Soft “Behave yourself!” Soft Skills Development Student ...

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n.1‐2020

Softskillsinuniversityeducation:arealexperience.“Behaveyourself!”SoftSkillsDevelopmentStudentProgramatthe

DepartmentofEconomicsandBusinessStudies,UniversityofGenoa

LauraStrazzeriSummary: 1. Introduction ‐ 2. Soft skills: the new employers’ headache? – 3. Softskills development: an overview ‐ 4. “Behave Yourself!” Soft Skills DevelopmentStudent Program of Genoa’s DIEC – 4.1 Methodology and program – 4.2 Firstoutcomesandcontinuousimprovementfeatures–ReferencesAbstractSoftskillsaregettingmoreandmoreimportantincompanies’talentsupplyrush.Increasingglobalcompetition,growingdigitalization,fastdevelopingtechnologies,arejustsomeofthereasonswhythe labourmarketstrives foremployeespossessingandshowingthatspecial“alchemy” of social and communication competencies, personality traits somehow, andemotional intelligence. Though highly regarded, soft skills seem to be a longway from aclear‐cutarrangement,andthesameappliesfortheirlearninganddevelopment.Universitycoursesrarelyprovidesoftskillsdevotedprograms,whilethebusinessworldwouldclaimforfullyequippednewlyhiredgraduates,thushighlightingapotentialgaptofill.On this basis, theDepartment of Economics andBusiness Studies (DIEC) of University ofGenoagave life to twoSoftSkillsDevelopmentStudentPrograms (SoftSkillsDevelopment IandII)in2019.Bothprogramsareprovidedinthepresentacademicyearaswell.Thepaperprovidesa fastoverviewof cognitiveandmotivational frameworks for soft skills learningand development. Then it describes the DIEC experience with the “Behave Yourself!”Program, in terms of methodology, contents, and process. Finally, it summarises mainachievementsandtheongoingimprovementprocess.Keywords:Softskills,Learninganddevelopment,Humanresourcesmanagement.

Laura Strazzeri, Management Consultant & Trainer and Professional Coach; lecturer of "Behaveyourself! ‐ Soft Skills Development Student Program" and teaching fellow in "Human ResourcesManagement"attheDepartmentofEconomicsandBusinessStudies‐DIECoftheUniversityofGenoa.Email:[email protected]:10.15167/1824‐3576/IPEJM2020.1.1259

LauraStrazzeriSoftskillsinuniversityeducation:arealexperience.”Behaveyouself!”SoftSkillsDevelopmentStudentProgramattheDepartmentofEconomicsandBusinessStudies,UniversityofGenoaImpresaProgetto‐ElectronicJournalofManagement,n.1,2020___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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1. Introduction

Thoughthereisnodoubtcompetenciesandskillsatanylevelarecoreelementsof human development and crucial to perform atwork and fulfil in life, their fullcomprehensionisstilldifficultsomehow,especiallywhenweleavethelandscapeofhard‐technicalskillsandenterthesoftskillsuniverse.

Soft skills have been defined with many terms and descriptions. Wikipedia(2020) defines them as “a combinationofpeople skills, social skills,communicationskills,character or personality traits, attitudes, career attributes,socialintelligenceandemotionalintelligencequotients,amongothers,thatenablepeopletonavigate their environment,workwellwith others, performwell, and achieve theirgoalswithcomplementinghardskills”.

TheDISCO II Portal (EuropeanDictionary of Skills andCompetences) classifiesthemwithinthe“nondomainspecificskillsandcompetencies”,outliningthreemainsub groups including “managerial and organisational skills”, “personal skills andcompetencies”,and“socialandcommunicationskillsandcompetencies”.

Insomeway,softskillssetagainstaconceptofcompetencyexclusivelybasedoncognitiveability. Indeed, from1973onwards,theword“intelligence” itselfandtherelated assessment tests (and IQ tests, especially) have been under attack. ”If youwant toknowhowwellaperson candrivea car […] samplehisability todo sobygiving him a driver’s test.” McClelland stated, while there’s apparently no way toassess or test people’s ability to drive in “potential”, as a personal attribute.McClellandattacksintelligenceandtestsbecauseheconsidersthembiasedbyclassstatus, and because they seem to predict success in studies only, while they areuselessforpredictingfuturejobsuccess.

