Implementing Soft SkillsAssessment and Development

OREGON COMMUNITY COLLEGES & WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

August 11 and 15, 2014

Agenda• Context: Work-Readiness or Aligning Demand & Supply • Overview of AccuVision: Technology, Process,

Validity/Legality and Predictiveness• Competence and Personality• Administer Personal Qualities Assessment• Assessment Programs and Their Results• Development Through Integration: Workshops,

Discussions, Curriculum, OTJ, Apprenticeships et al• Action-Planning Overview• Administering the Online Portal• Evaluation

Disconnects: JOB MIS-MATCHING• Employers want to know:

o How will someone perform on the job and during work-experience? And,

o Does the applicant have the behavioral competencies that characterize successful workers?

• Employers rarely specify requisite soft skill competencies in job-postings. Therefore, applicants rarely bring evidence of their possession of these skills. Employers hope for the best and, more than they need to, they hire their problems.

Jobs at Any Level – WD Programs

OR’s WD Tools

LRI and WorkKeys LRI WorkKeys

Employer-defined soft skill competence Academic skill competence

Values employer profiling Values employer profiling

Wide employer acceptance of AccuVision: Legal, valid and predictive

Wide academic acceptance of NCRC

Measures and supports development of soft skills for jobs ranging from entry-level, high performance and managerial

Personality added to NCRC to respond to employers’ and workforce developers’ work-readiness concerns for first jobs

Measures individuals’ competencies against employer-defined standards of effective performance

Equates personality with competence: Joe is likely to have a tendency to be responsible, to work well with others etc

LRI/AccuVision The team: I/O Psychologists, OD professionals, Instructional

Designers, Trainers, IT specialists and Educators The organization and its programs’ roots are in industry; instruments

developed in response to employers’ need for valid, legal and predictive tools that support selection, development, reduced turnover and high-performance for a continuum of jobs.

Widely accepted by employers. AccuVision is the nation’s most widely used soft skills assessment and development resource. Over 4,250,000 people assessed: Current, future and/or dislocated workers, adults and youth, Vets, individuals with barriers and others.

What is LRI’s Assessment tool?LRI programs – AccuVision - are: • Competency-based: They measure the work-place behaviors

employers identify as most important for a job.• Job-related: Different levels of jobs require different levels of

soft skills.• Video delivered: Everyone sees the same situations and

people who do not read well are not penalized.• Simulation-based: Problems develop in work settings and

people make choices in response to the situations.• Fair and Valid : People’s responses are measured against

a single standard – employer-defined effectiveness.• Predictive: People who score better do better on the job.

Video Experience – Personal Qualities

Reactions to AccuVision’s WRS?

• Would the experience be accessible to most customers seeking first jobs?

• Agree that you have the competencies identified as effective?

• Disagree that some competencies could be strengthened

• Didn’t understand what aspect of the process?• Concerned about….?

A Process

Orientation Initial Assessment• AccuVision Personal Qualities• AccuVision Customer Care

Feedback and Developmental Planning•Feedback Reports•Development Discussions•Individual Development plans

Employer Benchmarking and

Involvement

Develop Skills• Workshops• Integration into Curriculum• Work Experience

Post Assessment

Continuous Improvement

Workforce Readiness Skills (WRS)• Targets the soft skills – the workplace behaviors – of

first jobs in a range of sectors: Hospitality, retail, health, maintenance, office/clerical, supermarket and call centers

• Key competencies: Personal Qualities (PQS) and Customer Care (CCS)

• Provides good information on: current skills, developmental needs and, programmatically, training and development effectiveness

• Delivery formats: Internet and DVD when accommodation is required

WRS Content and Delivery• WRS is comprised of two Modules: Personal

Qualities (PQS) and Customer Care (CCS)• PQS contains 40 minutes of video during which

viewer responds to 28 work related questions• CCS contains 37 minutes of video and 28 Questions• PQS and CCS are recorded in English and Spanish; • PQS and CCS are available in open captioning in

English and Spanish.

