FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1. What are soft skills?

Don’t worry, you’re not alone. This is so important, it has it’s own section. Please refer to the “What Are Soft Skills” section of our website.

2. Can you learn soft skills or are they natural abilities?

Yes, you can learn soft skills. It is true that certain soft skills come more naturally to some people based on their nature and nurture, but just like any hard skill, they can also be acquired over time. Also similar to hard skills is that soft skills are like a muscle that must be exercised and maintained in order to stay in top shape. You won’t walk out of a leadership workshop as suddenly the best leader there ever was, but you will learn strategies that leaders commonly practice and ways to start building that skill within yourself.

3. Can soft skills be learned in a classroom setting?

Yes. In fact, “soft skills” are often known as “people skills” and it’s better to learn them with other people. Imagine you’re learning public speaking and presentation skills. By practicing to yourself alone, you won’t get to see the reaction of the audience, get real-time feedback from your instructor or be able to practice with people in a  non-judgmental space.

4. I'm an individual. Can I take courses with you?

Unfortunately, we do not currently offer workshops open to the public We work with other organizations and businesses to provide soft skills training for their staff and students. If you’re involved with an organization that might be interested in developing soft skills in their people, get in touch!

5. Do you offer financing options for tuition?

We are open to customized financing plans for your institution to make learning as accessible as possible. If you are a team/organization coming to SkillsCamp, and are located within Canada, you can apply to the Canada Job Grant to have the government subsidize your training on behalf of your employer. In this scenario, SkillsCamp would become the “training partner”.

6. Do you offer any accreditation or certificate upon completion of a course?

It’s complicated. We do not offer certification like you might see from a traditional education institution (diploma, degree, etc.), but we can offer SkillsCamp certificates of completion should you like it. You will also be able to indicate your completion of a course or workshop on your LinkedIn, resume and wherever you think it would be valuable. If needed, we will provide a letter of completion at your request.

7. Can you help me identify which skills my employees need to work on?

Yes. SkillsCamp can provide discovery consultations and questionnaires to help identify what you or your team needs to work on.

8. Who are your facilitators?

All SkillsCamp instructors are experts in their respective areas and bring extensive real world experience into the classroom. They are hand picked by SkillsCamp for their knowledge, experience, and educating style. At SkillsCamp we believe in customized learning. All our instructors understand different learning styles and personalize their teachings as much as possible to ensure you get the most out of your time with us. We also believe the best way for you to learn is by bringing your whole self, which requires thoughtful facilitation. Our instructors are versed in equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) values.

9. Where do you conduct business? Will you come to us?

We have taught everywhere – and we mean ALL over the world. We will travel to your space or a third party location if you are hosting a team retreat, for example. Location would be discussed with SkillsCamp ahead of time and travel expenses are charges in addition to fees.

10. Why do I need to develop soft skills?

Soft skills are the base for learning all other skills. It used to be thought that hard skills would get you in the door, but that soft skills would keep you there. However, recent studies by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) have found that a lack of essential skills won’t even get you in the door anymore. When studying hundreds of job postings put out by employers, they found the top mentioned requirements were the “ability to work well with others” and “communication skills.” Soft skills – how you relate to others and yourself – are non negotiable in this labour market. For more statistics, anecdotes, and research, visit our Knowledge Centre at skillscamp.co/knowledge-centre.

11. What are the advantages of my team taking part in your workshops?

Organizations that learn effective communication are nearly 5 times as likely to retain the best employees (salesforce.com). 85% of job success comes from having well-developed soft skills (Harvard University). We can provide a plentiful body of research that shows the positive impact of learning soft skills. Ultimately, your team will work better together, be more productive, be better able to handle stress and adversity, and be more resourceful and empathic. These skills will contribute to a better work culture that will positively impact morale and the bottom line. For more statistics, anecdotes and research, visit our Knowledge Centre at skillscamp.co/knowledge-centre.

12. How will paying for soft skill training improve my bottom line?

Companies lose between $200-$300 billion a year due to absenteeism, tardiness, burnout, decreased productivity, worker’s compensation claims, increased employee turnover, and medical insurance costs resulting from employee work-related stress (National Safety Council). $37 billion, or $26 thousand per employee, is lost by businesses in the U.S. and U.K. every year because of miscommunication (profound.mitchcommgroup.com). Better communication skills would mitigate the losses in time and money that come from this miscommunication. Resilience makes your team better able to bounce back from stress and persevere. Boosted productivity means your employees can get more done in less time… and so on. For more statistics, anecdotes and research, visit our Knowledge Centre.

13. What is the method of delivery for the workshops?

We tailor all our delivery to your needs. Some companies can take 3 days away for an intensive program while others need to spread the workshops over a series of lunch and learns. Some never come together ever and need everything online! Check out our delivery methods. 

14. Can I create my own combination of skills in a program?

Yes. We customize all of our learning to your needs, including the right combination of skills to solve your problems and meet your goals.

15. Will the workshops be adapted to reflect the level of knowledge of my staff?

Yes. Through initial discovery meetings with SkillsCamp, we will learn about the current level of your staff and adapt our strategies and content to reflect it.

Working with us is easy!

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DISCOVERY CHAT

We start with a discovery meeting to define the problem you’re trying to solve.

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CHOOSE SKILLS

We choose skills that best solve the problem or combine them into a custom session.

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CHOOSE DELIVERY

We choose the delivery method that best works for your context.

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