Hi Pamela,
Right you are. The “soft skills†are just as important as the specific skills of the job. If either of these is missing failure will be the result. We all know the data that more jobs are lost due to social/personal interactions that those lost due to inadequate skills.
I always had my students practice the soft skills as a part of everyday class life. A habit is a practice that becomes a part of your behavior if you do it for 30 consecutive days. I wanted my students to have made the soft skills habits to the point that they didn't have to pause and think about what they should do they just did it, like be on time, dress appropriately, etc.
Gary