Teaching “Soft Skills” now a necessity

February 19, 2025/Business/

It’s pretty well documented that mortuary or embalmer education began in the late 19th Century with the advent of the practice of embalming. Most of that early education for the profession was no more than a course in the practices of embalming.

Almost a century later when I went to mortuary school to receive my degree and prepare for national examinations in order to be licensed there was still a heavy concentration on embalming — which by then included learning of organic chemistry as well as the science of embalming. However, by that time, the 1980’s instruction included a lot of information about the psychology of grief as well and a little bit of business law and business operations.

However, there was nothing really taught about the “Soft Skills” of the profession. And, I would argue that those “soft skills” are a major part, not only now but back then, in satisfying clientele with the services that you have provided. Those “soft skills” such as communications and marketing also play a major factor in customer acquisition leading to profitable funeral homes. . . . . .and, I’m of the opinion that today they should be a major part of any business curiculum. . . including mortuary science.

That’s why I was really interested when I read this article from the Minnesota Daily, the student newspaper of my alma mater, the University of Minnesota. The article deals with the process whereby that the Mortuary Science Department teams with the Engineering Department to make use of the the school’s “Virtual Reality” simulators.

In doing so, the article states that, the “VR (lab) allows students studying mortuary science to experience old age and dying“.

Janet McGee
University of Minnesota

Here’s what University of Minnesota Mortuary Science instructor Janet McGee says about the experience, “It helps students see the full end-of-life experience. In that sense, it empowers us to be more empathetic and present morticians when we have a greater understanding of what our client families may have experienced leading up to making funeral arrangements. It also helps us anticipate needs more effectively.”

McGee continues, “The purpose is for students to experience embodied learning, to see what it might be like from the client family perspective. It’s another way to help students build empathetic listening skills.”

Finally, McGee summarizes the learned experience with this statement, “Soft skills, including communication, are key to the student’s future success.”

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take: As a former owner who employeed several morticians I understand why good prep rooms skills are necessary. However, I also saw the personal side of the business that intereacts with family clientele and never underestimated the power of skills such as empathy, communication, common sense, and collaboration brought to the positive side of our operations.

I also noted that it was the exceptional funeral director that could harness the skills of preparation, consumer interaction, business ideals, and self-reliance. It was those funeral directors that could master those skills that I wanted working for me . . . . . . . and just for the record, I found some great funeral directors, both genders, that had those skills and they were a big difference in making our funeral home the exceptional (and profitable) funeral home in our area.