other words, possess a range of personal, cultural, and social traits that demonstrate seriousness both in and out of work. Therefore, aside from so-called hard skills (skills that most often arise from formal education and learned knowledge), it is essential to also handle soft skills.    

‘”Soft skills” is a sociological term that refers to a set of character traits, social skills, language and speech abilities, habits, likability, and optimism, all of which contribute to someone’s success. Of course, their usability and level of development will depend on the activity in which they are used. It is unnecessary to mention how important they are for direct relationships with clients, and given that this way of doing business is beginning to prevail, it is not surprising that a whole, quite bulky, industry has developed around these skills, which are partly innate and partly learned through upbringing, in the world of developed capitalism. When one adds the relocation of raw production to other countries and the need for the development of new service activities, it is clear where the surge of personal and group trainers, business models, doctrines, and approaches gathered under the name – business excellence – comes from.

Key skills

‘Business excellence’ is a collective term that, among other things, encompasses soft skills. It refers to the systematic improvement of business and success based on a focus on the client, the value of participants, and process management. The key practice in this area relates to continuous shifts, preventive management, and management based on available facts. There are several tools known worldwide that achieve this at the organizational level, such as balanced scorecards, the six sigma concept, process and project management. When lowered from the organizational to the personal, individual level, one arrives at the area of soft skills. These skills are immeasurable but crucial, as they make the difference between potential employees. After all, everyone can have diplomas, vocational and other ‘hard’ knowledge, but it is precisely personal skills, established primarily through one-on-one conversation, that increase or decrease the chances of success for both the individual employee and the organization as a whole.

Emotional intelligence, unlike classical intelligence, can be greatly improved through practice and acquiring new knowledge, explains Gordana Matković, director of Educamix, a company engaged in personal and business development. These are traits that define a person as a leader, negotiator, skilled communicator, motivator, etc., which are all very important factors in a professional sense as they reveal the key affinities of each individual. They cannot be seen from a diploma, resume, or even various psychometric tests, whose fundamental value is highly questionable. Some of the most important skills implied by the term soft skills include leadership, communicativeness, conflict resolution and organization, teamwork, empathy, although the latter ideally forms the first – leadership, the most valued in the modern business world, the one everyone wants, but few have.

Inconsistent Croatian market

In Croatia, a small country for many things, there are already between 80 and 100 companies that are engaged in business excellence in some way. Educamix’s open programs are conducted outside the city in three-day workshops and seminars with the help of simulations. These are specialized programs that are compiled in collaboration with individual clients, so there is no matrix. By agreement between the lecturer, the company, and the employees, individual programs are designed that are conducted in groups of up to 12 people. The market has begun to flourish here, continues Matković, but the quality is still inconsistent and varies from company to company. Ines Ištuk from Business Excellence says that the domestic market is turbulent, that new, more effective methods of business processes are being emphasized from the initial phase of idea development to realization and implementation. She agrees that the domestic level as a whole is not on par with the global or European level, but that it is nonetheless rising and progressing. Most often, it concerns middle management, but there are no clear criteria regarding the cross-section of interested parties, especially when it comes to specialized, ‘in-house’ programs designed for specific organizations. The same goes for motivation: there are those who complete such programs because they have to, without much enthusiasm or desire, but also those who genuinely want to improve their skills. The motivation of domestic people largely depends on the age of the participants because, says Matković, older individuals show less enthusiasm and interest than younger ones, who are usually willing to try new things and concepts.

No clear criteria for trainers

A complaint that can often be heard from skeptics relates to applicability, or the qualification of lecturers and trainers, something that inevitably arises from the lack of clear criteria for the qualification of those who pass on that knowledge to others. It should be noted that this is not a specificity of Croatia, as you can also find a wide range of trainers and gurus worldwide, and the only somewhat objective measure and indicator are the certificates from umbrella associations. That is why Matković insists on practitioner-lecturers, i.e., individuals who, through their practice along with the necessary theoretical knowledge, can and must provide an example for the participants. Business excellence goes further with the exclusive program Train the Trainer to adequately educate trainers, who are increasingly sought after in the domestic market, and with the program Excellent for the Excellent, which connects participants with reputable companies.

In simpler terms, the criterion is people who know what they are talking about because mere theoretical knowledge is by no means sufficient to achieve program quality and apply what has been learned. Although in Croatia the level of awareness about the necessity of acquiring emotional intelligence and traits that do not arise from classical knowledge and skills and their appreciation is increasing, unfortunately, many companies, especially state institutions, still use completely outdated written tests for selecting potential employees. The conversation is less important, often merely a protocol to be followed. Furthermore, the regulation in this area is incomplete and relates more to certified programs, which are checked and approved by the Ministry of Education, while for so-called open programs, it is not necessary to have quality and verified content, but only to meet technical conditions.