Education and Training, Research Paper Example

The skills of the 21^st century are different from those of latter centuries. The hard and soft skills must provide quicker reactions, more complex problem solving and include a globalized economy. The shift from manufacturing and production based economic frameworks to a more knowledge and service based economic structure is driving changes to the skillsets and learning environments that students need to develop and teachers need to create. These skillsets focus more on the softer skillsets because these are only gained through experiences while some of the hard skillsets are taught in an academic setting.  While the hard skillsets are still a prerequisite, there is a need of the soft skillsets to be able to maximize the total package of skills. These skills are required and built throughout the education system and the future of those that will lead the economic advancements are built by the educators, teachers and mentors in the education system.

Skills are broken down into two subsets, the hard skills and the soft skills. Hard skills include those skills that are teachable and can be quantified and measured. These hard skills include those like mathematics, typing and the ability to use software programs or code programs. Soft skills are harder to measure because they are based on personality or leadership qualities. Examples of soft skills include the ability to lead a group of people, negotiate contracts, engage in conversations, or work well with one another.  With these two types of skills, hard and soft, there is a specific shift that is occurring that the students and those entering the workforce in the 21^st century really need to raise their awareness. While many hard skillsets have been mastered, the art of teaching the hard skills does not directly translate to creating the same opportunities for soft skills in the academic world.  We do not necessarily know how to teach self-direction, collaboration, creativity and innovation the way we know how to teach long-division (Aldridge, 195).  The first step, to transition the learning mindset in the 21^st century, is to understand which soft skills are necessary and create an environment to take advantage of both academic settings as well as real life interactions.

Transfer of training and providing a base level of understanding from the classroom to the real-life exposure is arduous and requires multiple skills, tools and insights to be successful. The level at which a trainee is able to transfer the skills and knowledge provided in training to their job. The transfer from training to the job site is a correlative function between the trainee’s motivation and ability with the trainings design and the trainee’s work environment.  All three areas influence and impact the learning retention.  Each area has specific elements that can inhibit or promote the ability of the trainee’s learning retention and job application.

The increased need to bridge the gap amongst skillsets is of large concern for the 21^st century workforce.  There is a deep demand to develop the individual differently. There are nine lessons for the 21^st century learner including making the learning relevant, teach through disciplines, develop thinking skills, encourage learning transfer, teach students how to learn, address misunderstandings directly, treat teamwork like an outcome, exploit technology to support learning and foster creativity (Kappan, 43).  While understanding the skills needed for the 21^st century, it is also important to understand how to ensure those people who will venture into the workforce during the 21^st century understand how to obtain those skills. With the hard skills, the task of gaining theses skills is easier considering the learner can take a class, earn a degree or learn by reading a book in order to gain the knowledge of a hard skill.  This is not the case for the soft skill.  These skillsets take experience, immersion and understanding to fully take advantage of learning a soft skill. The gap between those with vast hard skills and those with eloquent soft skills needs to be bridged in the 21^st century. This gap is closing in, and it takes both, the hard and soft skills, to optimize the workers ability to succeed in the 21^st century environment.

Some of the biggest inhibitors of the transfer of training are work conditions, lack of peer support and lack of leadership support. The first area is work conditions. Working in a hostile learning environment will completely negate any positive training outcomes by removing the focus from learning to having the trainee complete the task and move on with their job. These areas of hostility include constrained time, obsolete equipment and no opportunity to use the skill once out of training (DeSmet, 105). Viewing training as a check list item without reverence for quality will indeed lead to a wasted training session and opportunity for improvement.

Lack of peer support can impact the overall objectives of the transfer of training to the job.  When peers in the workplace see training as a waste of time or are unable to provide feedback the individuals trying to utilize the training are on an island without peer guidance or buy-in. This also plays a role in a major inhibitor regarding the discouragement of new tools or techniques learning in training. Change is not always welcome in the work place and it takes proper buy-in, education, training throughout the corporation and wing to wing acceptance from peers to corporate leadership.

