Validating the Contemporary Business Soft Skills Instrument
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.
Authors
- Heidi Myyryläinen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1123-362X)
- Sami Heikkinen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2283-1345)
Institutions
- LAB University of Applied Sciences (FI)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
- Published
- 2025-02-19
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1177/23294906251317717
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Higher Education and Employability
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 17.85