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Documenting the Fourth R
Documenting the "Fourth R" Business and industry leaders know that the costs of hiring, training, and retaining high-quality workers significantly impact their bottom line. The cost of making a good hire is high. The cost of making a bad hire is even greater. Private sector employers are concerned about the gap that exists between those skills required on the job and those demonstrated by the emerging and existing workforce. Businesses often experience difficulty hiring people who have basic employability skills and who are trainable for specific jobs. They also voice a need for high school and college graduates to enter the workforce with stronger employability skills. Often there is a disconnect between academic development and workforce preparedness. To address these issues, a new portable skills credential, the Career Readiness Certificate, is gaining national momentum by promising to increase economic competitiveness through a stronger workforce. Thirty states, including Tennessee, have formed a consortium to endorse and accept this new portable skills credential. The Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development is supporting the Southeast Tennessee Workforce Investment Board, the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, and Chattanooga State to develop and implement a model leading to a statewide, cross-industry, cross-occupational portable skills credential. The Workforce Board and Chamber recently hosted a breakfast meeting to introduce the project to area employers. Dr. Barbara Bolin, Special Advisor for Workforce Development to Virginia Governor Mark Warner, discussed Virginia’s Career Readiness Certificates for local business and industry and its ability to impact the skills levels of 21st century workers. “This is a business driven system that guarantees a better quality applicant coming through the door,” Bolin stated emphatically. “It improves your ability to get the right people for the right job at the right time!” Readiness— “The Fourth R” Sometimes called “The Fourth R,” readiness joins the standards—reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic—as the 21st Century measure of capacity to enter and remain in the workforce as a contributing employee. Career Readiness refers to the development of skill sets needed to move into:
The realities of today’s economy are well documented. Economic development in local, state, and regional areas is affected by the global economy. Individuals must attain higher skill levels than ever to get a job and stay employed. Businesses look for workers with documented skills to succeed in high performance work settings. Industry, community, and government leaders see the need for regional and state initiatives to increase workforce skills and improve the quality of life for the individuals they represent. “Economies are regional,” says Dr. Bolin. “That’s why the words ‘readiness’ and ‘skill sets’ are becoming part of today’s vocabulary.” The Career Readiness Certificate utilizes the WorkKeys® assessment test developed by ACT, Inc., a nationally recognized leader in educational testing. ACT is best known for its college entrance exam, which measures one’s potential to succeed in the academic world. Likewise, the WorkKeys system measures a candidate’s potential to succeed in the busi-ness/working world. The WorkKeys system provides an innovative approach to bridge the skills gap in the workplace. What is WorkKeys®? WorkKeys is a national, industry-driven system of job profiling, assessment and instructional support that helps businesses identify the skills and skills levels employees must have to perform jobs effectively. It empowers businesses to make better hiring and promotion decisions and individuals to make more informed career decisions. Chattanooga-based Dixie Group has used WorkKeys several years. Dixie’s former WorkKeys Development Director, Alan Artress, says “Almost immediately after we implemented WorkKeys, we were getting a better picture of where the basic skills of our people were, and through profiling, what the requirements of the jobs were. Within a year, we were able to pinpoint what basic skills training was needed and target those skill areas.” WorkKeys became a critical component of Dixie’s strategic plans related to training and development. “Because of WorkKeys, we became better at fitting the right person with the right job,” Artress added. What is a Career Readiness Certificate? A career readiness certificate is a portable credential based upon the WorkKeysâ assessments that confirm to employers that an individual possesses the basic workplace skills required for 21st Century jobs. The Career Readiness Certificate assesses in three different skill areas:
These skill areas were determined because they were the most utilized assessments in the Occupational Profile database at ACTä, which contains about 10,000 job profiles. What are the levels of Career Readiness Certificates? Three levels of certificates standardize skills that indicate the certificate holder is job ready. The three levels allow an individual to advance his/her skill level in order to qualify for more jobs. Bronze Level—Requires a minimum level 3 in each of the assessments. Indicates the certificate holder possesses core employability skills for approximately 30% of the profiled jobs. Silver Level—Requires a minimum level of 4 in each of the assessments. Indicates the certificate holder possesses core employability skills for approximately 65% of the profiled jobs. Gold Level—Requires a minimum level of 5 in each of the assessments. Indicates the certificate holder possesses core employability skills for approximately 90% of the profiled jobs. For individuals who do not initially achieve the Career Readiness Certificate, assessment results will indicate the targeted training needed to achieve the skill level(s) necessary to obtain the certificate. The Tennessee Career Centers will assist those individuals in increasing their skills levels through the use of KeyTrainä software. What is KeyTrain®? Thinking Media, headquartered in Chattanooga, developed the KeyTrain curriculum to remediate skills deficiencies using interactive materials covering all of the WorkKeys skills. KeyTrain provides a system for improving the basic workplace skills that a person needs to be ready for employment and job-specific training. Using the WorkKeys skills as a foundation of measurement, KeyTrain’s occupational profiles database and targeted training identify the jobs that a person can be successful in, and how to improve that person’s skills so they can qualify for higher-paying jobs. What benefits from participating in the Career Readiness Certificate program will I realize as a business owner or manager? Benefits to business and industry include:
How do I get started? Contact your nearest Southeast Tennessee Career Center. (Area Code 423) Chattanooga 894-5354 Dayton 570-1107 Athens 745-2028 Dunlap 949-6648 Cleveland 473-9459 Kimball 837-9103 For more information visit the following websites: |
Southeast Tennessee Development District | PO Box 4757 | Chattanooga, Tn 37405-0757