ROUNDTABLE ON EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS: THEIR DEVELOPMENT AND ASSESSMENT

1. ROUNDTABLE ON EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS: THEIR DEVELOPMENT AND ASSESSMENT Paul Brinkhurst The Centre for Literacy Summer Institute 2012 Workplace Literacy & Essential Skills: Shaping a New Learning Culture June 27-29, 2012 Montreal, QC

2. Outline • The Skills Pyramid • Building Employability Skills • Assessing Employability Skills • Your Input: • Possible applications • Your needs ( guides, curriculum etc.) • Your limitations (cost, staff, time…) • Participation: • Level 1 – informal feedback • Level 2 – formal feedback • Conclusion

3. The Skills Pyramid

4. Employability Skills • Attitude • Motivation • Presentation • Teamwork • Time Management • Adaptability • Stress Management • Accountability • Confidence Based on our 25+ years in the field, our list of KEY employability skills is:

5. DEVELOPING EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS….

6. The Glenwood Method: Integrated Skill Development • On the job at all times • Contextualized learning • Hands on skill development

7. The principles…. • Common expectations: • For both staff and learners – on the job at all times • Common skill definitions • Detailed guidelines • Assessment rubrics for each skill

9. Developing Employability Skills Create common expectations Involve all staff in observing client strengths and weaknesses in a variety of venues and situations - always be watchful for opportunities to praise and obligations to adjust behaviours - common observation recording and management system

10. Observation Record

11. Developing Employability Skills Create common expectations Involve all staff Provide honest, consistent, timely and respectful feedback - honest: do not mask the truth. Tell it like it is. - consistent: all staff respond the same way. - timely: respond when the behaviour occurs. - respectful: establish a relationship of trust.

12. Developing Employability Skills Create common expectations Involve all staff Honest, consistent, timely and respectful Involve clients in finding and evaluating new behavioural strategies - one-on-one counsellor/client partnership - opportunities for testing in the work place

13. Developing Employability Skills Common expectations Involve all staff Honest, consistent, timely and respectful feedback Involve clients in new strategies Use a consistent assessment process to track change - Employability Skills Assessment Tool (ESAT)

14. Assessing Employability Skills • How do you assess attitude, confidence, etc? • How do you show employability skill program effectiveness? • How do you motivate clients or funders when improvements are hard to demonstrate? Embracing the subjectivity…

15. ESAT INVOLVES: Repeated client self assessment surveys Repeated staff assessments by rubric Staff Consensus Perception comparison and analysis Client debrief and strategizing Distance Travelled Assessment

16. Self Assessment 58 to 100 descriptive statements Clients assign scores 1 to 8 re applicability Clients score with respect to work, and with respect to home ESAT generates a score for each skill (8 being optimal)

17. Staff Assessment • Each staff member assesses a client using the definitions and rubrics on a 1-8 scale • Assessments are : • Independent • Based on observations over previous 4-6 weeks

18. Staff Consensus • Weekly client reviews • Individual staff scores are presented and discussed • Staff reach consensus: • Create a deeper shared understanding of the client • Help reveal any bias that may exist • Ensure staff can substantiate scores

19. Comparison Output

20. Debrief learner… Identify strengths Identify opportunities for growth Discuss differences in perspective Brainstorm new behavioural strategies Reach agreement ( verbal, formal or contract)

21. Distance Travelled

22. Key Points Requires consistent application of common skill definitions and expectations Requires strong communication between staff Requires an investment of time in the client But…. IT WORKS!

23. WAY AHEAD • Funding from Counselling Foundation of Canada • Includes software to run on an intranet or workstation • Includes user guide • Available January 2013 • First 100 copies will be provided to non-profits at no cost – just a promise to provide feedback

24. Questions?

25. YOUR INPUT • Possible Applications: • addition to employment training programs

26. YOUR INPUT • What would you need to implement such a system: • Guide – ESAT or full method? • Training? • Curriculum supports? • Ability to adjust the tool? • Skills? • Questions? • Rubrics?

27. Your Input #3 • What limitations or problems do you foresee? • Time? • Staff commitment? • Training? • Cost? • Ability to do work simulation?

28. Participation Level 1 – Use the ESAT and provide informal feedback on the tool and its effectiveness Level 2 – Use the ESAT for a year and provide formal feedback on its utility, effectiveness including feedback from participants.

29. ESAT PARTICIPATION: • Name of Organization: _______________________ • Contact Name: ______________________________ • Email:_________________Phone: (___)__________ • Interested in: • Level 1 2 Other… (please specify): • Comments: