A new initiative has been introduced with a stronger focus on soft skills amid AI adoption
A major accounting firm in the United Kingdom is planning to assign young trainees to the hospitality sector as employers take steps to develop young people's soft skills amid AI transformation.
Peter Gallanagh, chief executive of Azets, said they are already having conversations with some national hospitality businesses for their plan, The Times reported.
"Giving some formal base training to our trainees as they come into our business – the foundation of how they deal with people, how they do front of house – most accountants don't think that way," Gallanagh said, as quoted by the news outlet.
"Historically, the focus was on financial accuracy and compliance. I'm not saying we lose any of that, but that's now being done by AI and automation. We need to move towards a more front-end, front of house, hospitality-type relationship."
Soft skills amid AI era
Gallanagh made the remarks as research previously underscored the importance of soft skills in the era of artificial intelligence.
A paper from the Harvard Business School recently warned that employers should not forget to upskill employees' "soft skills", which include workers' ability to communicate, interact, and think critically.
"The labour market is changing really fast and understanding the skill landscape and the progression of skills is so important today," said Letian Zhang, assistant professor at the Harvard Business School, in a statement.
"Highly specific, advanced technical skills are obviously important, but fundamental skills are actually really important too, if not more important."
Young people's soft skills
The challenge in developing soft skills is exacerbated by young people who are entering the workforce after spending a significant portion of their education in lockdown, which has impacted their soft skills at work.
Various studies have found that Gen Zs prefer working alone rather than in a team setting, while some leaders have pointed out that these young people have poor communication skills, lack motivation, and lack effort in the workplace.
Other Gen Zs also admit to experiencing social discomfort or anxiety in the workplace, saying they feel uneasy about delivering presentations at work and don't feel comfortable expressing their opinions during a meeting.
"Employers need to place soft skills advancement at the top of their priorities list while also experimenting with innovative, quick, and real approaches to communication and training which are mindful of their social discomfort," said James Micklethwait, VP of Kahoot! At Work, in a previous statement.
Building employees' skills
Aside from Azets, there are other employers across the world that send their staff to other roles to further develop their skills.
In Australia, Services Australia recently made its senior leaders join a new Service Delivery Immersion Programme where they can experience customer-service roles firsthand to give them a deeper understanding of how their decisions affect customers.
The introduction of secondments and immersion programmes is also on the rise globally, such as the Secondment Programme from global research network FLUXNET, where early career scientists are deployed to research institutions around the world to develop their international leadership skills.
