Soft skills are a combination of people skills, social skills, communication, character and personality traits, attitudes, mindsets, career attributes, social intelligence, contextual intelligence and emotional intelligence quotients, among others, that enable people to navigate their environment, work well with others, perform well, and achieve their goals with complementing hard skills. Soft skills are defined by the Collins Dictionary as “Desirable qualities for certain forms of employment that do not depend on acquired knowledge. They include common sense, the ability to deal with people, and a positive flexible attitude.”

Soft skill is a composite expression, and each of the two words explains a defining aspect of the concept.

• The word “skill” highlights the practical function. The term alone has a broad meaning and describes a particular ability to complete tasks ranging from easier ones like “learning how to kick a ball” to harder ones like “learning how to be creative”. In this context, the word “skill” is interpreted as the ability to master hardly controlled actions.

• The word “soft” is the opposite of “hard”, and refers to the non-cognitive attributes in people.  Soft skills are often not assessed as they are subjective. Many in business consulting argue that they lie at the foundation of what makes a leader and will determine if an employee will rise to a leadership position. Soft skills represent personal skills necessary for such activities as teamwork and motivating others.

In recognizing the importance of Soft skills for the success of professionals and business people in business, professional and personal life, and noting the inadequacy of such skills in many professionals and businesspeople, National Standard Human Capital Development, being led by practicing actuarial, finance and risk management professionals, has launched e-learning courses in soft skills development for practical application and personal effectiveness from 1 April 2021. These courses may be complemented in your environment with relevant and contextual case study-based workshops for practical application. These skills need to be practiced on a day-to-day basis as one functions in real life until the skills become second to nature. They are at the heart of lifelong learning and are considered important elements of Continuous Professional Development by many professionals and business leaders.

Nature of the courses

There are more than 139 courses to choose from delivered through pre-recorded slide guided audios on our online Learning Management System covering the following broad areas:

•  Self-management for sustainable success and effectiveness incorporate business and entrepreneurial environments 
•  Career development for long term sustainable success 
•  Human Resources management for consistent and sustainable high-performance business outcomes
•  Personal development for long term sustainable performance and success 
•  Sales and marketing for consistent and sustainable revenue generation outcomes
•  Supervision and management for high-quality performance standards.

The courses are suitable for everyone from the most junior person at high school or university preparing to join the business and professional environments in the future, or adapting at the workplace if already employed, to the most senior and experienced professionals and executives incorporate and entrepreneurial environments as a refresher and for Continuous Professional Development.

The courses are self-paced composed of pre-recorded theory content lectures online for practical application plus practical focused activities and case study-based learning approach to simulate real-life situations. You will have to work on the activities and case studies in your own time either alone or in a group of like-minded people within your own networks. They are designed with the objective of addressing corporate and industry requirements for practical-based learning for personal effectiveness.

The objective is to provide access to knowledge and inclusiveness at the least cost possible, so the courses are being designed to be affordable for all groups of people at different stages of their personal, professional, and business awareness development. The pricing is set at approximately US$35 per course per person for access for 30 days plus approximately US$8 per month to maintain access to your courses on the Learning Management System on an ongoing basis. Discounts would usually apply to students and unemployed youth. There are also special offers from time to time. Similar courses are generally available in the local and international markets at a cost of at least US$100 per course, and sometimes up to US$500 per course depending on the course delivery approach. National Standard being led by practicing professionals views the lower cost of its soft skills courses as a knowledge dissemination revolution as we go deeper into the 4th industrial revolution, recognizing that professionals and business people need to be well equipped for success. The intention is to reach professionals, businesspeople as well as the most economically excluded people in Africa and around the world, whilst also providing customized reference material for experienced senior professionals and business executives who want to refresh but do not wish to spend a high budget.

The courses are practical-oriented high-quality corporate-level material pitched at an international level, focused more on real-world situations for corporate and workplace environment effectiveness and preparedness. They offer flexible learning at your own pace. It is best, though, to implement the learnings in practice as you go since the focus is on practical application. It is, therefore, not advisable to do a course over a week only, for example, and leave it at that hoping to be knowledgeable and learned without practical application and practice on an ongoing basis.

Accreditation

National Standard will continue to seek recognition and accreditation of these courses for credits towards Continuous Professional Development purposes from South African and international professional and industry bodies on an ongoing basis where appropriate. Whilst the courses do not lead to a qualification as they are self-development and personal effectiveness courses, National Standard branded Certificates of Completion are issued on completion of each course.

Cost

The cost is pegged at US$34,95 (R525) per course per person, converted to local currencies, for access to the Learning Management System for the first 30 days, plus an option for US$7,95 (R120) subscription per month, converted to local currency, for continued access to the completed course material on the Learning Management System plus any other courses of up to 10 that may be added for free at the time of purchase depending on specials available at the time. Access to the courses ceases when you cease your monthly subscription. There is no penalty for ceasing monthly subscriptions at any time. You can also re-join at any time and access your old courses. If you enroll in a new additional course, you also get access to your old courses for that month, and if you continue with monthly subscriptions, you continue having access to all your courses. This offers flexibility that allows you to structure and pace your personal development activities to meet your goals.

 We have provided various options for payment that include the following to cover different groups of people in different parts of the World:

• Pay Fast secure credit or debit card payment (Visa, MasterCard and American Express) for immediate access
• Electronic bank transfer (with between 24-hour and 48-hour delay to access from time funds reflect)
• Direct cash deposit into a South African bank account (with between 24-hour and 48-hour delay to access from the time proof of deposit is received)
• Direct deposit into a Zimbabwe bank account (with between 24-hour and 48-hour delay to access from the time proof of deposit is received)
• Money Transfer Services such as World Remit, MoneyGram, Mukuru & Western Union (with between 24-hour and 48-hour delay to access from the time funds are received).

Groups of people in companies, professional and industry bodies are encouraged to take advantage of these courses. The courses remain accessible as long as the monthly subscriptions are maintained.

Optional at extra cost

• Facilitator-led face-to-face workshops for practical application post the Covid-19 environment.
• Videos
• Selected customized books
• Conferences and seminars on soft skills.

In addition, National Standard will also be holding case study-based online webinars and masterclasses from time to time at “no” extra cost guided by experienced industry practitioners for practical application that may be attended by people who have completed a minimum of 10 courses in any area. The webinars and masterclasses are complimentary.