A revolutionary new mobile app which helps young workers to develop their ‘soft skills’ – the attitudes and behaviors that can determine success or failure in the workplace – was launched by global management consultancy Hay Group.

Journey, which is the latest addition to Hay Group’s Activate series of business apps, empowers new graduate employees to develop their emotional and social skills ‘on the job’, helping them become more effective in the workplace.

Philip Spriet, global managing director, productized services at Hay Group, explains: “We developed our Activate suite of business apps to help organizations implement their people policies. Research shows that emotional and social skills are critical to high performance in the workplace, but we often hear business leaders complain that today’s graduates are not leaving university equipped with these essential skills. Journey was developed in response to this, and is aimed squarely at business leaders who believe that an emotionally and socially intelligent workforce will reap success for their organizations.”

“Mobile technology has already changed the way we lead our lives, but we’ve really only scratched the surface of what it can do for personal development in the workplace. Activate represents a leap forward in how employee development is activated, monitored and resourced.”

The app literally takes workers on a Journey of self-discovery – the user starts stranded on a desert island and must tackle a series of practical exercises and assignments designed to build five core competencies, including self-awareness, self-control, empathy for others, teamwork and influencing skills. This takes place over four to six months as users work their way back to civilization. Managers can monitor the progress of their employees and provide supplementary advice and support.

Spriet says: “Millions of technically competent individuals fail to reach their full career potential because they lack ‘soft’ skills. The good news is that these can be learned, but it relies on individual reflection of how our behaviour and attitude is perceived by others – a cornerstone of emotional intelligence. Our ‘always-on’ culture sadly leaves less and less time for this to happen in the workplace. The beauty of Journey is that it engages young users in the digital space, but encourages them to put into practice in the real world what they are learning, as they are learning it. It prompts continuous reflection along with the practice, making for a far more compelling and effective learning experience.”

Mohinish Sinha, Director, Hay Group India, says, “Mobile technology is constantly evolving and changing the way organizations function. With Journey, we’ve tried to use cutting edge technology to ensure personal development in the workplace. The agenda is to focus on employee enablement by constantly monitoring it and using it to optimise the output of the organization. Emotional intelligence is the missing link that stands between a competent individual and their full career potential. Journey focuses on enhancing emotional intelligence.”

Journey has been launched in the US, China and India so far but there are plans to make it available to businesses globally over the coming year.