So, something beyond intelligence must be taken into account. Unfortunately,McClelland adopted the term “competence” without defining it, and surprisinglylinking it to expressions such as ‘vocational success’ and ‘superior on the jobperformance’, thus considering “competence” somehow “involved in clustersof lifeoutcomes”.

Thosecompetencieswhichdon’tseemtobedirectlyrelatedtoaspecifictask(asithappenswith“hard”skills)maybedefined“soft”andclusteredinmanydifferentways. Main families (Boyatzis, 1982) include communication and leadership,organisationandproblemsolving,stressmanagementandself‐regulation.

With the progress in research and in empirical evidence, it became more andmoreclear that soft skills are related tohumanemotionsandbehaviours. SaloveyandMayer(1990)andGoleman(1995)usedtheexpression"emotionalintelligence"todescribehumanabilitytorecognize,understandandmanageownemotionsandtorecognise,understandandinfluencetheemotionsofothers.

Thiskindofintelligencebecomesacompetence(Goleman,1998)whenitshowsoff as a "learned capability based on emotional intelligence that results inoutstandingperformanceatwork."


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AccordingtoBoyatzis(2008)“acompetencyisdefinedasacapabilityorability.Itis a set of related but different sets of behaviour organized around an underlyingconstruct,whichwecall the “intent”.Thebehavioursarealternatemanifestationsoftheintent,asappropriateinvarioussituationsortimes.”.And“emotionalintelligenceis observed when a person demonstrates the competencies that constituteself‐awareness, self‐management, social awareness, and social skills at appropriatetimes and ways in sufficient frequency to be effective in the situation” (Boyatzis,Goleman,andRhee,2000).

Softskillsmayrelyonrelationship‐basedcompetenciesmainly,butitisalsotruethatGolemanclearlystatesthateveryonestillremainsresponsibleforher/hisownactions, decisions and results. Letting awareness and action interact with intra‐personalandinter‐personalcompetences,“response‐ability”arisesandgiveslifetothe soft skills clusters of self awareness, social awareness, self management andrelationshipmanagement(Kingsley,2015).

Softskillsmaybehardtodefine,butthisdoesn’tseemtobethemainpoint.Whatreallymatters ‐at least for thispaper’spurpose ‐ is that theymake thedifferencebetween being effective or not, and between achieving success or not for anyindividual.This isprobably thereasonwhyorganisationsandcompanies takesoftskills inhighestaccountandwhyeverybodyshould long‐lifedevelopand improvethem,definitely.

2. Softskills:thenewemployers’headache?

In its 2019 report on global skills shortage, SHRM, the Society for HumanResourceManagement, foundout that 83%of respondent employers “had troublerecruitingsuitablecandidates inthepast12months”andthat75%ofthem“believethere isaskillshortageamongapplicants”.Thetopmissingsoftskills,accordingtothis survey are problem solving, critical thinking, innovation and creativity, theabilitytodealwithcomplexityandambiguity,andcommunication.

DanaWilkie,EmployeeRelationsEditoratSHRM,alsooutlinesthat inthesamesurvey51%ofrespondentssaidthat“educationsystemshavedonelittleornothingtohelpaddresstheskillsshortage”.


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Figuren.1‐InfographicspublishedbySHRM,October21,2019

Fortheworldwidee‐learningproviderUdemy,thetop10softskillsfor2019

in the workplace were conflict management, time management, stressmanagement, communication, company culture, customer service, emotionalintelligence,personalproductivity,storytellingand,finally,changemanagement.

Though almost 50% of the listed items do not seem to satisfy therequirementsacademic literaturedetermines todefineahumanabilityas“softskill”,theoveralltrendandmeaningremainvalidandclear.

A Linkedin 2016 survey showed that communication, organisation andteamworkwere the top in‐demand soft skills. In2020 they are expected tobecreativity,persuasion,collaboration,adaptabilityandemotionalintelligence.

Nomatter how soft skills are listed and defined, organisations perceive anevidentshortageofthem,andpointoutagapinuniversityeducation.

