DIFFICULT INTERRELATION BETWEEN MORAL COMPETENCIES AND SOFT SKILLS IN PRACTICE AND THEORY OF HUMAN RESOURCES

Abstract

Several organizations (European Commission, governments of different countries, NGOs and firms themselves) strive toincrease the level ofethical performanceandCSR toachieve, in the long-run, development in theireconomic performance and, thereby,the economy asa whole. The most part of these entitiesendeavor topromotesoft skills as they contribute to theemployability (reducing the potential unemployment) of human resources. Some social science researchersincludemoral qualitiesin the category ofsoft skills(although theambiguousrelationship betweenthe two persists), while others seem toput themaside,as belonging to adifferent category.A similar dichotomy is current among philosophers ofmorality, too. In any case, the possession of certainsoft skillsseems to have noimpact on ethical competencies and inversely. Moreover, companies are likely to valuecertain kinds of soft skills than others, but apart fromstatementson the importanceof ethics and CSR, they do not seem toassignvalue toethical competencies, finding them sometimesdisturbingto theachievement of the economic goal. This paperaimsto presentthe problem, focusing on the inconsistenciesin practice andtheory as well asbetween statementsand actions. The methodologyis based on a review of the literature, and it contemplates the analysis of cases from the Portuguese social life, which highlight thehypothesized inconsistencies.