You can teach someone how to fix a water heater, but if they don’t make a customer feel comfortable in their own home, technicians will struggle to be successful in their career. Since technical ability is one of the greatest indicators of success in the plumbing or HVAC industry, soft skills may seem like an afterthought to some, however, they play a decisive role in the effectiveness of a technician's job and add value to the service they are providing.
Here is the relationship between soft and hard skills and what employers need to know to ensure their employees are competent in both.
The Relationship Between Hard and Soft Skills
When employers invest in training that bridges the gap between hard and soft skills, they set their employees up for long-term industry success. Hard skills are job-related competencies and abilities that are necessary to complete work, while soft skills are personal qualities and traits that impact how you work and interact with customers.
While hard skills play an important role in how well an employee performs their job, soft skills are essential to providing customers with high-quality service that ultimately impacts whether they will use your company's services again. Soft skills impact the effectiveness of an employee's hard skills and can make or break a customer’s experience.
Importantly, because HVAC and plumbing technicians work in a customer's home, they especially need to be in tune with their behavior and how they interact with a customer. Soft skills are a touchstone skill for these professionals and, when paired with well-developed hard skills, they can make your employees and your company easily stand out from others who provide similar services.
Hard Skills Training for Technicians
Hard skills are clear, measurable and acquired through explicit training courses that allow professionals to master all the tasks within their profession. They need to be taught every step of the job process to effectively carry it out in the field, which is why universities and trade schools offer labs and equipment to ensure technicians have hands-on experience in every step of the process.
Due to the mechanical nature of an HVAC and plumbing technician’s profession, universities and employers must provide employees with practice using the tools they will use on the job. Mock bathrooms and houses specifically are an effective resource for technicians to learn how to carry out their job responsibilities proficiently. They are also key in providing professionals with real-world experience that gives them insight into how and what kind of customer problems they will be solving once they’re out in the field.
Soft Skills Training for Technicians
When proficient hard skills are met with seasoned soft skills, technicians can not only execute their job well but also elevate the experience they provide customers. For employers to foster these skills, personality tests can serve as a valuable assessment tool and starting point. These assessments evaluate an individual's personality type, which informs their natural preferences and behaviors. By understanding an individual's inherent characteristics, employers and individuals can help employees strategically develop their soft skills and how they interact with customers based on what they know they need.
Nexstar Services, for example, is an online and in-person business leadership platform that offers customer service and sales training resources. Aimed at employees who lack the necessary soft skills to provide a high-quality customer experience, Nexstar is a great resource for employers to invest in their employees and businesses.
Because plumbing technicians often work in somebody’s home, it is critical that they make customers feel comfortable and heard. When employers standardize how they expect employees to interact with customers and invest in the development of soft skills, employees have a better understanding of job expectations to better meet the needs of clients.
While trade careers are great because they require a similar set of hard skills, you can take your soft skills anywhere, even if you decide to enter a completely different field after pursuing a trade career. The bottom line is that developing soft skills is an investment that will pay off for all professional positions, not just a current HVAC or plumbing career.
John Conway has been involved in the HVAC and Plumbing industries for more than 27 years. Conway was most recently a part of the member-owned Nexstar Network, one of the industry’s most successful best-practices-sharing groups, where he spent the past six years as a recognized HVAC coach and resource. At Nexstar, John dedicated his time to coaching the best HVAC service providers across the country while developing a network of owners and operators who are committed to providing efficient, customer-focused service to their customers in their respective markets.