Do you have the skills it takes to climb the career ladder? The skills that are required to execute the duties and responsibilities of your job position are known as hard skills - the technical skills that are necessary for getting a job done. Executing the requirements of a position is only part of the endeavor, however. How you actually get the job done is more nuanced - this is where soft skills come in. Soft skills enable you to get the job done more efficiently and effectively, and can allow you to build great goodwill with customers. Soft skills are what make the difference between a good employee and a great one. At TISOH, we have developed the CLIMB® Hospitality Professional Development program to teach the soft skills that can make this difference.
Soft skills are those that are not technical in nature; the skills that affect not the ability to get work done, but how the work gets done.Take a restaurant server for example. Thinking about what a server does, it is not just about the food and drink, it is the whole experience - the service. A server can be technically competent and be able to efficiently take an order and deliver exactly what is ordered, but how they do it is a soft skill. To be an exceptional restaurant server, one should have communication skills, be able to listen, and show empathy; those are soft skills. In general, soft skills center around the ability to work with others, to manage one’s work and environment, and the skills with which to solve challenges at hand.
Soft skills are varied, and include:
How can you learn these soft skills in order to become an exceptional employee? The CLIMB® Hospitality Professional Development program, developed by the International School of Hospitality (TISOH) is an option for soft skills training that brings the best practices of the hospitality industry directly to users of all backgrounds. CLIMB® is a complete library of self-paced e-learning programs, designed by and for hospitality professionals, that is usable across all connected devices and suited to a professional's busy lifestyle.
Harnessing a range of learning artifacts, CLIMB®’s targeted programming features interactive content, leading to improved comprehension and learner engagement. CLIMB® users may choose to take the 60-min classes individually, or as a five-class Skill Series. Skills Series include: Guest Service, Communication, Essential Management, People Management, and Restaurant Management. Additionally, users may choose to take a 10-class Core Series to orient and increase the skill level of those in associate, supervisor, or manager levels.
CLIMB® provides both value and a range of options for learners. For employers, CLIMB® provides for instant, turnkey hospitality training. Users have full control over their learning experience, while managers maintain supervisorial control of their subscribed learners. Key program highlights of the CLIMB® e-learning system include:
The CLIMB® program is accredited by ACCET, the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training. TISOH is an accredited member of ACCET, a national institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U. S. Department of Education. TISOH is also listed in the American Council on Education’s Accredited Institutions of Postsecondary Education (AIPE) and the Council on Higher Education Accreditation’s (CHEA) website, which are widely used by government agencies, military services, corporations, and professional organizations for identifying credible education and training organizations relative to accepting CEU credits and establishing tuition reimbursement policies.
The soft skills that CLIMB® provides can set you apart in a competitive job market. Many job candidates look similar on paper; soft skills are the differential factor in choosing candidates. Once you have acquired a solid set of soft skills, you’ll want to let potential employers know that they are skill sets you bring to a position. Highlight your soft skills in your resume, and when you interview. Begin by making a list of the soft skills you possess that are relevant to the job you are applying for. Once you have this list, add them to a skills section on your resume and mention them in your cover letter. Before your interview, go back to the list of soft skills you prepared. Think through each of them and ask yourself:
With these answers you will be ready to wow your prospective employer at the interview. Throughout the interview, demonstrate your soft skills by being friendly, approachable, empathetic, and listening intently.
Soft skills are the skills that make the difference between a good employee and a great one. With TISOH’s CLIMB® Hospitality Professional Development program, you can learn the soft skills that can make this difference, and allow you to climb the career ladder. Developed by hospitality professionals, CLIMB teaches learners the essential soft skills needed to be an exceptional employee, in a convenient, flexible, and accessible format. To learn more about the CLIMB® Hospitality Professional Development program from TISOH, visit hospitalityclimb.com. Ready to get started? Click here to get started today!