Tomas Chamorro‐Premuzic and Becky Frankiewicz ofManPower Group (inHarvard Business Review, January 2019) claim that “universities couldsubstantially increase the value of the college degree if they spent more timeteaching their students critical soft skills”, but they also argue that “whenemployersattachvaluetouniversityqualifications,it’softenbecausetheyseethemasareliableindicatorofacandidate’sintellectualcompetence.Ifthatistheirfocus,why not just use psychological assessments instead, which are muchmorepredictiveof future job performance, andless confoundedwith socioeconomicstatusanddemographicvariables?”

Stewart,Wall,andMarciniec(2016)think“therearemultipleperspectivesonecouldtaketoexplainthegapbetweenthelevelsofperceivedsoftskillsgraduatingstudentspossess”. And they tend to consider that “ […] studentsareadequatelyevaluatingtheirlevelofsoftskills,butareeitherfailingtoconveytoemployersthattheypossesstheskillsortheemployersarefailingtosignaltothestudentsthattheskillsarevalued”.Theirstudy,basedonasurveyon(thelimitednumberof)214graduating students, confirmed that “the majority of college graduates areconfidentintheirsoftskillscompetencies.However,thesoftskillsinwhichcollege


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graduatesfeelcompetentarethesamethatemployersfeelthegraduatesfallshortofpossessing.”

Onemightargue that rather thanagap inskillsandeducation,universities,organisations and graduates have a gap in mutual communication andcomprehension.

3. Softskillsdevelopment:anoverview

“As automation and artificial intelligence dramatically change the nature ofwork,employeesmustfinetunethesocialandemotionalabilitiesmachinescannotmaster”McKinsey says (2019). Its2018global survey shows that “reskillingatscale isaconcernandpriorityfor80percentofC‐suiteexecutivesworldwide,[…]withthedevelopmentofsoftskillsakeyelement”.

If auniquedefinitionandclassificationofsoft skillsseemsunattainable, thesamecanbesaidfortheirdevelopment.Weallagreethatsoftskillshavetobedeveloped,butwhenitcomesto“how”,thedebaterisesagain.

Athistoricallevel,animportantsourceforunderstandinghowsoftskillscanbe developed today (which also contributes to themethodology Genoa’s DIECchose for its current soft skills development student programs) dates back to1967, when Peter Drucker started talking about “knowledgeworkers”, statingthat(1999)"themostvaluableassetofa21st‐centuryinstitution,whetherbusinessor non‐business,will be its knowledgeworkers and their productivity”. Despitewhat knowledge workers are or are not, the way these people should bemanaged andhow they can (or, better, have to) develop their competencies iscrucial.

Drucker (1999) has no doubt regard this: knowledge workers have to bemanaged, motivated and developed carefully if organisations want to assuretheirproductivity, and there are sixmajor factorsorganisationshave towatchout:

1. definingtasks;2. fosteringautonomy:“weimposetheresponsibilityfortheirproductivity

on the individual knowledge workers themselves. KnowledgeWorkers have tomanagethemselves”;

3. promoting continuing innovation and personal responsibility on itsdevelopment;

4. enhancinglearningandteaching;5. definingproductivityintermsofqualityofoutput;6. considering employees as human capital asset: “knowledge‐worker

productivity requires that the knowledgeworker is both seenand treatedasan“asset”rather thana”cost.” Itrequires thatknowledgeworkerswant towork fortheorganisationinpreferencetoallotheropportunities”.

IfweacceptDrucker’schallengethatknowledgeworkersmanagethemselves,we also have to suppose they shouldmotivate and develop by themselves, at


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least as an attitude, while organisations should simply create a properenvironmentwherethissuchself‐developmentcandeploy.

In 1990 Locke and Latham supplied a possible way to set a properenvironmentforself‐developmentwiththeirgoal‐settingtheory,as“atheoryofmotivation that explains what causes some people to perform better on work‐related tasks than others”, assuming that “goals are the primary source of anindividual’smotivation”.

First developed to study employees’ behaviour and performance in workenvironments,todaytheuseofgoal‐settinghasexpandedtodifferentsituations,especially leadership development, negotiation development, creativity andentrepreneurship,education,andsoft skillsdevelopmentandself‐developmentaswell.

