Unit G
Workplace Readiness
Objective 7.01
Recognize soft skills necessary
in the workplace.
Soft Skills
• A mix of necessary interpersonal skills and
business skills that a successful person
develops and nurtures.
Interpersonal Skills Are Soft Skills
• Ethics
• Positive Attitude
• Integrity
• Empathy
• Goal setting
• Teamwork
• Assertiveness
• Problem solving
skills
• Professional
conduct/etiquette
Communication Skills Are Soft Skills
• Two types of
communication
skills:
– Verbal
communication
– Nonverbal
communication
Importance of Interpersonal Skills
• Developing and maintaining positive human
relations requires the use of soft skills.
• Positive customer relations are the result of
courtesy, interest, helpfulness, and tolerance.
An employee is the face of the business or
company. The way in which a customer is
treated in a fashion retail store determines
whether that customer will return. Repeat
customers enable a business to become more
successful.
Importance of Interpersonal Skills
(cont.)
• Employer/Employee relations
– Happy employees=Happy customers=More profits
– Companies strive to keep employees satisfied,
motivated, and loyal by offering competitive wages,
attractive benefits packages, and other incentives.
– Benefits: Added compensation other than money that
an employer gives his/her employees.
– Other incentives might include tuition
reimbursement, special bonuses, special recognition,
performance awards, and internal promotion
programs.
Importance of Ethics
• Ethics: Guidelines for
human behavior; the
study of moral choices
and values.
Terms Related to Ethics
• Morals: The part of human behavior that can be
evaluated in terms of right or wrong.
• Standards: Accepted levels of behavior to which
individual behavior is compared.
• Virtues: Positive traits, such as loyalty, respect,
honesty, and compassion, found within a person.
• Utility principle: The idea that the right action is
best for everyone involved, not just for one
individual.
• Consequences: The results of an action.
Ethical Behavior
Recognizing the difference between right and
wrong, then choosing what is right.
• Ethical people can be trusted to make the right
decision, even when the decision does not benefit
them.
• Ethics deals with principles that apply to everyone,
but these principles become personal and individual
and vary depending on an individual’s own belief
system.
• Sources of ethical beliefs:
Higher authority, culture, intuition, reason
Ethics in the Workplace
• The development of strong work
ethic relies on self-discipline, selfcontrol, initiative, and a productive
work behavior.
Ethical Terms in the Workplace
• Business ethics: Applying principles of right and wrong
to workplace situations.
Business ethics includes taking personal pride in
accomplishments on the job and for the work itself.
This is an area of growing concern in today’s workplace.
• Code of ethics: A systematic set of rules and procedures
used to guide the behavior of an individual, a business, or
a culture.
• Employee duties: The obligation of an employee to fulfill
the job responsibilities and to give the employer a fair
day’s work for the pay earned.
Ethical Terms in the Workplace
(cont.)
• Employee rights: The entitlement of an
employee to equal opportunity, fair pay, and
safe working conditions.
• Positive climate: A work environment that
fosters positive productivity, quality work,
workplace values, commitment to excellence,
constructive criticism, encouragement for
growth, and continuing education.
 Positive work ethics can be encouraged by
managers practicing good principles of
supervision.
Examples of Unethical Behavior
•Conflict of interest, such as an employer
pressuring an employee to do outside
business with another company owned by
the employer’s family
•Employee conflicts that cause either or
both employees to behave in an unethical
manner
•Immoral and/or illegal activity
Possible consequences of unethical
behavior
• Unethical behaviors may or may not also be
illegal.
• If news of unethical behavior reaches the
media and/or the outside public, then poor
public relations may result.
• Unethical behavior can result in decreased
profits for the business.
• Possible lawsuits can occur as a result of
unethical behavior.
Possible consequences of unethical
behavior (cont.)
•If the law is broken the penalty may
include jail time, as in the case involving
Martha Stewart.
•An employee who reports a business
associate or superior for illegal, immoral,
or unethical behavior may be identified
as a whistle blower.
The Value of Teamwork
• Teamwork: The good working relationship among
employees resulting from combined support,
leadership, and cooperation.
– Agreement: A specific commitment made by a person or a
group of people.
– Consensus: A collective agreement reached by the
members of a group.
• Employees are asked to work together as a team to
complete a task. The more effectively and
efficiently the team members work together, the
more likely they are to achieve the desired goal for
the business.
Effective Communication in the Workplace
• Effective communication is the process of
transmitting clearly understood messages
between all involved parties.
• The ability to communicate effectively is
extremely important to a person’s success
in the workplace.
• Communication of information is a
primary resource for every business.
Nonverbal Communication
The ability to convey messages without
using words.
•Body language such as hand gestures,
facial expressions, eye contact, and other
body movements
•Personal appearance
Verbal Communication
The ability to convey messages with the use
of words.
•Reading
•Listening
•Speaking
•Writing
Verbal Communication--Reading
• Critical in the fashion
industry for reading
fashion periodicals,
journals, and reports
that focus on marketing,
forecasting, and trends
• Letters, memos, emails,
and requests must be
read and responses
communicated.
Verbal Communication--Listening
• For communication to take place the receiver
must listen to and understand the message
being sent in order to respond.
– Active listening: Providing the speaker with
feedback (a nod, smile or response) that indicates
the message is being received and is understood.
– Open-ended questioning: Asking questions that
require more than a yes or no response.
– Allows more information to be retrieved from the
customer/speaker
– Shows genuine interest
– Helps build stronger human relations by encouraging
credibility and trust
Verbal Communication--Speaking
• How well one speaks may
prove to be a determining
factor in the degree of
his/her success in many
fashion careers.
• Speaking skills are equally
important in one-on-one
conversations or in
presentations to a group.
Verbal Communication—Speaking (cont.)
• One-on-one conversations with a customer might
take place face to face or over a telephone.
– Word choice and tone of voice should convey
friendliness, sincerity, and interest in the customer.
– Full attention should be paid to the customer.
– When taking a telephone message, be certain to
record the date and time of the call, who it is for, who
is calling, the return telephone number, and the
message.
Verbal Communication—Speaking (cont.)
–Telephone orders must be recorded
completely and accurately. It is
recommended that the information be
repeated to the caller to verify that the details
are correct.
–Remember to express appreciation to the
customer.
–While voice mail is a fast and effective way to
communicate with someone who is not able to
answer the telephone, the absence of face-toface contact makes telephone manners and
verbal skills very important.
Verbal Communication--Speaking
(cont.)
• Speaking to groups may occur in formal or informal
situations.
– One might be speaking with more than one customer in the
retail store, making a presentation of a new line to a buyer,
or delivering a workshop or speech to a group such as
fashion educators or students.
– Tailor the presentation for the specific audience.
– Organize the presentation in a logical format.
– Visual aids always enhance a presentation. Computeraided presentations are used frequently in business and
industry.
– Speak correctly, slowly, clearly, and distinctly.
– Practice the presentation.
Verbal Communication--Writing
• Written documentation is important and is often
required in the workplace.
• Use of electronic media for written communication
is becoming commonplace.
• Attention to spelling, grammar, and sentence
structure is critical.
• If a document is handwritten, legibility is also
critical.
• Examples: email, electronic calendaring, group
news mailboxes, on-line services, Internet
conferencing, business letters, memos, and reports
Barriers to Communication
• Noise, distractions, or interruptions in
service that interfere with sending or
receiving the message
• Language barriers
• Information overload