How Important Are Communication Skills?

According to research conducted by Harvard University, the Carnegie Foundation, and the Stanford Research Institute, success in getting, keeping, and advancing in a job depends 85 percent on "people skills" and only 15 percent on technical knowledge and skills.

While job proficiency and computer skills rank within the top ten characteristics that employers seek when interviewing job candidates, the top three skills are:

Oral communication skills
Interpersonal skills
Teamwork skills

Sixty-eight percent of dissatisfied customers leave and go to another source because they are dissatisfied with the attitude of the employees, rather than dissatisfied with the product.