Goal‐setting theorystates thatgoalsareessentially linked to tasksand task‐relatedperformance.Specificandchallenginggoalswithagoodrelatedfeedbackcontribute to higher and better performance. Especially, specific, clearandmeasurable goals lead to greater output and better performance. Individualmotivationcomesfromthewillingnesstoworktowardsattainmentofgoal.Fromthispointofview,themorethegoalseemstobedifficultorparticular,thehighermotivationis.Goalsettingtheoryassumesthatifpeoplearecommittedtoagoal,theywon’t leave it, or, at least, theywill considerdeeplywhether leaving itornot;infact“itisvirtuallyaxiomaticthatagoalthatapersonisnotreallytryingforisnotreallyagoalandthereforecannothavemucheffectonsubsequentaction.”(LathamandLocke,1991and2013).Commitmentongoalalsodependsonhowopen,knownandunderstoodthegoalitselfis.

If we consider skills, and soft skills above all, as “triggers” together withmotivation, for individual action to takeplace to reachagoal, goal‐theorymayconstitute an interesting source for a soft skills development program. In fact,one limitation of goal‐setting theory is that too difficult or complex goalsmaystimulateriskyorunproductivebehavioursandthisriskgrowsiftheindividuallacksskillsandcompetenciestoperformactionsessentialtothegoalitself.

Goal‐setting theory is inextricably linkedtoBandura’ssocial learningtheory(1971) and, especially, tohis concept of self‐efficacy (1977). Learning, and thesame can be considered for skills development to some extent, isacognitiveprocesswhichtakesplaceinagivensocialcontext.Learningreliesonthepossibilityforanyindividualtoobserveabehaviourandtheconsequencesofthatbehaviour.Thisevokestheimportanceofrolemodelsor“skillschampions”in any soft skills development program, as they allow what Bandura calls“modeling”,thatislearningthroughobservation.Reinforcement(andfeedback)also plays a role in learning, though it is not the only or main trigger. Sociallearning depends on how individuals either succeed or fail at dynamicinteractionswithin groups, and promotes the development of individual skills,the perception of self and the acceptance of others. For social learning theorypeoplelearnfromoneanotherthroughobservation,imitation,andmodeling.

Self‐efficacy is defined (Bandura, 1994) as “people's beliefs about theircapabilities to produce designated levels of performance that exercise influence


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over events thataffect their lives.Self‐efficacybeliefsdeterminehowpeople feel,think,motivate themselvesandbehave.Suchbeliefsproduce thesediverseeffectsthrough fourmajorprocesses.They includecognitive,motivational,affectiveandselectionprocesses.”

Bandura considers self‐efficacy crucial for personal growth, as it “enhanceshumanaccomplishmentandpersonalwell‐being”,and“peoplewithhighassurancein their capabilitiesapproachdifficult tasksas challenges tobemastered ratherthan as threats to be avoided […]. They set themselves challenging goals andmaintainstrongcommitmenttothem”.

AccordingtoBandura,people'sbeliefsabouttheirefficacycanbedevelopedbyfourmainsourcesofinfluence:

1. masteryexperiences,becausea“resilientsenseofefficacyrequiresexperienceinovercomingobstaclesthroughperseveranteffort”;

2. vicariousexperiencesprovidedbysocialmodels;3. verbalpersuasionofpossessingthecapabilitiestomastergivenactivities;4. reductionofpeople'sstressreactions,inorderto“avoidpeople’s

misinterpretationsoftheirphysicalstates”.AnotherimportantaspectofBandura’sself‐efficacymodelistheexistenceof

an individual “locus of control” (1997), that is a personality attribute whichmakespeoplefeelincontrol(internallocusofcontrol)ornot(externallocusofcontrol)oftheenvironmentwhichsurroundsthem.Thosewhohaveaninternallocusof control seem to respondbetter tomodeling andonemight argue thatthey alsohave ahigherdisposition to self‐develop their soft skills, rather thanbeingstimulatedbyrewards,orinvolvedineducationorcorporatelearninganddevelopmentprograms. In thisrespect,ApplebaumandHare (1996)suggestedhuman resources management professionals to take in serious consideration“thechangeableaspectofself‐efficacybeliefs”exploringthe“potentialtoinfluencedirectlytaskperformancethroughincreasingself‐efficacybeliefs”.