With the wing to wing aspect of acceptance the lack of management support can stymie all efforts made in the work conditions and peer support. If the management does not provide the training with the time to train on new skills, the support for change and improvement and the ability to use the new skills in their job the newly trained employee will have zero possibility to utilize their new skill set.

In order to overcome an avert some of these potential pitfalls it is necessary to promote employee responsibility and self-management skills. Trainee responsibility encompasses the preparation for the training, full engagement during the training and using the training after the event in their job.  Self-management involves the employee’s effort to impact the aspects of decision making and behavior under their span of control.  Preparation for training varies in scope depending on the type of training presented.  Preparation could range from clearing their schedule beforehand so that they could be fully engaged during the training exercise to preparing a project for review as a six sigma initiative that must result in cost or benefits to the business.  The main focus of preparation is that the employee is mentally prepared to go into the situation ready and willing to learn with candor about post training implementation of the skill enhancements.  Self-management includes areas specifically outside of the trainee’s realm of total control.  For preparation the employee can ensure he or she is fully prepared.  Self-management include areas touching other aspects of business such as business processes, peers and leadership in which the trainee must balance and influence the areas in which they have control.

Hard skills like reading, writing and arithmetic are the core functional skills that must be learned and should be mastered, but there are other hard skills that should be mastered by the 21^st century work force (Milone, 42).  In order to prepare the students we must ensure the teachers are prepared to teach.  A perfect example is that of leading projects.  One type of skill set includes project management.  This skill is the epitome of matching hard skill tactics and operations while marrying those aspects with soft skill implementation.  Project management provides the ability to utilize tools and techniques to provide a specific objective.  The ability to lead projects is more of a soft skill but the ability to utilize the tools and techniques is a hard skill, both of which are mandatory for success in the 21^st century.  The fundamentals of project management can be taught in the classroom.  The Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK) is the central learning and development tool to understand the processes and procedures that would lead to a successful project but implementation and execution is a definite blend of skills.  The theme throughout this research is the fact that there is an increasing need to bridge the gap between hard and soft skills. The project management area of expertise is one of those skills.  An example, for the 21^st century skillsets, involves optimization projects. As the business world moves faster, it is of greater importance to either provide a faster product or service or provide a better product or service.  In many regards it is necessary to do both (Kotter, 78).  The typical lifecycle of a project includes many aspects of hard and soft skills. The project life cycle varies from project to project but the overall theme remains consistent.  There is a distinct end point that the project manager is driving toward.  The skill sets need to take the technical tools to optimize a project and utilize the soft skills to ensure the people and resources are fully utilized.  Building a project plan and executing a project plan are on two ends of the project activity spectrum.  One side is heavily reliant on hard skills and the other on soft skills.  The example of an engineer building specifications, CAD drawings, Engineering Change Orders or other technical documents is common.  Their existence is to build and solve problems.  Now the same engineer in the 21^st century is expected to complete these same activities but also they must gather resources, execute programming tasks with various resources globally, build and justify budgets as well as execute the project on-time, on-target and within scope. A project plan denotes the implementation milestones that are required to go live at a given point of time in the future.  The technical skills to build a project plan include understanding timing of key activities and utilizing a project management tool to execute the task.  Each milestone represents a multitude of different actions underneath each area.  In order to complete the project the system must be created, tested, tuned, validated, adopted and utilized after implementation date.  All of these areas include hard skills of tool utilization, engineering acumen married with the ability to make connections and influence people. Communication is paramount in the 21^st century as well as understanding how to communicate and when.

Overall, the hard skills must be established before someone can be effective in the 21^st century.  The soft skills, which can be honed with experience, make the person efficient.  In addition to the traditional hard skills that are necessary in order to read, write and compute mathematical problems, there is a higher need for advanced learning in the hard skills to be competitive on a global market.  These include engineering, physics, finance, chemistry and economics to name a few.  There is an exponential growth on the reliance of technology and emerging technologies.  Technology is, and will continue to be, a driving force in workplaces, communities, and personal lives in the 21^st century (Salpeter, 23).  Technological forces are driving the business world and the ability to work globally while also acting locally.  With the implementation of cellular devises in the work place, cloud computing, virtualization and the “always on” aspects of business, understanding and maximizing the opportunities with technology is a key aspect of skills in the 21^st century.

