City professionals now have an international platform to brush up their soft skills. Toastmasters International, a US-based non-profit educational organisation, has extended a helping hand to employees of tech and consulting companies keen on developing their communication and leadership abilities.

The companies, too, are doing their bit to help employees expand their skill set.

“Most fresh graduates are technically proficient but lack soft skills. At a time when business growth is no longer linked to only technical know-how, communication and leadership abilities of employees must be developed,” said Sandeep Mukherjee of People Power, a human resources firm in the city.

Three Toastmasters clubs have come up in the city — two corporate clubs in Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) that cater solely to the respective employees and a community club, whose members meet on the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce premises every Friday.

“Presentations, meetings and interaction with clients are an integral part of our profession. We tend to rely on crutch words and often project the wrong body language. The club works towards eliminating these problems,” said TCS employee Anwesha Deb.

The TCS Toastmasters club started in September 2007 as part of an “employee engagement” initiative called Maitree and has 32 members.

A host of other initiatives of the company, including a community service club, aims to produce better communicators and leaders. A learning and development department conducts workshops on communication and leadership skills for associates.

The Toastmasters club at PwC, an employee initiative, has enrolled 20 members since January. The company also organises training programmes and runs an advisory university that conducts courses in soft skills for senior employees.

“We have to take up leadership roles as office-bearers of the Toastmasters club,” said PwC employee Priyam Sarkar.

Companies like IBM are planning to open Toastmasters clubs. The existing clubs are approaching colleges to boost the soft skills of students and make them more employable.