Life Sciences Pharmaceutical Soft Skills

Ivan Wall at Resilience

How are life sciences organisations embracing new technologies to help develop soft skills, hopefully mitigating issues seen in the pharma manufacturing sector?

We all know or work with people who can be difficult to deal with – even talk to – and we all know or work with other people who are a joy to be around and who make the working day a little brighter. Some of those difficult people will be highly competent in their field: their technical knowledge is deeper than most, and they know it. But is technical competence enough? Do organisations need only that in order to thrive, or are soft skills, like communication, teamwork and leadership, equally important?

A recent report from Harvard Business Review concludes that soft skills help workers reach the highest levels of professional attainment.1 The report notes that ‘…as technical complexity rises, the glue that keeps talent productive is social skill – communication, empathy, conflict resolution, and the ability to coordinate diverse expertise.’ Soft skills, then, are those personal attributes, traits and abilities that determine how you interact and work with others, helping you to navigate the complexities and challenges of the workplace, like difficult personalities, conflict and shifting priorities. They are vital for effective collaboration and, unsurprisingly, highly valued by employers.

In what ways are organisations embracing new technologies, such as virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI), in order to help develop those soft skills to combat issues faced by the medicines manufacturing sector?

The life sciences sector is a priority for the UK Government and a huge employer of highly skilled scientists and engineers, along with many others working in support or administrative roles. But there is a critical skills shortage in some areas. For example, one report calculates that 70,000 new and 75,000 replacement jobs will be needed in medicines manufacturing in the next ten years, as new medicines are approved that require complex handling and processing.2

The government is responding to this by investing millions of pounds into programmes designed to excite, engage and attract young people to work in the sector, using advanced technology like VR to deliver core lab and manufacturing skills.

VR training is designed to provide procedural training in how to perform critical operations in manufacturing facilities. It also enables core skills development in a virtual good manufacturing practice cleanroom (the facilities where medicines are made) without the access constraints, safety risks or environmental impacts that training in a physical cleanroom would create.

Gowning and cleaning are two examples of simple yet vitally important training activities. But the technology can also be used to train on much more sophisticated lab equipment, such as bioreactors, which are controlled environments for cell product expansion and other biological production processes.

Much of the core training used in medicines manufacturing is about orientation – building confidence, familiarity and process knowledge – so VR is a highly efficient method. In fact, statistics show a 30-40% increase in competency test scores for trainees who use the VR compared with standard training.3

Incorporating technology like VR into processes is also helping the NHS reach climate targets. In 2020, it became the world’s first health service to commit to reaching net zero.4 For the emissions it controls directly (the NHS Carbon Footprint), the aim is to reach net zero by 2040, with an intermediate target of an 80% reduction by 2028 to 2032.4

Travel is widely recognised as one of the most significant causes of emissions for the NHS, including staff and patient travel, as well as the NHS’ vehicle fleet. The ability to recreate, in detail, real-world training environments in VR means trainees have access to high-value training without the need to travel to specialist training centres.

A report by the Faculty of Public Health claims there are over 9.5 billion NHS-related road miles per year in England, around 3.5% of all road travel in England, so anything that can help address this is very welcome.5

Single-use plastics are extensively and increasingly used in medicines manufacturing, especially for biologic medicines. They are chosen for their chemical resistance, flexibility and sterility. Particularly during training, actions must be repeated many times to make sure the handler is familiar and the process is perfected. Processes like cleaning don’t necessarily use complex materials, but they still make up a large volume of waste.

This means that if the real manufacturing process is mimicked exactly during training, the volume of single-use materials – including plastics – created in a single process run would be extraordinary.

Allowing trainees to become familiar with lab processes in a virtual environment, before letting them loose with single-use materials in the lab, means that tonnes of plastic is saved from disposal. Only plastics used in later validation stages of training, and of course in the manufacture of real medicines, make it into the incinerator.

