You’ve sent the calendar invite. Booked the training room. Briefed the facilitator. And then – bam – the day before your communication training session, the emails start.
‘Sorry, can’t make it. Something’s come up.’
Or worse: no email, no warning. Just an empty seat.
So, what’s going on? Why does this continue to happen in your workplace?
It comes down to one big issue: too many people (and their managers) still don’t see the value in ‘soft skills’ training. Unlike technical skills, communication skills rarely get measured, rewarded or tied to promotion. It’s seen as a ‘nice to have’.
So when you roll out communication training, staff do the maths: Will this actually help me advance? Or should I spend my time on the skills that show up in my performance review?
But the truth is, communication capability is just as critical as technical mastery.
And until your culture reflects that – and your people actually believe it – your training investment will keep bleeding value.
If you want that to change, something has to shift. And here’s where it starts.
Stop treating communication as a ‘soft skill’
Despite common belief, technical expertise will only take someone so far.
Your team members may be brilliant at data analysis, project delivery or technical problem-solving. But if they can’t express their ideas clearly, persuade decision-makers or navigate difficult conversations? They’ll hit a ceiling.
Communication capability is what turns individual expertise into organisational impact. It’s what enables someone to:
- Build trust and influence across teams
- Give feedback that strengthens performance
- Lead through change and uncertainty
- Represent your organisation credibly to external stakeholders
- Translate complex ideas into clear, actionable messages
These are the capabilities that elevate people from competent to genuinely influential.
But most organisations have never clearly defined what good communication looks like. There’s no framework. No benchmarks. No shared language.
So people assume they’re fine. They think: I write emails every day. I speak to clients all the time. I know how to communicate.
Make communication a measurable capability
When communication capability isn’t clearly linked to career progression or impact, it feels irrelevant – even frivolous. And it feels disconnected from what your people see as their ‘real work’.
If you want that to change, you need to define it, measure it, develop it – and explicitly link it to progression and performance.
Here’s what that looks like when it’s done well:
- Define what ‘good’ looks like: Communication needs clear benchmarks at every career level. What does strong written communication look like for a graduate versus a senior leader? What does ‘effective presenting’ mean for someone running a team meeting versus someone speaking at a conference?
- Make training relevant to real work: Generic communication programs fail to stick because they don’t connect to the actual challenges people face. But when training is tailored – when it addresses the emails they’re writing, the presentations they’re delivering – staff can see exactly how these skills move them forward.
- Build pathways, not one-offs: A single workshop won’t change behaviour. But when communication training sits within a clear development pathway – linked to progression – it stops feeling optional and starts feeling essential.
- Create a shared language across your organisation: When everyone in your organisation uses the same framework, something powerful happens. Leaders give clearer feedback. Managers have more productive performance conversations. And staff know exactly what they’re working toward.
These shifts stop communication from being subjective. Instead, it becomes something your people measure, develop and improve – just like technical skills.
How a communication capability framework changes the game
This is where a communication capability framework becomes essential.
A good framework defines communication capability at every level – from graduates to executives. And it breaks down what successful communication looks like across written, verbal, relational and visionary communication.
But best of all, it:
- Gives you a shared language. No more vague feedback like: You need to work on your stakeholder management. Instead, managers can point to specific behaviours: At your level, you should be able to get buy-in from people you don’t manage.
- Connects training to career development. Staff can see where they are, where they’re going and how communication skills help them get there. Suddenly, training moves from a ‘nice to have’ to something that directly supports their progression.
- Makes L&D strategic. With a clear framework, you can map capability gaps, design targeted training and measure growth over time. You can prove ROI because you’re not just running sessions – you’re building organisation-wide capability that drives performance at the highest levels.
Ready to make the shift?
Communication training fails when it’s treated as secondary to technical development.
But when you define capability, build clear pathways and explicitly link communication skills to career progression? Staff engage. Skills improve. And your organisation’s communication becomes a competitive advantage – instead of a constant source of friction and frustration.
The first step? Get clear on what communication capability looks like at every level of your organisation.
Download CSA’s Communication Capability Framework to see what communication excellence looks like – and start building training your staff will find value in.