Soft Skills for the 21st Century Based on Educators Ability to Teach

In addition to the core competencies there must be a focus on the soft skills.  In many instances the ability to negotiate, communicate and interact with people overshadows the technical prowess of the situation.  Critical thinking is paramount for the basis of 21^st century skillsets.  Critical thinking is defined as the ability to analyze, interpret, evaluate, summarize, and synthesize information.  What gives these, perhaps traditional, critical thinking skills a twist in the 21st Century is the availability of advanced technologies for accessing, manipulating, creating, analyzing, managing, storing, and communicating information (Trilling and Fadel, 468).  Soft skills encompass many facets of life’s interactions including negotiations, managing project or leading an organization. Through these types of soft skills, the core capability to interact and function successfully in an organization hinges on the ability for the individual to successfully implement soft skills. The facilitation of soft skills provide enhancement to the core capabilities of hard skills.  One of the primary examples of soft skill utilization falls under leadership.  Leadership is all around from leading a team on the football field to conducting military relief missions in down stricken countries.

Management and leadership vary in their form and function.  Management is seen as doing things right and leadership is doing the right things.  Both are important and are required for successful business operations but their key traits and skillsets are different. This simple statement places the emphasis on how leadership is more than accomplishing goals and objectives but how those achievements are obtained and implemented while also imparting guidance and strategic intent throughout the process.  Leadership is the accumulation of skills and qualities an individual utilizes when he or she is trying to accomplish a task or objective.  This is traditionally how soft skills are learned and honed. The influence the individual possesses becomes the process in which they pull together the support of others in a common goal. Leadership traits include influencing skills, charisma, intelligence, foresight and integrity to just name a few. These traits are critical in the ability to lead a group of individuals to accomplish a common goal.

There are five elements of leadership that will be discussed; these elements range from the individual leader, their followers, context, skills and management. Each area plays a critical role in the understanding and implementation of leadership. Learning each aspect is important in order to develop and learn. Leadership is a skill honed by practice, study and imparting the right guidance and practices. Leadership is what will drive change and new processes as well as methodologies that will take business, government and other entities to the next level of performance and goal achievement (Kotter, 154). Throughout this look into leadership the key aspects include understanding leadership as a whole, how to take advantage of the lessons from leadership and imparting the vision of the future roles of leadership and how it relates to management (Kouzes & Posner, 55). The difference between managers and leaders can be slight but more than likely the difference can be as vast as a canyon. As we discuss leadership there are key elements that will be covered including the individual leader, their followers, leadership situations, skills and management. The elements of leadership are blended into multiple situations and will be outlined in scenarios as well as insights into leadership. A leader would utilize the intelligence, charisma and knowledge to assess the situation and provide guidance and a plan to do the right things (Hyslop, 10). In this a leader would assess the situation and take the assessment to the next level. This includes involving the people on the floor and experiencing the issues first had. This leadership ability is utilizing other tools to find solutions. This ability is not limited to the hierarchal levels of the organization.  Leadership is used to push change, drive results and increase capability. Leadership facilitates the hard skills of project management that was discussed previously. Leadership is the catalyst for the success within projects.  This is another skill area the blends the hard and soft skills that will make candidates in the 21^st century successful.

