Jobberman, Sterling One Foundation: Cultivating Soft Skills In Nigerian Graduates

As many organisations today look to add value to their business and boost the bottom line, soft skills in the workplace have become increasingly important. 

According to a study by Wonderlic, 93% of hiring leaders stated that soft skills are an “essential” or “very important” element when making hiring decisions. 

Moreover and more employers are acknowledging that soft skills are more important than tech skills.

What Are These Soft Skills And Why Are They Important?

Typically, soft skills are interpersonal skills that make collaboration and collective progress at the workplace possible.

They include skills such as effective communication, creativity and innovation, emotional intelligence, problem-solving, leadership, empathy, listening, etc.

On the other hand, technical skills are skills learned for directly doing specified jobs.
Following Wall Street Journal reports, “Competition has heated up for workers with the right mix of soft skills, which vary by industry and across the pay spectrum—from making small talk with a customer at the checkout counter to coordinating a project across several departments on a tight deadline.”

Also, based on a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, employers emphasized leadership and the ability to work in a team as the most desirable attributes when recruiting recent college graduates, ahead of analytical and quantitative skills.

Furthermore, Burning Glass analyzed millions of U.S. job postings and found that one in three skills requested in job postings is a “baseline” or soft skill.

“Even in the most technical career areas (such as information technology, and healthcare, more than a quarter of all skill requirements are for baseline skills,”

In fact, talent with the right soft skills is typically scarce these days. 

Sterling One Foundation and Jobberman Nigeria

The Sterling One Foundation has partnered with Nigeria’s top recruitment platform, Jobberman, to offer soft skills training to young Nigerian graduates, as the importance of soft skills in today’s workplace continues to grow.

For a long time, technical skills have been the focus with respect to what is needed to get one’s foot in the door, however, research has shown that it’s just not enough to have technical skills, as developing interpersonal and relationship-building skills is crucial to keep the door open.

For years, employers have focused on technical knowledge and technical certification, but the tide is changing, and soft skills are taking center stage. 

With one of its key thematic areas being education and youth development, the Sterling One Foundation has set a unique goal of ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education that promotes lifelong learning opportunities for all, with this partnership being a testament to that.

Olapeju Ibekwe, the CEO of the Sterling One Foundation, while shedding more light on the partnership, stated that: “Sterling One Foundation is partnering with Jobberman to offer soft skills training on One Learning, a platform that we designed to provide learning and development opportunities for career growth. 

“The courses there are focused on practical and real-world applications, and they teach skills that are relevant and needed to succeed in today’s competitive world, from simple communication skills to complex negotiation capabilities. 

“One Learning is on a mission to create learning and economic opportunities for young people across Africa, helping transform them into leaders in their spaces.”

Further explaining the importance of this partnership and the need for focusing on soft skills, a representative of Jobberman Nigeria, she explained: “The soft skills training is a year-long program designed to equip participants with skills in business etiquette, emotional intelligence, personal effectiveness, creativity, and effective communication, all of which are skills that move you up the ladder quickly."

This program kicked off on March 18 to be held every Saturday at 10 am. Participants will receive an internationally recognized certification at the end of the training.”