People Skills. Soft Skills. Emotional Intelligence. Whatever you call it, it’s important even for jobs requiring technical know-how. In fact, a recent podcast on The Contractors Best Friend attests that given the skilled labor shortage, employers might have better luck filling positions with people who have strong soft skills and teaching them the technical skills needed to do the job. (The Contractors Best Friend Season 3 Episode 19).
Those soft skills become even more important as workers transition through a career path to positions where team coordination or customer interaction is important. An article published by Construction Business Owner cites a 2016 report from project management researchers at Brandeis University. The article states: “Technical skills alone do not determine a project manager’s success. In fact, some of the most common reasons for project failure include a lack of clear expectations, poor leadership and misalignment between workers and management.” (How soft skills influence people and affect your project.)
Career and Technical Education leaders also promote the need for a variety of life-ready skills in addition to technical skills, and the National School Boards Association identified this list: dependability and reliability, adaptability/trainability, critical thinking, decision-making, customer focus, and teamwork.
Requirements for workers in crane, rigging, and specialized transportation are no different. Adam, an employee of NessCampbell Crane & Rigging shared his story about how a course on the Fundamentals of Rigging Engineering helped to provide the technical skills he needed to advance his career, while acknowledging the importance of people skills. “There’s opportunities in this industry for people who have strong organizational and management skills,” he said.