Role of soft skills development programme on employable skills of management students in bengaluru

Abstract

With the increase in technology access, the expectations of the employers while hiring the candidates has increased manifold. The newlinecandidates however do not possess the required skills as expected by the corporate professionals. The study, therefore, aims to understand the impact of an employable newlineskill training module based on experiential learning on the soft skill development of management postgraduate students. The study used a one-group pre-test post-test design. The study was based on the Experiential newlineLearning Theory (Kolb, 1984) and the Theory of Multiple Intelligences (Gardner, 1983). In order to find the essential skill sets that have to be possessed by management postgraduates a systematic review of literature of 243 included studies was conducted to understand the skill sets required by management postgraduates. newlineFrom the analysis, it was found that formal communication skills like oral communication, meeting participation, written communication could be effectively developed using the modules with a high effect on the skill newlinedevelopment. The modules were also found to have a significantly large effect on the problem-solving, persuasiveness, critical thinking and lateral thinking skills of the students. In addition to the above, the modules created a deeper understanding of the strengths, capabilities and the weaknesses of newlinethe participants and enabled them to communicate the same effectively thus newlinepreparing them for interviews and group discussions. The modules additionally enabled the participants to appropriately use gestures, tone and their voice in formal communication in a manner that can enhance the effectiveness of their communication. These skills were also found to be lacking in students according to the studies of Abas and Imam (2016); Andelt et al., (1997); Cotton (1993); Crosling and Ward (2002); Gandhi (2013); Hodges and Burchell (2003); Jackson (2009); Levy and Canon (2016) among newlineothers.