Whilst it seems almost ironic to use modern technology like VR to train more ‘human’ people skills, it is successfully being deployed to develop soft skills by creating customisable roleplay scenarios. VR offers many benefits for this kind of learning; users can be put into highly typical real-life scenarios, such as a difficult conversation or job interview, where they interact with virtual avatars. Crucially, they can replay the scenario over and over, trying new approaches and building confidence. AI tools can analyse users’ behaviours and actions, for example speech, body language and decisions, and provide immediate insights to guide improvements.

Perhaps most importantly, users can try seeing the scenario from other perspectives, such as a manager or colleague’s, which creates empathy and allows the user to see how they come across to a third party. While the idea of watching ourselves back, for example in an interview, is enough to make most people squirm, it can reveal aspects of our behaviour that we’re likely unaware of.

Finally, VR training can be delivered anywhere and scaled at will, so is highly cost-effective.

Collaborative working is essential in the modern workplace, perhaps even more so in the life sciences sector, where scientists work on highly advanced biology and medicines. The scientist caricature is brilliant, eccentric, lacking social skills and, typically, hopeless at communicating – the core enabling skill that underpins teamwork. Good, effective communication can mean the difference between success and failure, and the most significant part of communication is listening.

Of course, the best approach is to ensure the organisation attracts and retains the right people in the first place. As the wise saying goes: hire for attitude, train for skills. The most important of those skills, as noted above, is undoubtedly communication, from which everything else flows. Clear communication means almost by definition using appropriate language – not shouting, or looking down on your listeners. And it engenders respect and trust.

It doesn’t matter if you are right, or know more than anyone else about something, if you can’t communicate your meaning clearly such that your interlocutors understand, then it’s a waste of time. As Einstein said: “If you can’t explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.” Of course, there is another side to this coin, and another quote captures it in the form of advice and observation: “When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.” That was Ernest Heningway. On a related note, Stephen Covey said: “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply,” and from further back, La Rochefoucauld observed: “We never listen when we are eager to speak.” Not listening, and being ready to pounce with your tuppence-worth, is particularly pernicious, resulting in frustration and loss of trust. But, when highlighted to an offender, it can be quickly corrected.

Other soft skills that are highly valued include adaptability, work ethic and emotional intelligence. They can help you stand out in a competitive job market.

The Harvard Business Review analysis highlights: ‘… those who scored highly on basic skills were more likely to earn higher wages throughout their careers, move into more advanced roles, learn specialised skills more quickly and were more resilient to industry changes. The presence and development of foundational skills didn’t just make workers more competitive for entry level jobs – they determined how far they could climb the career ladder.’ It is recognised how important it is for scientists and engineers to communicate effectively; but it’s imperative tools and technology are developed to actually help them improve this primary soft skill.

Soft skills matter. They foster teamwork, collaboration and a healthy, happy workplace. Most importantly, they can be learned and developed; AI and VR are powerful tools for training in soft skills. Of course, not every company needs to be so reliant on soft skills. Start-ups may need ‘instant’ technical expertise, and high-turnover operations may simply not care, but for the vast majority of workplaces soft skills really matter – a lot. Given the critical skills shortages in some parts of the UK’s life sciences sector, it is vitally important that not only highly qualified scientists and engineers are found, but also it is ensured that they are ready to work in, and contribute to, a collaborative, supportive, respectful and trusting environment. Communication is the core skill that underpins everything, and it cuts both ways: articulating your point clearly is vital, but so is actively listening.

As George Bernard Shaw put it: “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”

1. Visit: hbr.org/2025/08/soft-skills-matter-now-morethan-ever-according-to-new-research

2. Visit: lightcast.io/resources/research/life-sciences-ukeu

3. Visit: takeaway-reality.com/post/vr-training-and-vreducation-statistics-2024

4. Visit: england.nhs.uk/greenernhs/a-net-zero-nhs/

5. Visit: fph.org.uk/media/3126/k9-fph-sig-nhs-carbonfootprint-final.pdf

Ivan Wall is professor of Regenerative Medicine and director of the National Training Centre for Advanced Therapies Manufacturing at the University of Birmingham, UK, and co-director of Resilience. Professor Wall is an interdisciplinary scientist who works at the interface of cell biology, bioprocess engineering and digital technology. His research group works on stem cells and extracellular vesicles, with emphasis on industrial translation and scale-up production.