Transformation of work - Assignment Example

Focus groups in both hotels were interviewed and, using the results of the survey, for each hotel there was made a conclusion concerning soft skill environment. Notwithstanding the awaited expectations, the results appeared to be completely different. All in all, the authors of the article agree that the traditional conception of “skill” has somehow changed and it is now associated not only with technical knowledge, but also with interpersonal communication abilities. They have brought a new notion and “strengthened the conceptual understanding of soft skills” (2013: 176) by showing how these skills perform in two cases.

This is a considerable contribution to traditional sociology, service economy and even trade industry. The issue of skill nature is the subject of ongoing discussions in sociology of work in particular. This phenomenon was investigated and studied by a number of scientists. Traditional notion of skill was with the course of time complemented with additional shades, thus social or soft skills become recognized (Grugulis et al., 2004). They are treated in different ways. For instance, Bolton (2004) argues that emotion work can be skilled.

According to her, soft skilled workers have enough scope for discretion and are able to deal with a variety of tasks. However, there is another point of view. Lloyd and Payne (2009) consider the idea of promoting soft skills inadequate and even dangerous. They argue that it is impossible to train the skills of social interaction, so soft skills cannot be regarded equal to technical ones. It is worthy of note that both aforementioned approaches have their drawbacks. The first, positive view has its exceptions.

Being emotional or communicative is not enough for a work to be regarded as skilled. And on the other hand, the negative approach has its weak point. Technical skills which imply specific knowledge are simply