I often use a quote from Charles Hampton Turner – London Business School, when working with customers to under line the need for companies to focus,at least as much on internal Interpersonal Skills/ Influencing skills / Communications and Dialogue Skills as on hard skills/ techical issues

Quote
No Product or Service can be better or more sensitive, aesthetic or intelligent than the relationships and communications of those who create the product or service.

Unquote
Harvey Jones says something very similar Companies are about People and relationships not balance sheets and print outs – you get the gist………

My question is :-
Does anyone know of any work – Books / published papers or any in company experiences that show in a measureable form the link between Improving Relation skills and Influenceing skills and adding to the bottom line.

I am more than convinced of the need for focus on “Soft Skills” so do not need more convincing but wish to be better able to prove this vital connection to skills which still get subjugated to “technical skills” training in many organisations.

Barry J.A .Bond