Employees who work in highly technical roles, like financial services, tend to put most of their focus on building and honing the practical skills they need to accomplish their day-to-day work. While sharpening these existing skills and learning new ones is critical, many professionals focus only on the hard skills, often forgetting about the softer, personal skills altogether. But while soft skills can seem more abstract and non-essential, they’re more important now than ever — for both individual employees and organizations as a whole.

From the ability to make critical, fast-paced decisions to communicating through industry-specific jargon, prioritizing soft skills can be the difference between a thriving financial services workplace and a struggling one.

What are soft skills, and why do they matter?

Soft skills are interpersonal abilities that enable effective interaction and performance in both professional and non-professional settings. Unlike hard skills — like analytics, forecasting, etc. — soft skills are more intangible and generally applicable across different roles and industries.

Despite this intangibility, some of the most essential soft skills in financial services include emotional intelligence, teamwork, creativity, judgment, and decision-making. Each of these competencies, which can be taught through the right training, help both individual employees and their organizations progress:


Individual success: Financial companies are increasingly seeking job candidates with soft skills instead of only technical or cognitive skills. This means the more that employees are adept at competencies like organization, teamwork, problem-solving, and communication, the more likely they are to both climb the ladder and ensure long-standing employability.

Company-wide success: When individual employees thrive, so do the companies that employ them. Mastery of soft skills across a workforce fosters effective collaboration and teamwork, drives innovation, and creates a workplace culture that employees want to be a part of. As companies become increasingly global, helping employees create human connections with colleagues and clients through skills like communication, empathy, and emotional intelligence, can give a financial services company a competitive edge.

Why do financial services companies struggle with soft skills?

Of course, developing employees’ soft skills is easier said than done, especially in highly technical organizations. 

When it comes to incorporating soft-skill-building in the workforce, organizations often struggle with:  

Determining and communicating training results: Unlike hard skill proficiency, which can often be more easily measured through practical tests, exercises, and overall outputs, the mastery of soft skills can be harder to measure and understand — leading to both a lack of organizational and employee buy-in.

 Finding the right training and resources: Many L&D platforms and content are outdated and don’t offer the comprehensive, hands-on training that soft-skill-building requires. Because learning soft skills often requires employees to change behaviors embedded within them, training has to be continuous — and many L&D programs are not.

Building employee engagement: Technical employees tend to be very hands-on and outcome-focused, so building soft skills can often be seen as less critical to their role or career progression.

How to integrate soft skills development into the financial services industry 

To make soft-skill development a reality within the financial services sector, and nurture well-rounded employees who have both hard and soft skills, L&D should offer:

Diverse learning formats: Every employee has different learning preferences, so using a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work. Instead, L&D should offer diverse learning formats, like microlearning, immersive courses, podcasts, practice labs, and more on subjects like emotional intelligence, communication, and the like.

Relevant, curated content: As technology rapidly transforms and expectations change, financial services employees need updated, hyper-relevant content that speaks to the skill gaps within their specific industry. L&D should offer content that’s customized to speak to a variety of skills and roles, and curated to fit specific learning programs in order to enhance engagement and retention. In essence, employees should feel that the content they’re learning is relevant and tailor-made to their careers and everyday life. 

Mentoring and coaching: Building soft skills is an inherently social process, and real retention often requires face-to-face interactions and feedback. By establishing both formal and informal mentoring programs for employees to learn from their peers — with mentorship guidelines that outline expectations, meeting frequency, and goals for both technical and soft skills growth — employees can better retain and apply their learned new competencies. 

Experiential learning: Like mentoring and coaching, practical exercises involving soft skills can improve client interactions and team dynamics. For example, L&D programs should offer access to case studies or learning scenarios that are industry-specific. Likewise, cross-functional project collaborations can help to break down silos and improve communication and teamwork skills.

Assessment of results and success: To motivate employees to engage and get organizational buy-in, L&D programs should offer 360-degree feedback systems that evaluate both technical proficiency and soft skills. L&D teams can also measure the success of these professional development programs by informally discussing with employees and taking a “fly on the wall” approach to monitoring success. 

Continuous learning: No matter the soft skill training and upskilling your team wants to provide, ensure that it can fit within the flow of work so employees can learn and grow without having to completely remove themselves from their technical skill development and daily work. This might include encouraging self-directed learning, mobile-friendly programs, or using platforms that offer microlearning tools, like Blinkist, which is available through Go1 Premium Pro. 

Use Go1 to make learning soft skills simple and effective

Content aggregators like Go1 are one of the best ways to ensure organizational soft skill development is engaging, results-driven, and accessible to busy financial services employees.

With Go1, L&D teams can offer employees a library of world-class content that covers everything from communications to developing emotional intelligence, and even those technical skills your team needs as well.

Plus, with gamification tools, microlearning modules, and so much more, L&D teams can make the intangible tangible and create a work environment where everyone thrives.

Ready to see Go1 in action? Book a personalized demo to discover how our platform can

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Learn about essential interpersonal abilities, their impact on organizations, and how targeted training can enhance these skills for professional growth in financial services.

Addressing soft skill gaps in financial services

Go1's Tyler Smith joined Quintessence Tucker, Senior Training Specialist at Co-op Solutions to discuss their collaborative work on building an accessible, micro-learning focused LMS program. 

