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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of soft skill acquisition and the training methodology adopted on employee work performance. In this study, the authors study the trends of research in training and work performance in organisations that focus on the acquisition of technical or “hard skills” for employee training and evaluating work performance. This study was conducted to redirect the focus of employee training and development goals to the acquisition of soft skills, which have a very high and lasting impact on improving employee performance.

This study adopted a quantitative research approach. Questionnaires were administered to selected managers and executives of a few Malaysian private companies. The questionnaire was specifically designed to examine the competencies of various Malaysian-based company managers, executives and supervisors who had undergone a soft skills training programme over a period of a few weeks or months. These soft skills training programmes were not conducted consecutively, but rather with a break or “time-space” in between each session. The target population in this study consisted of 810 employees from nine companies. The sample size was 260 trainees who were selected from the population with a 95 per cent confidence level within 0.05 risk of sampling error.

Using regression analysis, this study estimated the relationships between employees’ acquisition of soft skills, the training methodology adopted by the trainer, and work performance. The results indicate that the two predictors – soft skill acquisition and training methodology – significantly predict employee performance. The authors propose the need for employers to redesign the methodology for training employees in soft skills. Based on the findings, “time-spaced learning” is highly potent in undermining the hindrance associated with training transfer.

The findings of this study help to raise the awareness of employers, human resource managers, professional and industrial experts and the government to rethink the need to improve soft skills training methodologies. Specifically, this can be achieved by giving the trainees “space” or breaks to practice, apply and internalise what they have learnt intermittently during the training programme. This will enhance employee performance, and consequently, organisational performance. These findings also inform company managers that the time-spaced learning method enables employees to acquire soft skills more effectively, which will invariably bring about positive behaviour changes in employees towards their work and co-workers.

The originality of this research is based on the fact that the results are peculiar to Malaysia, whereas most of the literatures on training methodology especially the time-space and soft skill have focused on developed countries. Furthermore, the study emphasised that time-space learning training methodology helps employees in transferring knowledge acquired during training to their work. The research also emphasised that soft skills acquisition brings about increase in employee work performance. This research shows 14.5 per cent increased employee work performance in the selected companies because of their employees’ acquisition of soft skills and a 27.9 per cent increase in employee performance is based on time-space training methodology. This makes the investigation on the effects of soft skills acquisition and the training methodology adopted on employee performance very important for organisational survival.

As computer‐mediated communication has diffused, successive technological variations raise new questions about interpersonal impressions and several standardized instruments have been advanced in literature to asses various aspect of interpersonal attraction phenomena. The purpose of this paper is to examine the claims for reliability and validity of the attraction scales by using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in the light of research since 1974 which has employed the scales, and then improve the measures if needed.

Random sampling procedure was carried out in two kulliyahs (Faculty) at International Islamic university Malaysia (IIUM), in which 340 students were selected from a population of 2,000 undergraduate students. A total of 26 items were tested from an instrument that has been used in previous studies; each item is expected to measure one of the three orientations' dimensions.

The analysis result confirms that the orientation of students towards interpersonal communication in online social network sites (SNS) is a multi‐dimensional construct consisting of social attraction, physical attraction and task attraction. In addition, since substantial numbers of research studies have been reported to have employed one or more of these measures, this research was examined to evaluate their reliability and validity.

Since the reliabilities found in literatures have been highly varied, it was determined that improved measures should be used in the future. Thus, a revised and improved version of these measures, using CFA, are reported and recommended in this paper for future research.

The paper has produced a second‐generation measure with substantially improved internal reliability and validity. The paper's most important and obvious conclusion is that interpersonal attraction does appear to be a multidimensional construct.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Increasing soft skills such as teamwork, personal skills, and attitudes, alongside an effective training methodology such as time-spaced learning, can increase work performance.

The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

The purpose of this paper is to identify in the specialized literature published in the past 20 years about sales training, some elements or key factors that could be applied to the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) as a support for the learning of the detection of business opportunities.

This is a study of a documentary nature in which a method of systematic literature review was applied to 132 studies published in journals indexed in Scopus and Scielo on sales training processes. The analysis of the data combined a process of categorization and frequencies statistical analysis.

The results highlight the role of ICT and specifically the use of mobile devices to support the strengthening of training in sales in terms of relationship, opportunity and flexibility in communication with the client, the construction of positive emotional environments and experiential/situated training.

The originality of this study lies in the extraction and interpretation of key factors focused on addressing a guiding question about the relationships between the use of ICT and sales training.