Soft Skills - Publications - Faculty & Research

February 2020
Technical Note

Talent Management and the Future of Work

The nature of work is changing—and it is changing rapidly. Few days go by without industry giants such as Amazon and AT&T announcing plans to invest billions of dollars towards retraining nearly half of their respective workforces for jobs of the future. What changes... View Details

Keywords: Human Resource Management; Human Capital Development; Human Resource Practices; Talent; Talent Acquisition; Talent Development; Talent Development And Retention; Talent Management; Talent Retention; Labor Flows; Labor Management; Labor Market; Strategy Development; Strategy Management; Strategy Execution; Strategy And Execution; Strategic Change; Transformations; Organization; Organization Alignment; Organization Design; Organizational Adaptation; Organizational Effectiveness; Management Challenges; Management Of Business And Political Risk; Change Leadership; Future Of Work; Future; Skills Gap; Skills Development; Skills; Offshoring And Outsourcing; Investment; Capital Allocation; Work; Work Culture; Work Force Management; Work/life Balance; Work/family Balance; Work-family Boundary Management; Workers; Worker Productivity; Worker Performance; Work Engagement; Work Environment; Work Environments; Productivity; Organization Culture; Soft Skills; Technology Management; Technological Change; Technological Change: Choices And Consequences; Technology Diffusion; Disruptive Technology; Global Business; Global; Workplace; Workplace Context; Workplace Culture; Workplace Wellness; Collaboration; Competencies; Productivity Gains; Digital; Digital Transition; Competitive Dynamics; Competitiveness; Competitive Strategy; Data Analytics; Data; Data Management; Data Strategy; Data Protection; Aging Society; Diversity; Diversity Management; Millennials; Communication Complexity; Communication Technologies; International Business; Work Sharing; Global Competitiveness; Global Corporate Cultures; Intellectual Property; Intellectual Property Management; Intellectual Property Protection; Intellectual Capital And Property Issues; Globalization Of Supply Chain; Inequality; Recruiting; Hiring; Hiring Of Employees; Training; Job Cuts And Outsourcing; Job Performance; Job Search; Job Design; Job Satisfaction; Jobs; Employee Engagement; Employee Attitude; Employee Benefits; Employee Compensation; Employee Fairness; Employee Relationship Management; Employee Retention; Employee Selection; Employee Motivation; Employee Feedback; Employee Coordination; Employee Performance Management; Employee Socialization; Process Improvement; Application Performance Management; Stigma; Institutional Change; Candidates; Digital Enterprise; Cultural Adaptation; Cultural Change; Cultural Diversity; Cultural Context; Cultural Strategies; Cultural Psychology; Cultural Reform; Performance; Performance Effectiveness; Performance Management; Performance Evaluation; Performance Appraisal; Performance Feedback; Performance Measurement; Performance Metrics; Performance Measures; Performance Efficiency; Efficiency; Performance Analysis; Performance Appraisals; Performance Improvement; Automation; Artificial Intelligence; Technology Companies; Managerial Processes; Skilled Migration; Assessment; Human Resources; Management; Human Capital; Talent and Talent Management; Retention; Demographics; Labor; Strategy; Change; Change Management; Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Working Conditions; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Disruption; Economy; Competition; Globalization; AI and Machine Learning; Digital Transformation

Citation

Educators

Purchase

11 Oct 2023
Blog Post

A Journey of Discovery, Teamwork, and Impact with FIELD Global Immersion

required to produce quality work and the soft skills necessary for effective interpersonal relationships. Understanding each other’s working styles, strengths and weaknesses helped us work better as a unit.... View Details

Program

Program for Leadership Development

step toward becoming a member of the global HBS alumni community Who Should Attend PLD is designed for executives preparing for career growth who want to expand their hard and soft skills and refine their... View Details

Rosabeth M. Kanter

Rosabeth Moss Kanter holds the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professorship at Harvard Business School, specializing in strategy, innovation, and leadership for change. Her strategic and practical insights guide leaders worldwide through teaching, writing, and direct... View Details

25 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

Being a Team Player: Why College Athletes Succeed in Business

otherwise.” Gompers, an All-American runner who graduated from Harvard College in 1986 and held the Harvard record for the 10,000 meter race in track for thirty years, says intercollegiate varsity athletics forges valuable soft View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

