The Missing Curriculum: Why Human Skills Matter in Every Industry

Across nursing, childcare, trades, teaching etc. the details change, but the pattern doesn’t.

People know their job. What they often struggle with is the people side of the job.

Difficult conversations.
=> Conflict.
=> Burnout.
=> Misunderstandings.
=> Miscommunication.
=> Emotional blowouts.

These aren’t “soft” issues. They’re the issues that affect safety, morale, productivity, and wellbeing.

And yet, when you look closely, there’s a noticeable gap:

No competency check for empathy.
No yearly assessment for communication.
No refresher training for emotional intelligence.

Human skills have quietly taken a back seat, even though they’re the gears that keep teams functioning, especially under pressure.

What’s interesting is this: when people struggle with these areas, we often personalise it.
They’re not great with people.
They don’t handle feedback well.
They avoid conflict.

But what if the issue isn’t the person?
What if it’s the absence of practice?

We don’t expect clinical skills, trade skills, or technical knowledge to improve without training, repetition, and feedback. Yet somehow, we expect human skills to develop automatically, often in the most high-pressure moments.

That’s not a character flaw.
It’s a training gap.

And slowly, workplaces are starting to recognise this. Not as a “nice to have,” but as something essential to safety, connection, and sustainability.

So here’s the question worth sitting with:

If human skills were given the same attention as technical skills in your workplace, what do you think would improve first?
Communication?
Confidence?
Culture?
Wellbeing?

Even noticing the gap is a powerful place to start.

How I Found My Voice in Human Skills Coaching

My human skills journey didn’t start with a course, a book, or a lightbulb moment. It started with frustration.

Back in 2021, I stepped into leading the CNS group. Amazing clinicians. Smart. Skilled. Dedicated. But when it came to handling challenging conversations, confidence was close to zero. And it wasn’t their fault.

They were expected to lead… but never given a safe place to practice the skills that leadership actually requires: empathy, self-awareness and regulation, clarity under pressure, dealing with conflict.

It's funny, we obsess over clinical, trade, or teaching skills. We’ll sit through yearly competencies, redo training, study guidelines. But human skills? They’re expected to magically develop on their own.

The truth is, they don’t.

That gap is where everything changed for me. I realised no one was teaching these skills. Not properly. Not consistently. Not safely.
So, I started doing it myself.

And, honestly, I had no idea it would lead me here, writing a blog, running workshops, coaching people from different industries, and trying to help others build confidence under pressure.

This is the beginning of my next chapter. I’m glad you’re here for the ride.