Understand How Practices in Soft Skills Evaluation Expose the Reality!
Sustaining equity and creating a functional team is critical for the growth of an organization. However, whether voluntary or involuntary, favoritism could dine down the fairness of practices over time creating discomfort, low morale, and a drop in the overall performance of team members. Indeed, favoritism may appear to be a quiet concern, but it has a far-reaching negative effect on an organization there it can lead to strife and chase away the best employees.
Soft skills assessments are an effective and direct way of dealing with favoritism, and restoring order in your team. When team members are assessed on criteria such as communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and even leadership, there are clear boundaries on how growth and promotion will be done. In this blog, we will break down glaring instances of how favoritism can cheat your team and how practices of soft skills evaluation can be used to expose injustice and revive balance.
Choice of Some Employees Over Others: A Simple but Big Demotivator
Favoritism in the workplace is defined as an advanced form of bias, which is the unfair and unique treatment of some employees than others. For example, if a manager makes it a habit to award their “best employee” the most critical tasks, or instead of sharing opportunities for advancement, one person may constantly receive them.
The unfortunate thing with favoritism is that it can sometimes be latent and difficult to fix. Many times, managers or team leaders may not be aware that they are showing favoritism. But the consequences to the team can be strong:
Low Morale: When those at the bottom feel neglected or discriminated against, they lose their morale. Why should one make an effort in the first place when it appears that the same people will always land the rewards?
Team Strife: Favoritism damages the loyalty of the team. For example, those who have been wronged may attribute bad characteristics to other people, including their managers, which may lead to tension.
The Role of Soft Skills in Success of the Team
In these cases, one might notice the rise of the terms soft skills or interpersonal or people skills such as communication, teamwork, adaptability, leadership, or problem-solving which are equally important for an employee and in most cases, an employee’s performance in his or her role position.
It’s these skills that assist in the proper creation of both teamwork and organizational relationships. Therefore, employees with developed soft skills, or people skills effectively contribute towards the performance of the team in overcoming workplace challenges.
Nevertheless, there is a gray area in the definition of soft skills because they can be difficult to evaluate. In the absence of valid and reliable assessment tools, managers’ opinions about the employee’s strengths and weaknesses are in most cases subjective assessments.
This leads over time to an unintended outcome which is favoritism management because these managers will tend to reward those who they consider as having soft skills. Their perception of such employees may not even be completely correct.
How Does Favoritism Impede the Development of Soft Skills?
However, favoritism does not only affect the way employees are managed but also the way employees develop their soft skills as individuals. In cases where some team members are allowed to lead projects and have higher chances of being trained or getting feedback faster than others, those Team members are likely to develop their soft skills the fastest.
On the other hand, those who are not visible or seem to be given less importance tend to wait for these chances to be visible which delays their growth in terms of soft skills.
Favoritism has a way of changing the perception towards soft skills in the workplace. For instance, if one is, for some reason or another, the favorite employee, his or her colleagues may praise him or her for being good at communication regardless of the facts that are more effective communicators even a number of them. Such incidents communicate that the skill and effort archived cannot be ascertained but mostly the relationships between the managers and the employees are what matters.
Using Soft Skills Assessments to Combat Favoritism
Inversely, favoritism can be wiped out by the use of soft skills assessment tools that are equally fair and create a positive cooperating culture. These assessments enable fair evaluation of team members’ soft skills using scientific methods, therefore; creating a level playing ground for everyone to use their competencies. Here’s how soft skills assessments can help:
1. Objective Evaluation
Soft skills assessments offer a unique approach to the evaluation of team members’ skills. These assessments do not wait for opinions that are biased but use relevant criteria and measurement tools that include areas such as communication, teamwork, adaptiveness, leadership, and problem-solving.
2. Opportunities for Growth are Highly Navigable
With the regular provision of soft skills assessments, areas of weaknesses among employees can be pinpointed, and specific training can be offered. This has the effect of ensuring that every team member regardless of whether they are a manager’s favorite or not, has a clear pathway for growth. Employee development and feedback, on the other hand, ensures that there is no unfairness in the workplace as all employees get the chance to improve their skills and move up the ladder in their careers.
3. Improved Team Work
When team members are assessed and gifted for their potential, trust and unity within the team become part and parcel of their daily operations. Employees are recognized for their input and are likely to have a good attitude toward their coworkers. Using soft skill assessment in the team will also help enforce a system where recognition and promotion are not bestowed upon many factors.
4. Observing and Managing Problems Early
Soft skills assessments can also help in the early signs of bullying or favoritism in the workplace. By observing the trends in how employees get rated and compensated, they can forecast possible biases and correct them before they become problems. Routine assessments lead to a cycle of evaluation and feedback that allows improvement to be seen both at the personal and the collective level.
Introducing Soft Skills Assessment Tools in Your Organization
Introducing soft skills assessment tools in your organization is not only a challenging exercise, but has to be done with a lot of equity and fairness in mind. For practical concerns, scholars offer the following tutorial guidelines on how to begin:
Choose the right assessment Tools
Self-assessment, peer reflection, and 360 systems are often used to appraise the soft skills of individuals. Derive tools that are appropriate to your organization’s needs and work environment. Collaborate with peers who already possess and utilize graded assessments that include communication, leadership, teamwork, and problem-solving techniques.
How Appropriate You Feel Leaders Are For Your Organization is Essential for Decision-Making
It is crucial to have limitations:
For assessments to take place, criteria understanding of soft skills necessary for self-evaluation need to be set and negative biases such as contractual obligations also need to be taken into consideration. This allows for all members of the internal staff to be rated on similar measures and the entire procedure remains neutral, open, and transparent.
For soft skills assessments, employees should be evaluated in a timely manner. Construct their opinions and offer them feedback so that people can adjust their views when constructing opinions in the assessment exercises. This will work as a practice to foster self-regulation and even stimulate efforts in providing assessments.
Promote a Culture of Fairness Lastly, ensure that fairness becomes part of the organizational culture. It is equally important that the behavioral bias is checked for by management and the employees have the right to complain if they feel aggrieved.
When there is a culture of fairness within an organization, it guarantees that all employees are appreciated and work towards achieving the set goals.
Conclusion: Expose the Lies and Get the Truth, Form a Fairer Team.
This form of bias may work silently against the success of the team, but just like any other variable, it can be measured with soft skills, cultural fit, and other tools, and equity, and equity systems can be put into practice for all employees. With fairness and equity in systems of appraisal, opportunities for advancement and promotion can be just. Don’t let favoritism make a mess of your team and its potential; do not stop at the soft skills assessment, but use it to explore what raw potential is hidden inside your team.
When done properly, there are tangible and vast bottom-line impacts that thrive within the company. It is not just avoiding preference; it is empowering every member of the team to be impactful and, that creates a balanced and enforced firm.