26 Apr 2024
HBS Case

Deion Sanders' Prime Lessons for Leading a Team to Victory

pre-season, Sanders eats most meals in the dining hall with the team. After breakfast, he often gives short talks that touch on soft skills for sports and life, like the importance of being reliable.... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman; Sports

05 Dec 2023
Research & Ideas

Lessons in Decision-Making: Confident People Aren't Always Correct (Except When They Are)

the right people are confident, suggests recent research by Thomas Graeber, assistant professor at Harvard Business School. His work tested the effects of meta-cognition—essentially, whether more skilled people are also more confident... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

25 Jun 2024
Research & Ideas

Rapport: The Hidden Advantage That Women Managers Bring to Teams

points to differences in the instincts and baseline soft skills of men and women when they approach managerial roles and responsibilities.” The research team chose Latin America because men and women hold... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin; Food & Beverage

Web

Podcasts - Managing the Future of Work

positions across the org chart, can bootcamps plus training top-ups, and a mix of hard and soft skills future-proof the Per Scholas formula? Erik Brynjolfsson on how AI is rewriting the rules of the economy... View Details

24 Jul 2023
Research & Ideas

Part-Time Employees Want More Hours. Can Companies Tap This ‘Hidden’ Talent Pool?

Part-time workers who want more hours are a hugely untapped resource. Strange, since employers continue to encounter skills shortages. Why are qualified, eager workers underemployed? Harvard Business School Professor Joseph Fuller’s... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

02 Apr 2024
Research & Ideas

Employees Out Sick? Inside One Company's Creative Approach to Staying Productive

struggling with widespread absenteeism. The researchers advised the factory’s CEO that senior managers should do whatever they could to build relationships between managers working not only right next to each other, but also elsewhere on their floor and in other parts... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Fashion

01 Dec 2023
News

The Exchange: Help Wanted

Image by John Ritter The path to a job in the C-suite isn’t what it used to be. For many years, companies could lean on financial expertise and industry connections when recruiting candidates, but HBS professors Raffaella Sadun and Joseph Fuller say that so much has... View Details

Keywords: Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

28 Jan 2019
Research & Ideas

Forget Cash. Here Are Better Ways to Motivate Employees

on how best to reward their workers in ways that will bring them greater job satisfaction and motivate them to work harder. When recruiting, emphasize benefits Talking up a job’s perks, such as flexible work schedules and skill training,... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

Profile

Thomaz Galvao

Brazilians that would reflect well on me as an effective professional,” but mostly for its resources “ HBS resources and excellence would empower me with the hard and soft skills I will need to succeed.”... View Details

01 Dec 2006
What Do You Think?

How Important Is Quality of Labor? And How Is It Achieved?

two or three parameters like attitude and sincerity towards work; it should also measure domain knowledge, soft skills like leadership and managerial quality, creativity, and the ability to learn and adapt... View Details

Keywords: by by Jim Heskett

19 May 2021
Op-Ed

Why America Needs a Better Bridge Between School and Career

apprenticeships, internships, or work-based learning. That figure pales in comparison to other OECD countries like Germany or Switzerland, where 40-70 percent of students split their time between traditional school settings and learning in a workplace. Technical and... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph B. Fuller and Rachel Lipson

01 Nov 2020
Research & Ideas

Good Leadership Is an Act of Kindness

kindness is one of the most essential soft skills for good leadership. But in these times, it might be the most crucial one. To paraphrase Henry David Thoreau, kindness is an investment that never fails.... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Susan Seligson

07 Jul 2019
HBS Case

Walmart's Workforce of the Future

the work they’re asked to do, and helps develop the soft skills that are useful in any field. Workers who completed the program received a raise and had increased job opportunities; however, many complained... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail

27 Jun 2016
Research & Ideas

These Management Practices, Like Certain Technologies, Boost Company Performance

What’s the best way to run a company? The question has bedeviled economists as long as companies have existed. How, after all, do you measure something as soft as management style across the range of different types and sizes of companies... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

07 Apr 2009
First Look

First Look: April 7, 2009

countries serving on the board are rewarded with an average $60 million "bonus" in IBRD loans. This is more likely driven by soft forces like boardroom culture rather than by the power of the vote itself. We find no significant... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Publications