Nexus between soft skills training and business graduates' performance: an empirical study based on Bangladesh

Tarana Tabassum; Shahnaz Akter; Md Abu Toha; Rabeya Akter

Tarana Tabassum
Shahnaz Akter
Md Abu Toha National University, Bangladesh.
Rabeya Akter

Keywords: Soft skills, Soft skills training, Graduate performance, Business school’s Curriculum, Industrial Revolution 4.0

Abstract

Soft skills are the expected qualities of the business graduates to take part in purposeful intercommunications to establish a synergic, productive, and flourishing work environment which are crucial for the growingly competitive corporate world. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between soft skills training and business graduates' performance. There were limited studies found on soft skills training and business graduates' performance in the Bangladeshi context and this study bridges the existing research gap. A structured questionnaire was prepared to collect the primary data. The questionnaire was delivered randomly to business schools in Bangladesh through an online platform because of the Covid-19 pandemic. A total of 352 valid responses were accumulated from this online survey. To analyze the data, descriptive statistics, and chi-square tests were applied. It was found that 84.1% of respondents agreed that soft skills training increased professional performance. The study also revealed that 38.6% of students felt bored during soft skills training sessions. However, almost 43.2% of students were opposed to this statement. From the study, it is recommended that soft skills training should be made compulsory in the Bangladeshi business school curriculum to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in future professional performance.

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