Some businesses find that their new employees lack basic interpersonal skills such as cooperative skills What are the causes Suggest possible solutions Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience

One of the fundamental requirements for a business to succeed is the clear relay of ideas between team members and cross-functional teams, and across all verticals of the organization. Companies are always on the lookout for talented individuals to join their workforce. However, they find that these new hires, who are generally new college graduates, lack interpersonal skills like cooperation and communication. The problems for this could be manifold and I will explain a few of them in the following paragraphs and provide potential solutions to eliminate them.
Firstly, new graduates would not have a lot of experience working as a part of a team. The stakes are higher in companies and not many colleges would have provided them with the necessary experience to hit the ground running. While a new hire may have good academic credentials, it would amount to nothing if they cannot translate them to practical use.
Secondly, new hires in a company are required to communicate with experts in the company about any issues during team meetings and try to give possible suggestions to alleviate the problem or even suggest ways in which the team can proceed forward in a particular project. Majority of college graduates aren’t experienced in communicating ideas clearly with experts due to a fear of the status of higher ups and experienced professionals in the company. They always have a feeling of inadequacy, which affects them from performing basic functions properly.
Thirdly, a lot of new hires may have a fear of social interactions with new people or speaking in front of a group of people. The majority of colleges prepare students academically without focus on interpersonal skills. The omission of development of such important skills in today’s world is a crime as it would be akin to sending soldiers into battle without the necessary skill sets.
It shouldn’t be assumed that colleges and universities are not playing their part in trying to alleviate this problem. Nowadays, students are required to perform many group projects in different courses, in addition to the final group project that they carry out in their senior year. Some universities in India are making it mandatory for students to intern in corporate environments at the end of their sophomore and junior years. These experiences provide students with an understanding of how different organizations work, how they are expected to behave as employees and how they can translate their academic knowledge to practical use. The onus cannot be only on the educational institutions to provide these skills. Toastmasters provides a very effective way for people to get over their fear of public speaking. Anyone can enrol themselves into a Toastmasters club where they have the opportunity to share their thoughts about various subjects in front of a group of people, thereby honing their communication skills.
In conclusion, the lack of interpersonal skills in new employees boils down to lack of experience of working in team environments, inability to communicate ideas clearly with experts and a fear of public interactions. Colleges and universities are trying to mitigate this problem by requiring students to perform several group projects through the course of their study and intern in corporate environments so that students grasp the key skills to succeed once they graduate. It is also up to the students to take up the initiative to learn effective public communication through clubs like Toastmasters. With these solutions, new employees would have a better understanding of the basic duties required of them when they join any organization.