THE Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) said employers should look into the “soft skills” of workers in a bid to improve productivity in the workplace.
Salome Siaton, assistant regional director of Dole-Western Visayas, said employers in the past were after the intelligence quotient (IQ) of the workers thus, they gave more weight on the academic performance of the people they hire.
She said there is now a pressing need to consider “soft kills” or the emotional quotient (EQ) and human skills the workers have when they are in the organization.
“Whether we like it or not, we have to reconcile the work ethics of the workers, especially the millennials,” Siaton said, adding that human relationships must be addressed amid the emerging new behaviors of the workforce.
The Dole-Western Visayas official also underscored the KAS: Knowledge, Attitude and Skills components that should be possessed by the workers.
Knowledge refers to the cognitive ability. Attitude means the posture of the heart while the skills are the abilities gained through trainings in school.
“There should be balance among IQ, EQ and human skills," Siaton said, adding that good working relationship must be tempered with discipline and values.
The Dole-Western Visayas had earlier released the result of its 2017 JobsFit Validation Report showing key employment generators in Western Visayas, including Negros Occidental.
The study is the agency’s measure to address jobs and skills mismatch which has been a prevalent.
It will mainly benefit students, the future industry workforce, in choosing what career path to take.
The Dole-Western Visayas pointed out that “matching” is vital in sustaining productivity in the workplace.
Siaton said if the skills, attitude, and knowledge possessed by the workers are aligned with those required by the workplace, then they are most likely productive.
"Matching is beneficial to both workers and employers," she said, adding that this way, the former will not experience dilemma in doing their tasks.
Employers will no longer spend more for the needed career enhancement and skills development training of their workers, Siaton added.
"Human resource is costly but it has considerable return. It is the most important among the needed resources of the company," she further said.
