HUMAN SKILLS

Human skills involve the manager’s ability to work with and

through other people and to work effectively as a group
member. Human skills are demonstrated in the way that a
man- ager relates to other people, including the ability to
motivate, facilitate, coordinate, lead, communicate, and
resolve conflicts. Human skills are essential for frontline
managers who work with employees directly on a daily
basis. A recent study found that the motivational skill of
the frontline manager is the single most important factor
in whether people feel engaged with their work and
committed to the organization.20

Human skills are increasingly important for managers at all

levels and in all types of organizations.21 Even at a
company such as Google, which depends on technical
expertise, human skills are considered essential for
managers. Google analyzed performance reviews and
feedback surveys to find out what makes a good manager
of technical people and found that technical expertise
ranked dead last among a list of eight desired manager
qualities, as shown in Exhibit 1.5. The exhibit lists eight
effective behaviors of good managers. Notice that almost
all of them relate to human skills, such as communication,
coaching, and team- work. People want managers who
listen to them, build positive relationships, and show an
interest in their lives and careers.22 A recent study found
that human skills were signifi- cantly more important than
technical skills for predicting manager effectiveness.23
Another survey compared the importance of managerial
skills today with those from the late 1980s and found a
decided increase in the role of skills for building
relationships with others.24