How do you build a frame work for building manageable metrics associated with Soft Skills?

Ah.. a great question and something that I have yet to see perfected, but continues to get easier as many enablement and development professionals know and argue that companies cannot afford NOT to invest in the soft skills development of their employees. Historically I have seen that budgets typically allocated towards soft skills learning initiatives are all too often the first to be cut because of the difficulty of proving an ROI of sales soft skills versus hard/technical skills.

Below are a couple of approaches I have seen, taken and partnered with internal teams around indicators of success within soft skill initiatives:

Platform Engagement Rates:

One area of my business I look to when measuring the impact of 'soft skill' enablement is our internal LMS & CMS platforms that tracks learners’ usage, knowledge retention and engagement rates. If a platform or specific collection of content is being used and consumed on a regular basis, it is a sign that employees are getting value from the company's soft skills training. If engagement and consumption levels are lacking, it could be a sign that the platform is not easy to navigate, that the content is untrusted or not engaging.

Track Sales Team Productivity Rates:

Over time I have started to see the increase in how soft skills such as multitasking, proactivity, communication, and creative-thinking have had a positive impact on sales productivity rates at companies that prioritizes employee development. Identifying and tracking success metrics across the sales team upon implementing soft skills initiatives is a great way to measure program impact.

Sales Team Retention:

Sales team churn is a major cost to any organization, and something that is easily measurable and can tell an important story. A recent 'Workplace Learning' report out of LinkedIn suggests that 94% of employees consider staying longer with companies who invest in programs aimed at career development.

Impact of Process Optimisation:

When organizations and teams see soft skills like successful teamwork, great communication, and strong time-management become ingrained in a company's culture, processes are optimised, and sales motions are completed more effectively and efficiently. Looking at the time it takes sales opportunities through the full deal cycle is a useful way to present an ROI to the business.

There are multiple tools you can use to build a management framework for your soft skills. Tools like Chorus or Gong will tell you if you talk too much or if you don't ask engaging questions. If you don't over achieve your quota on a regular basis, there are some soft skills that need improving. You can't boil the ocean all at once. It's kinda like tetris. Work on one soft skill at a time. Pick rapport building for example and see how long you can go. The best part about your soft skills are they can always get better.