Research conducted by Harvard University, the Carnegie Foundation, and Stanford Research Center indicates 85 percent of job success comes from having well-developed soft and people skills, and only 15 percent of job success comes from technical skills and knowledge (hard skills). Employers are often prepared to teach technical job skills; however, the intangible skills of being a team player, time management, and positive attitude are difficult to teach on-site but are critical to success. 

To address this need, Graves County Extension Office offered portions of the Positive Employability: Preparing for Financial Success program to provide clientele with the personal skill sets and resources to be workforce ready. 

As part of the Positive Employability program, the Graves County Extension Office partnered with 

•  WKCTC Adult Learning Center, ESL & GED students
• Graves County High School (5 senior English classes & 5 JAG classes)
• Mayfield Independent Schools Family Resource Center (English & Spanish)
• A New Beginning for Women & Children Shelter

The program consisted of three curriculum sets delivering objective-based learning through interactive learning activities, including Ten Soft Skills for Success, Conveying Your Message and Listening and Inquiry for A New Beginning for Women & Children and Ten Soft Skills for Success for the other partnerships.

Over 280 people participated in the workshop series. Out of those evaluated on the 10 Soft Skills for Success program:

Over 90% learned the soft skills and how they would benefit them  

81% plan to manage their time to enhance their productivity 

243 said they plan to use empathy, professionalism and communication to build workplace relationships

237 said they plan to utilize the soft skills learned to contribute to a more efficient and productive workplace

 Those from A New Beginning for Women & Children were also evaluated on the Listening & Inquiry and Conveying Your Message programs.

90% plan to utilize listening cues such as nonverbal & verbal in conversation as well s identifying barriers to successful communication and demonstrating stronger verbal and nonverbal during communication

Participants had a strong interest in the nonverbal cues they didn't realize they had been giving future and current employers as well as other professionals they come in to contact with.