Withhis intentional change theory, Boyatzis (2006) adds a further piece tothepuzzleofself‐efficacyanditspotentialrelationwithsoftskillsdevelopmentandself‐development,explainingthatpeoplecanchangetheirbehavioursiftheycontactenoughtheirinnerwillingnesstodoit.AtthesametimeBoyatzisadmitsthatthis“intention”isnoteasytodeploy,asintentionalchangeitselfisclearlyacomplexsystem.“Attheindividual level,IntentionalChangeTheorydescribestheessential components and process of desirable, sustainable change in one’sbehaviour,thoughts, feelings,andperceptions.The“change”maybe inaperson’sactions,habitsorcompetencies[boldcharacteradded].Itis“desired”inthatthepersonwishesitsoorwouldlikeittooccur.Itis“sustainable”inthatitendures–lastsarelativelylongtime.”.

Thebasisof intentional changecheory,whichenables self‐directed learninginindividuals,relyonwhatBoyatziscalls“thefivediscoveries”:

5. theidealselfandapersonalvision;6. therealselfanditscomparisontotheidealselfresultinginanassessmentof

one’sstrengthsandweaknesses,inasenseapersonalbalancesheet;7. alearningagendaandplan;


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8. experimentationandpracticewiththenewbehaviour,thoughts,feelings,orperceptions;

9. trusting,orresonant,relationshipsthatenableapersontoexperienceandprocesseachdiscoveryintheprocess.

People pass through these discoveries in a cycle that repeats as the personchanges.

Figuren.2‐Boyatzis’stheoryofself‐directedlearning

Source:Boyatzis(2006)

In this respect, coaches and professional trainers know very well howpractice and repeated cycles of development help people and employees toexpand their self‐awareness on their level of possession of specific soft skills,widening their real possibility to adjust or radically change those behaviourswhich impede, or slow down, a complete professional development, andultimatelytheattainmentofmostimportantprofessionalandpersonalgoals.

Despitethesetheories,evidencesandrecommendations,thecorporateworldisstillconcernedaboutmanagers’commitment indevelopingemployees’skillsCompanies should invest on a “workforce that can adapt to changingenvironmentsandacquire the skillsnecessary tobe successful in the future.Andthat’s where we are falling short” (D.W. Ballard in Harvard Business Review,November2017).Traininganddevelopmentstillconsistently“emergesasoneoftheareasemployeesareleastsatisfiedwithandlackofopportunityforgrowth.”


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Itseemsthatorganisationsdon’tvalueenoughthepowerofself‐developmentwhen it comes to soft skills. However, academic researchers and worldwideconsultancyfirmskeeponhighlightingtheimportanceofdevelopmenttoolsandpractices which actively involve people these tools are addressed to. Just forinstance, the Korn Ferry Institute (2015) suggests Human Resourcesdepartmentstodevelopsoftskillsintheiryoungeremployeesmainlybycreatinga feedback culture, encouraging mentoring, boosting organisational and self‐awareness, and allowing time to reflect. And what are these if not typicalcharacteristicsofaproperenvironmentforself‐development?

4. “Behave Yourself!” Soft Skills Development Student Program ofGenoa’sDIEC

At the end of academic year 2017/2018 the Department of Economics and

BusinessStudies(DIEC)oftheUniversityofGenoadecidedtogiveconcreteanswersto the addresses and suggestions provided by the Advisory Boards of Companies,whichaccompanyitsMasterDegreesdevelopment,asregardstheperceptionofsoftskillsshortageinnewlyhiredgraduates.

AdedicatedworkinggroupwascreatedwithrepresentativesbothfromDIECandcorporationstochoosethosesoftskillswhichwerehighlyrequestedbytheworldofworkand important forDIEC students enrolled inuniversity courses, at the sametime.

Theworkinggroupcametoidentify6mainsoftskills:1. (Verbal)Communication2. Leadership3. Negotiation/conflictmanagement4. Problemsolving5. Teamwork6. TimemanagementAtthebeginningoftheacademicyear2018/2019DIECenricheditseducational

offer with “Behave Yourself!”, a comprehensive Soft Skills Development StudentProgramorganizedintwodifferentlearningworkshops:

Soft Skills Development I, addressed to 50 students at their third year ofDIECbachelordegreecourses,

Soft Skills Development II, addressed to 100 students (70 in the secondedition of the workshop) at their first year of DIEC master degree courses inAdministration, Finance and Control (AIF), Financial Intermediaries Economics(EIF),andManagement(MAN).

