The Universal Challenge of Soft Skills
Insights from 60+ team leaders across technology, banking, logistics, and consulting. Team sizes from 4 to 200+ people.
How Leaders Assess Today
We asked team leaders how they currently assess and develop soft skills. Here are the most common approaches.
1:1 Meetings
The most common approach — regular conversations
360 Feedback
Annual or bi-annual peer reviews
Common Sense
Intuition and gut feeling
Performance Reviews
Part of annual evaluations
Day-to-Day Observation
Watching behavior in context
Workshops & Courses
Udemy, LinkedIn Learning, external
Universal Pain Points
Regardless of company size, industry, or team composition — leaders face remarkably similar challenges.
Lack of Structure
72% report no framework
Most teams have no systematic approach to assess or develop soft skills. It's ad-hoc and inconsistent.
“There's no any base for soft skills. No framework to assess.”
— 50-person team
“It's very general, no framework. We need something that is not boring.”
— 9-person team
“We lack any oriented tool or specific framework.”
— 7-person team
Subjectivity & Bias
78% rely on intuition
Without data, feedback becomes personal opinion. Leaders struggle to provide objective, actionable insights.
“The approach is common sense, which means it's biased.”
— 15-person team
“I need data to support my feedback. When someone is not humble to receive feedback, I have nothing concrete to show.”
— 4-person team
“The challenge is to really understand if what they are saying is genuine or they're gaming the system.”
— 11-person team
Time Consuming
65% find it too slow
Performance reviews, 360 feedback, and documentation take significant time that leaders don't have.
“Writing about their performance is time-consuming. It's super hard to do this process.”
— 8-person team
“People hate to provide feedback. They procrastinate. It's time-consuming for everyone.”
— Engineering team
“The SWOT analysis in 360 format — it's slow and time-consuming.”
— Tech team
No Tracking
68% can't measure progress
Leaders can't track development over time. There's no way to see if training is actually working.
“What's missing is track and measurement. We need visual, systematic, analytic insights.”
— VP, 15-person team
“How do I track the development of my team? That's what we're missing.”
— 12-person team
“I need to measure and take care of all team members regularly, but it needs too much work. I need an assistant.”
— Director, 49-person team
Data Loss
45% lose data when managers leave
When managers change roles or leave, all the soft skills knowledge goes with them. The next person starts from zero.
“When managers leave, the soft skills data goes with them. The next person starts from zero.”
— Tech Lead
“All the info is with the managers, though the info should be for the company.”
— Team Lead
“I want to leave some data for successors. Right now, it all disappears.”
— 10-person remote team
Remote Challenges
Growing concern
Distributed teams lose the informal interactions that help understand soft skills. “Reading between the lines” becomes impossible.
“In remote setting, relationships happen through a glass. We miss information and reading between the lines.”
— 125-person team
“In remote setup, it's more challenging to know people.”
— Growing team
“We're fully remote with team members around the world. Direct conversation is all I have.”
— 10-person global team
The HR Disconnect
When asked about HR's role in soft skills development, the responses reveal a significant gap between what's needed and what's provided.
“HR is more focused on resource than human.”
— Banking sector
“Some tools from HR are not very useful and are only formality.”
— 10-person team
“I don't need their support. I use my psychology knowledge.”
— 6-person team
What Leaders Are Asking For
When we asked what's missing, leaders consistently pointed to the same needs.
Personalized Paths
Not one-size-fits-all training
“Have a profile of each individual. Give organic suggestions for them.”
Data-Driven Insights
Objective evidence for feedback
“Turn these skills into data. Give me something concrete.”
Engaging Tools
High adoption and participation
“Something that is not boring. Something people actually want to use.”
Practice with Feedback
Not just theory, but application
“Something that people can practice and get feedback on.”
Progress Tracking
See development over time
“Visual and systematic. Analytic insights I can act on.”
Real Scenarios
Safe space to practice
“Live scenarios. Role playing. Preparation for real interactions.”
Three Truths from 60+ Conversations
Everyone Struggles
No matter the company size, industry, or team — soft skills development is universally challenging.
Current Solutions Fail
360 reviews are slow. Workshops are forgotten. Online courses are ignored. Intuition is biased.
Leaders Want Better
Objectivity over gut feeling. Personalization over generic. Continuous tracking over annual reviews.
Methodology
How we gathered these insights from team leaders across industries.
Tech, Banking, Logistics, CX, Consulting, Retail
From small teams to large departments
Multinational teams worldwide
Engineering Managers, Directors, VPs
Open-ended conversations
Names and company identifiers have been removed to protect the privacy of all participants.
Ready to Solve These Challenges?
WiseWorld provides the structured, personalized, and data-driven approach that leaders are asking for.