Their session was hosted by The Learning Guild, with Quin diving into her role of introducing a micro-learning focused strategy and its impacts on organizational goals and employee development. 

Building an accessible and interactive LMS homepage

In the clip above, Quin walks through key elements of the Co-op Solutions Go1 homepage, calling out the importance of a clear user experience. Including task lists, leaderboards and calendars the platform has become a simplified location communicating to each learner what they need to do, any deadlines and how to simply access each task.

Simple ways to support accessibility and sensitive content

When delivering digital learning content within widely distributed and remote workforces, having an understanding and action plan around accessibility is essential. Tyler asks Quin above about her considerations of auditory and sensory roadblocks within the learning platform, and they additionally discuss the management of delivering sensitive learning materials. 

Career development and employee investment 

The impact career development opportunities have on retention.

After first questioning the session attendees for their predictions, Tyler revealed the staggering insight that although 94% of employees would stay at a company if it invested in their career development, only 15% have access to these learning opportunities. Particularly within the context of current global retention struggles, it's no surprise that employees are seeking reassurance that when they stay with a company, that they will grow and develop while there.  

Quin goes on to highlight the over-arching need for a comprehensive L&D strategy, with digital learning being one piece of the puzzle. 

Collaboratively developing Co-op Solution's learning platform alongside Quin and her team has been exciting and reiterated the opportunities within micro-learning and accessible learning solutions. 

You can view the entire The Learning Guild session with Tyler and Quin here. 

Keen to learn how Go1 can help you improve the way employee learning and development is managed in your organization? Reach out to our team anytime for a chat.

Co-op Solutions reflect on their experience developing an engaging LMS program with Go1 and the importance of collaboration, learner insight and digital accessibility.

Co-op Solutions' elevated learning program

Co-op Solutions reflect on their experience developing an engaging LMS program with Go1 and the importance of collaboration, learner insight and digital accessibility. 

How Co-op Solutions elevated their learning program

62% of financial service teams are prioritizing upskilling. Are you one of them?

Integrating role-specific upskilling courses and comprehensive compliance training ensures your employees remain engaged and adept at navigating global laws, regulations, and industry best practices. 

Here at Go1, we make it easier to keep training relevant, enhance your overall workforce proficiency, and ensure regulatory adherence, all in one subscription that integrates into your LMS or HRIS. You can assign accredited courses from New York Institute of Finance (NYIF) or NASBA (National Association of State Boards of Accountancy), specifically for the North American (NAMER) region.


Download the Go1 product overview for financial service organizations in the NAMER region to see how we can help your L&D strategy.

Go1 for Financial Services - NAMER.pdf

Download the financial services product overview

Learn more about our comprehensive course offerings, specifically for financial service organizations based in the North American (NAMER) region.

For financial service organizations in North America (NAMER)

Here at Go1, we make it easier to keep training relevant, enhance your overall workforce proficiency, and ensure regulatory adherence, all in one subscription that integrates into your LMS or HRIS. Explore courses on risk management, anti-money laundering (AML), and underwriting policies from top providers like RQC Group and lawpilots, specifically for the European, Middle Eastern, and African (EMEA) regions.

Download the Go1 product overview for financial service organizations in the EMEA region to see how we can help your L&D strategy.

Go1 for Financial Services - EMEA.pdf

Learn more about our comprehensive course offerings, specifically for financial service organizations based in the European, Middle Eastern, and African (EMEA) regions.

For financial service organizations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA)

Here at Go1, we make it easier to keep training relevant, enhance your overall workforce proficiency, and ensure regulatory adherence, all in one subscription that integrates into your LMS or HRIS. Explore courses on portfolio management, anti-money laundering (AML), and whistleblower protections from top providers like GRC Solutions and Australian Revenue Management Association (ARMA), specifically for the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.

Download the Go1 product overview for financial service organizations in the APAC region to see how we can help your L&D strategy.

Go1 for Financial Services - APAC.pdf

Learn more about our comprehensive course offerings, specifically for financial service organizations based in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.

For financial service organizations in the Asia Pacific region (APAC)

Download the ebook

Financial institutions often invest significantly more in L&D, but are these investments yielding the right results?

This eBook identifies the biggest trends and pain points L&D leaders in the finserv industry face globally, so your team has a starting place for employee development, backed by data. Whether your goal is adapting to technological advancements, strengthening data security measures, or ensuring regulatory compliance, this eBook offers actionable insights for success.

We'll share our most relevant research to help you prioritize your efforts, walk you through real industry examples, and offer downloadable resources that'll help you work most efficiently.

Proven strategies for overcoming challenges in the modern financial services industry through learning and development.

Techniques for adapting to rapid technological advancements.

Tips for prioritizing data security and privacy across your organization.

Methods for keeping employees up to date on regulatory changes.

Insights on measuring the effectiveness and ROI of your L&D initiatives.

Dig into the most pressing challenges for L&D teams in the financial services industry and find resources to support employee upskilling. We'll dig into regulatory changes, rapid technological advancements, data security, and measuring the ROI of L&D initiatives.

Invest in success: Optimizing L&D for financial services

Welcome to the Go1 blog. Helping you to achieve your L&D goals through the latest learning and development insights, trends, and technology.

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