Validating the Contemporary Business Soft Skills Instrument

Business and Professional Communication Quarterly Feb 2025

Validating the Contemporary Business Soft Skills Instrument

Sami Heikkinen ; Heidi Myyryläinen

Abstract

Recent workplace transformations have heightened the importance of soft skills, yet validated instruments for measuring these competencies remain limited. This study validates a comprehensive instrument measuring contemporary business soft skills using data from 294 participants representing 38 nationalities. Factor analysis revealed a robust 10-factor structure explaining 62.4% of the variance, with reliability coefficients ranging from .775 to .877. Results indicate the integration of traditionally distinct competencies and the emergence of new factorial combinations. The validated instrument provides a reliable tool for assessing soft skills in modern workplace contexts, particularly valuable for virtual and cross-cultural environments. The findings support more precise soft skills communication between employees, employers, educators, and students.

Journal: Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
Published: 2025-02-19
DOI: 10.1177/23294906251317717
CompPile: Search in CompPile ↗
Topics: multimodality

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

Cites in this index (1)

Fletcher et al. (2023)

The Top 10 Soft Skills in Business Today Compared to 2012

Business and Professional Communication Quarterly

Also cites 35 works outside this index ↓

10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032516-113231

↗
10.1016/j.leaqua.2006.10.004

↗
10.1037/h0046016

↗
10.1037/1040-3590.7.3.309

↗
10.1080/10841806.2020.1830661

↗
10.1037/1082-989X.4.3.272

↗
10.1177/002224378101800104

↗
10.1016/S0191-3085(01)23005-6

↗
10.1097/JOM.0000000000002236

↗
10.1016/j.orgdyn.2021.100869

↗
10.5465/amj.2007.24634438

↗
10.1007/s40821-017-0076-6

↗
10.1108/00251741111130805

↗
10.9707/2307-0919.1014

↗
10.1080/10705519909540118

↗
10.1007/s11135-010-9347-3

↗
10.1080/01488376.2011.580697

↗
10.1037/a0025741

↗
10.1002/job.165

↗
10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117307

↗
10.1177/0022022113492891

↗
10.2307/258792

↗
10.1016/S0001-6918(99)00050-5

↗
10.1037/0021-9010.85.4.612

↗
10.1177/1080569912460400

↗
10.1016/j.orgdyn.2017.04.008

↗
10.1080/03075079.2019.1585420

↗
10.1111/hsc.13671

↗
10.4135/9781412986168

↗
10.5117/9789463726511

↗
10.3390/ijerph18136966

↗
10.1111/apps.12290

↗
10.1016/j.ijresmar.2010.02.004

↗
10.1177/0013164404268674

↗
10.1080/13594320444000092

↗

CrossRef global citation count: 2 View in citation network →