IMPACT OF SOFT SKILLS TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT ON EMPLOYEES PERFORMANCE: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF HOSPITALS IN KARACHI

The COVID-19 brings alarming situation for the whole world, particularly the health industry, which demands a special focus on employees' soft skills and training & development. This study aimed to investigate the effect of soft skills and Training & Development on employees' performances in the hospital industry having interpersonal and communication skills, teamwork and collaboration, flexibility, stress management and work ethics as specific interest. Using an adapted questionnaire, the data was gathered from doctors, nurses and other paramedical staff to support the hypothesized statements. The findings of the study revealed that training & development, teamwork & collaboration and stress management have a statistical significant and positive impact on employees' performance while interpersonal skills, flexibility and work ethics have an insignificant impact. Therefore, the study recommends the health industry in Karachi to pay more attention on the training & development, teamwork & collaboration and stress management to increase the employees' performance as well as to meet the post COVID-19 requirements in the industry