Managerial Soft Skills Training
Factory managers and line supervisors frequently lack formal interpersonal communication and leadership training, leading to supportive deficiencies, harsh supervisory styles, and depressed worker productivity.
Picture this
Imagine upgrading a site supervisor from using a megaphone to shout orders to using a clear two-way dispatch radio system. Training managers in soft skills improves their ability to coordinate daily workflows and resolve interpersonal friction, allowing their entire production team to operate smoother and faster.
What the evidence says
Manager soft skills training increased team productivity by 5.8% and manager wages by 6.0%. Six months post-training, the financial productivity gains were estimated to be 54 times the program implementation cost.
- Who
- Human production line managers and supervisors in Indian garment manufacturing facilities.
- How
- Randomized Controlled Trial evaluating soft skills training for line managers against a control group of untrained supervisors.
What to do
Implement structured soft skills and interpersonal communication training programs for first-line factory supervisors.
From the source
"In the other evaluation at the same manufacturer, managers were randomly assigned to receive soft skills training. Six months after the training, productivity gains from the manager training were estimated to be 54 times the cost."
Workplace interventions to improve worker wellbeing.pdf