Communication is critical to providing and understanding information in the 21^st century. Learning is a fundamentally social activity—whether in schools, workplaces, or other environments. The communication and collaboration skill sets refer to the ability of individuals to communicate clearly, using oral, written, and non-verbal languages, and collaborate effectively and responsibly with diverse populations (Pacific Policy Research Center, 5). This includes want the person wants to do, what he or she needs and how he or she is going to achieve those objectives.  Also, as a skill, the art of communication maps out how the skill needs to be implemented (Duran, Yaussy, and Yaussy, 102). The 21^st century student and employee must understand how to communicate, whether it’s email, text, virtual interactions and face-to-face interactions.  Sometimes sending a text about a critical issue could be lost or misunderstood while using a face-to-face interaction would be best suited. The use of technology has enhanced the ways we communicate but it has not necessarily enhanced the way we communicate. The skill of communication has lost some of its value due to the increased use of technology to provide and receive information. While education has focused on the fundamentals of good communication – speech, writing, and reading- the demands of social relations and global economy call for a much more diverse set of communication and collaboration skills (Trilling and Fadel, 56). Teaching and learning communication is vital to the success of those learners taking on situations in the 21^st century.  Communication is a key attribute to success in the 21^st century and must be coupled with the hard skills in order to fully succeed.

Conclusion. Talent management requires leadership, integrity and the ability to remain agile (Pruis, 210). The life cycle of talent management includes the identification, acquisition, development and alignment of resources.  Each encapsulates distinct requirements but all are vital to effectively and efficiently managing the talent of the organization.  The key skillsets that resonate throughout the human resource field and frameworks are the enhanced ability to lead, clear and constructed communication skills and the ability to remain agile through a dynamic and evolving business environment.  The theories and frameworks of talent management vary but the essence to grow and mature talent within the organization while also ensuring the resources are appropriated to the right place at the right time remain consistent pillars in talent management.

Works Cited

Aldridge, J. 21st century skills: The challenges ahead. Childhood Education, 86(3), 195. 2010. Retrieved from http://bluehawk.monmouth.edu:2048/?url=/docview/721863312?accountid=12532

Apple. Applecare Premium Services and Support Plan Terms and Conditions. Retrieved October 15, 2011 from: http://images.apple.com/legal/applecare/docs/AppleCare_Prem_Svc_Supp_NA_en.pdf

Bramley, P.  Evaluating training effectiveness. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill. 1996. Print.

DeSmet, A., McGurk, M., & Schwartz, E. Getting more from your training programs. McKinsey Quarterly, (4), 101-107. 2010. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Duran, E., Yaussy, D., & Yaussy, L. (2011). Race to the Future: Integrating 21st Century Skills into Science Instruction. Science Activities, 48(3), 98-106. Print.

Hyslop, A. CTE and 21st century skills in college and career readiness. Techniques, 86(3), 10-11. 2011. Retrieved from http://bluehawk.monmouth.edu:2048/?url=/docview/852983051?accountid=12532

Kappan.. Learning 21^st-century skills requires 21^st- century teaching. Kappan Magazine, 94(N2). 2012. Retrieved from: www.kappanmagazine.org

Kotter, J. Leading change. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press. 2012. Print.

Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. The leadership challenge. (4th ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc Pub. 2008. Print.

Milone,M. Preparing teachers for the 21st century. Technology & Learning, 17(2), 42. 1996. Retrieved from http://bluehawk.monmouth.edu:2048/?url=/docview/212079177?accountid=12532

Pacific Policy Research Center. 21^st century skills for students and teachers. Research and Evaluation. Kamehameha Schools Research and Evaluation Division.  2010. Retrieved from: http://www.ksbe.edu/spi/PDFS/21%20century%20skills%20full.pdf

Palmer, S. Making the business case for learning and development: 5 steps for success. UNC Executive Development, (1), 1-14. 2010. Retrived from www.execdev.unc.edu

Pruis, E. The five key principles for talent management. Industrial and Commercial Training, 2010. Print.

Salpeter, J. 21st century skills: Will our students be prepared? Technology & Learning, 24(3), 17-18,20,22,24,26. 2003. Retrieved from http://bluehawk.monmouth.edu:2048/?url=/docview/212099794?accountid=12532

Trilling & Fadel. 21st Century Learning Skills. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons. 2009. Print.

Wolff, S.B., Pescosolido, A.T., & Druskat, V.U. Emotional intelligence as the basis of leadership emergence inself-managing teams. The Leadership Quarterly, 13, 505-522. 2002. Print.