Each workshop took place in the November‐May period, with 27 hours oflearning. Students who decided to enrol were selected on a first‐come, first‐servedbasis and on assessment of merit. In the present academic year “BehaveYourself!”isstillon‐going,withasecondeditionstartedinNovember2019.


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Figure n. 3 ‐ Logo of Behave Yourself! DIEC Soft Skills Development Studentprogram

4.1Methodologyandprogram“BehaveYourself!”maybedefinedaguidedself‐developmentprogram. Itaimsat

delivering students a light but complete self‐development method which can beusedstandalone fora long time,evenafter theendof theworkshop itself, andofuniversityeducation.Asamatteroffact,onceastudentdivesinthemethodology,heorsheunderstandsthiscanbeappliedtomanysoftskillsandtodifferentsituationsinhisorherlife,asastudentnowandasayoungprofessionallateron.

Atthesametime,itisclearthatstudentsmayfinddifficulttodeveloptheirskillsonacompleteself‐developmentbasis,thusguidanceandsupportisassuredbytheprofessorduring classroom lessons.This iswhy12of the27workshophours areheld in standard classroom lessons, with the lecturer acting as both teacher andcoach.

Boththedevelopmentmethodandthespecificcontentsandtoolsaredesignedtoenhancestudents’motivationtodevelopthemselvesthroughtheirsoftskillsgrowth;theyareinvitedtoworkonpersonalshort‐termormedium‐termgoals,andonthemeasurementoftheirachievements,askeyindicatorsoftheireffectivelearninganddevelopment.Thislinktopersonalgoalsissimplynecessarytomakeresultsvisibleand understandable to everyone and to allow learning to be experienced directlyalso–andespecially‐ineverydaylife.

Thedevelopmentkitprovidedbytheprogramincludes: asmalldigitalhandbook,summarizingthefundamentalstepsstudentshave

tofollowtofulfiltheirdevelopmentpathandmaximizetheirachievements; learningmaterialsusedduringworkshoplessonsonfourselectedsoftskills; self‐assessmentandobservationgridsofsoftskillsandrelatedbehaviours; apersonallogbook(excelagenda)torecordpersonaldevelopmentactivities

andachievements;


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exercises and “training situations” ‐ 15hours of distance learning ‐ to testindividuallearningandseizetheopportunitytodeveloptheirsoftskillsineverydaylife.

Inshort,“BehaveYourself!”methodologymainlysourcesfromgoal‐settingtheory,fromBandura’ssociallearningandself‐efficacymodels,andfromsomeofthemostwell‐established patterns used in executive and career coaching (or in similarprofessional development paths). It aims at shaking the foundation of students’habits andpossible beliefs about their aspirations, togetherwith their patterns ofpersonalachievement,supportingstudentsinimprovingaresponse‐ableattitude.Infact,duringthekick‐offlessonstudentsgetincontactwiththemethodologyandaresupported to think over a goal they rate very important for them in the next 6months. Inmost cases this refers to their programs in study and exams, but anyotherconcreteandattainablegoalworksaswell.Oncethegoalisdefined,studentsunderstand that they can reach itwith aproperuseof their soft skills also.Thus,whiletheyengageandcommitthemselvestoachievetheirresults,theystress,and–partiallyasaconsequence‐developthosesoftskillswhicharecriticaltoreachthatparticulargoal.Thinkingoverapersonalgoalhelpsassumingtheresponsibilityofit.Responsibilitycalls foractions tobedonetoachievethatgoal.Activitiesaremadepossible by skills. And, finally, soft skills translate into and are shown through(positive) behaviours. In short, “Behave yourself!” helps students to identify anddevelopthosebehaviourswhichmostlyaffectthelevelofpossessionofagivenskill,by providing them with some theoretical background, and tools for trainingthemselvesineverydaylife.Figuren.4‐ConceptualoperationframeworkofDIEC‐BehaveYourself!


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DIECsoftskillsdevelopmentprogramalsoinvitesstudentstolearnhowtolookforandfollow“champions”,thatisrolemodels,asexamplesofbestbehavioursandsoftskillspossession.Arolemodel isapersonotherpeople lookupto inordertohelpdetermineappropriatebehaviours.Positiverolemodelsofferarangeofhelpfulorusefulbehavioursstudentsmayimitateandemulatetodeveloptheirskillsandachievetheirdesiredresults.ThetermrolemodelcomesfromsociologistRobertK.Merton(1957),andhisworkonsocialgroups.AccordingtoMerton,peopletendtomodel sets of behaviour demonstrated by people who occupy certain roles insociety.

