Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Dr. Barbara Chappell

Abstract

Soft skills such as communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and stress management in recent years have been seen as a new trend in organizations. Even though there is research demonstrating the importance of soft skills, there is little research on how information technology (IT) organizations are training and evaluating their employees in soft skills. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand how human resources departments in IT organizations are training employees on soft skills and how they are evaluating employees’ level of performance. The conceptual framework that was used in this study was Goleman’s emotional intelligence model of self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. Semistructured interviews with four participants were used to gain a deeper understanding of soft skills in IT organizations. Braun and Clarke’s six-step thematic analysis revealed three themes. From the themes, four findings were developed: the importance of soft skills, soft skills increase job performance, soft skills include must include emotional intelligence, and soft skills evaluation. The participants provided their experience on how they trained and evaluated employees in soft skills, which in turn increased job performance. This study may effect positive social change by allowing employees the opportunity to increase their job performance and contribute to the betterment of their organizations. When employees increase job performance, they also increase their emotional intelligence, which builds motivation, communication, and self-awareness in the organization.

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