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Universal Skills

Courses

Skills like confidence, communication, teamwork, time management, decision-making, and influence are not optional – they’re essential. Yet, many organizations face challenges in teaching these skills effectively to their early career employees. Soft skills (job skills, career skills) are also typically – more or less – ignored by the educational system. This is where Headwayskills’ focused training, based on the 12 Universal Skills framework, comes into play: The training is specifically designed to facilitate the transition from education to work life.

  • Faster onboarding: Employees get up to speed quicker, decreasing the time to being fully productive.
  • Higher performance: Young employees will be more effective due to the combined effect of improved skills at the self-regulatory and interpersonal levels.
  • Improved retention: Happier employees are more likely to stay, reducing costly and disruptive turnover.
  • Networking effect: Younger employees from different parts of the organization get to build a network with each other during the training, an important part of feeling “at home” in the organization.
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Managing Oneself

(Self-regulatory)

1

Building Self-Awareness

2

Setting Goals

3

Building Confidence

4

Building Resilience

Basic Skills

(Doing the job)

5

Professional Behaviors

6

Communication

7

Teamwork

8

Working with Your Manager

9

Time Management

10

Decision-Making

Proactive Skills

(Change)

11

Networking

12

Getting and Applying Influence

A

Job Search

Overcoming the Challenge of Teaching Soft Skills

Teaching soft skills is not straightforward. Many of the skills are subtle, context-dependent, and often unspoken. As highlighted in our research, the challenge for teaching soft skills lies in:

  • Lack of structure and tools.
  • Limited time and resources
  • It’s a diverse set of skills few people have sufficient depth in, including managers
That’s why outsourcing to a specialized provider with a proven methodology makes sense.

How the Training Works

The training is uniquely designed to maximize engagement and ensure practical learning based on the concept of pre-reading. Participants receive the book 12 Universal Skills in advance and read the skills corresponding to those they will be trained in. Consequently, the pre-reading allows us to avoid lectures and focus on more dynamic, hands-on learning.

Here’s how it works:

  • Pre-reading: Participants prepare by reading about the relevant skills before each session.
  • Interactive Training: Because participants have already absorbed the theoretical knowledge, the training sessions concentrate on exercises, dilemmas, and group work – making the learning process engaging and memorable.
  • Flexible Delivery
  • Typically, two to five 4- or 6-hour sessions delivered over 1-6 months.
  • Designed for groups of 6-20 participants for optimal interaction.
  • Customization: Each session is tailored to the client’s audience. For example:
  • Trainees and new hires fresh out of university might focus on foundational skills like self-awareness, confidence, professional behavior, communication, and teamwork.
  • More experienced colleagues (with maybe ½-4 years of experience) might focus on more advanced skills like managing up, networking, influence, and decision-making.

Note 1: We can provide more lecture-based courses if pre-reading is impractical.

Note 2: We can provide shorter (e.g., 1 or 2 hours) sessions as speeches, possibly including some exercises and group work. These sessions do not have an upper limit for the number of participants.

Engaging and Fun Learning

The training approach emphasizes minimal lecturing and maximum interaction. Participants consistently praise the program for its hands-on exercises, collaborative group work, and engaging style.

“The training was so interactive—it wasn’t just lectures but exercises and discussions!” 

“Peter is an excellent teacher. He challenged us to think differently in a welcoming environment.”

“I now feel more confident and better equipped to handle workplace challenges.”

“Everyone in the training was very engaged.”

“I now feel more confident and better equipped to handle workplace challenges.”

“Everyone in the training was very engaged.”

“We are delighted with the workshops facilitated by Peter Scheele, author of ‘12 Universal Skills‘, for the Novo Nordisk AMSAT Development Academy graduate programme. His sessions spark great discussions and provide invaluable insights, preparing our new colleagues for their career paths across our organisation. The dilemmas combined with practical tools and techniques from the book are both highly engaging, concrete and beneficial.”

Jonas Andersen Helboe
Manager, Novo Nordisk

“We are thrilled to have Peter facilitating workshops for our early career employees in Ramboll Denmark, which he consistently does in an engaging and trust-building manner. The 12 universal skills are a valuable addition to the technical skills our employees learn on their projects, ultimately accelerating their development and career progression.”

Lena Kjær
HR Director at Ramboll

Trusted by Industry Leaders

The training programs have been implemented successfully by leading organizations such as:
Radiometer
Aarsleff
Rambøll
gn
Novo LOGO
Additionally, the training is offered as an open course at Teknologisk Institut, making it accessible to a broader audience.

Take the Next Step

Invest in your young talent’s development with 12 Universal Skills training. Whether you’re looking to enhance new hires’ transition into the workplace or improve team dynamics for more experienced colleagues, we provide the tools and expertise to make it happen.

Contact us today to learn more

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