Morgenroth, Ryan, and Peters (2015), attempting to work out amotivationaltheoryofrolemodelling,highlightthreemainfunctionsofrolemodels,asprovidersof inspirational models, representations of the possible, and inspirations, thusimpacting on people’s motivation and skills development, as “rolemodels can ofcoursealso impactuponperformance,eitherthroughtheacquisitionofskills intheirfunctionasbehaviouralmodels,orthrough increasedmotivation inallthreeoftheirfunctions.Bothskillsandmotivationarethuscontributingtoenhancedachievement”.Figuren.5‐AnillustrationoftheMotivationalTheoryofRoleModeling.

Source:Morgenroth,Ryan,andPeters(2015),

The workshop also invites students to consider their workshop colleagues as

peers they can interact and exchangewith towork on their personal behaviours,asking for a proper feedback. Instructions to set and manage a peer coachingprocessisoneofthetoolsstudentsreceiveduringthedevelopmentprogram.

Duringclassroomlessonsstudentsdiscoverindepth–skilldescription,checklistof relatedbehaviours, self‐assessmentgrid ‐ fourmain soft skills outof theabovementioned six. The four soft skills aredifferent in the two learningworkshops, inviewof the specificneedsof students in the twodifferent cycledegree studies. In


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addition, the four soft skills have been reinterpreted and tailored, focusing onspecificaspectsready‐to‐useforstudents.

Thefollowingtableshowsthespecificsoftskillsthetwoworkshopscentreon,andtheirmainfocus:

Table 1: Addressed soft skills in Behave Yourself! DIEC Soft Skills DevelopmentStudentProgram

BehaveYourself!

WorkshopEducationcycle Softskill Focuson

SoftSkillsDevelopmentI

third year ofbachelor degreecourses

Effective VerbalCommunicationFundamentals

Active Listening and techniquesforaskingquestions

TimeManagement Defining personal priorities anddevelopingplansandprograms

Teamwork Team lifecycle and relatedbehaviours to adopt for teameffectiveness

ProblemSolving Operational problem settingtechniques, primarily applied topersonaldevelopmentplan

SoftSkillsDevelopmentII

first year ofmaster degreecourses in AIF,EIF,MAN

Advanced VerbalCommunication

Clarification techniques andcompletefeedbackprocess

Negotiation Recognizing and managing stressin relationships with imbalancedpower

Leadership Followership as anteroom ofpersonal and professionalleadership

Self‐valuing(in Communicationskillsfamily)

Showing personal value,competencies and skills in jobinterviews

Theself‐valuingsoftskilldeservesfewwordsoffurtherexplanation.Atageneral

level, the real breadth of the skill gap corporations anduniversities fear in younggraduates isnotcompletelyclear today. Indeed,asalsohighlighted inchapter2,amore or less known percentage of the perceived skill gapmight rely on a partialdifficulty –bothof corporations, students andeducation system– todescribeandassessneededandownedskills.Whilerecruitmentprocessesareoftenaccurateinlarge firms andmultinationals, the same isn’t always that sure when it comes toSMEs. Jobdescriptionsarenotalwaysnecessaryoravailable,andthesamecanbesaid for skills need analysis, recruitment specialists and, also, forwell‐establishedpracticesinaddressingandencouragingspecificorganisationalbehaviours.Inshort,


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notallorganisationsseemtohavedevelopedacompletejobsystemallowingthemtoidentifythosehardandsoftskillstheyreallyneed,and,thus,theyshouldassessinjobcandidates.

Ontheotherside,students(andquiteoftenalsoemployeesatanyorganisationallevel)havepooreducationandpracticeboth indescribingtheircompetenciesandsoftskills,andinself‐assessingthem.Thepresentweakdisseminationofsoftskillsdevelopment programs in Universities, together with the increasingdepersonalisation of the professor‐student relationship, affecting natural rolemodeling,closesthecircle.

Inrespectofthis,theabilitytodescribe,illustrate,andshowoffownsoftskillsisasoftskillitself,andjustlikeanyotherskillitcanbelearntanddeveloped;itseemsobvious that students would strongly benefit from learning paths, developmenttools,experiences, coaching,mentoring, rolemodeling,andanyotherpossibleandavailableaidallowingthemtohavefullawarenessofthemselves.“BehaveYourself!” includes15hoursofself‐developmentactivities,consistingof

distancelearningexercisesandinstructionswithdifferentpurposes: developandmaintainstudents’motivationduringthe7‐monthprogram; figureoutanddescribegoals; trainspecificbehaviourswhichmayraisethefourskillslevel; fosterstudents’attitudetothinkovertheirskillsandaskforfeedbackfrom

theirneighbouringsocialenvironment.Ofcoursefifteenhoursistheminimumtimestudentsshouldinvesttodoallthe

exercisesonceandcompletethedevelopmentprogramformally,butsincetheverybeginning they are made aware that appreciable changes and real achievementsonly comewithmore consistent and steadyexercise, and it isno coincidence that“It’suptoyou”isthesloganopeningandclosingallclassroomlessons.4.2FirstoutcomesandcontinuousimprovementfeaturesAthalfMay2019115DIECstudentscrossedthefinishlineofthefirsteditionof

“Behave Yourself!”, 50 of them having completed the Soft Skills Development Iworkshopand65 theSoftSkillsDevelopment IIworkshop.Studentsobtained theircertificateofparticipationtotheprogram,withfulldescriptionofsoftskillstrainedand time invested. In DIEC’s intention, the certificate should constitute a plus instudents’ curriculum, to be shown or highlighted during future job interviews,thoughitisnotaproficiencycertificateinstrictsense.

A final satisfactionquestionnairewascarriedout in studentswhoattended thetwoworkshops.55%ofstudentsinworkshopIand53%ofstudentsinworkshopIIratedthedevelopmentprogram“veryinteresting”;asawhole,95%ofthestudentsin the two workshops rated them “interesting” or “very interesting”. The highestrankedsoftskillsweretimemanagementforstudentsinworkshopIandnegotiationand self‐valuing for students inworkshop II. Additionally, 98% of students in thetwoworkshopsappreciatedtheschedulingontheentireacademicyear,ratherthaninonesemester.


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Few students enrolled in the program, showing somedifficulties in their studycareer, became more aware of their personal hardships, and were additionallyaddressedtoGenoa’sUniversitystudentcounselingservicesbenefittingofthem,andendinguptheprogramsuccessfully.

During the academic year run DIEC monitored participation to the workshopclassroomlessonsandstudents’accesstodistancelearningsourcesandtools,totestthegroundandeventuallyadjusttheongoingprogram.

The workshops lecturer supplied DIEC faculty board with two formalintermediatefeedbackmeetings,toshareinformationandworkout,fromthefacultyside,possiblestrategiestofurtherstimulatestudentsbeyondtheparticipationintotheprogram.

At the beginning of November 2019 the second edition of the twoworkshopsstarted,withsomenewfeaturestoassurethebestlearningforstudents:

1. reduction ofmaximum number of students admitted toworkshop II from100to70.Ofcourse,developmentandself‐developmentpathsaremoreeffectiveifcarriedout insmallgroups.At thesametime, it isDIEC’sstrongwill toencouragewidestparticipationofstudents tosuch learningprograms.Considering thatsomestudentsdidn’tattendfirsteditionofworkshopIIeffectively,70seemstobeagoodtargetnumberofparticipants;

2. introduction of the rule of compulsory attendance toworkshop classroomlessons,inordertofosterthesenseofself‐responsibilitythedevelopmentprogramwantstoinspireinstudents;

3. introductionof threeteamcoachingsessionsof2hourseach, inadditiontothe27hoursofworkshopI.Theseadditionalfreeenrolmentsessionsareaddressedtothosestudentswhoaregettingpassionateoftheworkshopmethodology,orwantto train at the highest levels, or feel the need for extra help. During the teamcoaching sessions, open to 20 participants at a time, students can better focus ontheir goals, using the lecturer and the group of colleagues as valuable resources;they can discover new attitudes and behaviours and further develop soft skillsthroughanassistedcompilationofanindividualdevelopmentplan.ReferencesAnderson, B. (2020). The most in‐demand hard and soft skills of 2020. Linkedin.

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