WRS Competencies – Mod 1Personal Qualities • Act Responsibly – Exerts a high level of effort to achieve goal;

attention to detail; punctual; positive• Integrity – Good sense of right and wrong• Self-Esteem – Believes in own self-worth and maintains a

positive view of self; open to feedback• Self-Management – assesses accurately, sets personal goals,

monitors progress, and exhibits self-control• Sociability (Teams) – Demonstrates understanding,

friendliness, adaptability, empathy, and politeness in group settings

WRS Competencies – Mod. 2CUSTOMER CARE• Commitment to Quality – works and communicates

with customers to satisfy their expectations• Customer Relations – Communicates in a positive

manner, especially when handling complaints or conflict

• Decision-Making – Makes sound decisions when carrying out company policies and guidelines, develops solutions for customer problems

Assessment Outcomes

Feedback Report: ApplicantGroup ReportInterview Guide – (for Learner or Employer)DevelopmentCredentials

Outcome: Feedback Reports

• Cover Page – Probability of Success• Skills Ranking• Skills and Task Analysis• Performance Development Strategies• Profile: A Summary of Effective

Competencies

Breakout Session: Feedback Reports

For small group discussion:1. Identify the broad categories of individuals currently assessed. (Youth,

vets etc)2. When should assessments be offered?3. How might you determine when to use WRS vs. WSS vs. SMS/SMP?4. How might assessment results (Skill and Task Analysis and Performance

Development) communicated to those assessed? What would be common to all feedback sessions? Where might differences in focus or content arise (e.g., for dislocated workers, people with barriers etc)?

5. Review – Work Group: Establishing the Assessment System

Outcome: Group Report & Interview

Group Reports Skill Ratings and Ranks; Frequency Tables

and Development needsInterview Guides – Behavioral, print-based

‘mini-simulations’ to support hiring or development

Outcome: Development & Credential

Development• Individual Plans• Facilitated Discussion• Curriculum – Orientation Webinar Available• Work Experience• Post-employment; and, an opportunity to

build higher-level skills

Credential

Credential Sample

Sample Credential

Credential Back Page

Breakout Session: Development

Where/how will LRI’s development tools be used to remediate and build soft skills?

• Individual Plans• Facilitated Discussion• Curriculum – Webinar available to provide a full overview.• Work Experience)

Identify issues and opportunities to use the above tools and report back to group.

Workplace Success Skills (WSS)The WSS Module, Interacting with Others, measures the competencies required by employers of a wide range of good-paying, pre-supervisory jobs - these are often called high-wage, high skill positions. WSS measures these broad skill sets: Facilitation Influence Commitment to Quality Customer Service (Internal and External) Problem Solving

The Module contains 70 minutes of Internet or DVD video during which the viewer responds to 50 work-related questions. WSS tapes are recorded in English and Spanish; open-captioning in English is available.

WSS Documents Include• Competencies• Feedback Report• Group Report• Interview Guide

Manager (SMS) & Supervisor (SMP)Manager Skills (SMS) and Supervisor (SMP) are industry-validated and video delivered soft skills assessment programs. SMS measures the competencies required by employers of first-line leaders and managers in an office environment; SMP’s video uses factory-like settings. Each version measures these skills:

• Team Building• Situational Style of Interaction• Influence• Initiative• Analysis and Problem Solving

The programs SMS and SMP contain 95 minutes of video during which the viewer responds to 32 work-related questions. DVD English and Spanish versions of the program are available.

SMS/SMP Documents• Competencies• Feedback Report• Group Report• Interview Guide

Clarifying what is not

• Clarify areas of uncertainty• What additional information, slides or

handouts are required to enable you to start assessing WorkSource Centers customers?

Outcome Goals for Trainers’ Site Training

Establish groups whose focus will be:

1. Creating the message2. Establishing the assessment system3. Developing soft skill deficits

LRI training will focus on helping WD’s training team to enable Center staff to understand and use:

Feedback Reports, Developmental Planning and Soft Skills Development. Finally, we urge that breakout sessions be used to enable Center staff to create action-plans for the above. Handouts to support this process are provided.

Action-planning should define:Clear and specific elements for identified action plans during the next 3-6 months. They should:

• Define primary tasks• Who to add to the group (including others outside of WD and

OED)?• Who to involve (for additional information, feedback etc):

Administration, partners, customers, others…?• Support required?• Resources required?

Creating the Message• What is the soft skills message that describes the initiative

and is the basis for presentations to share with key agencies, partners and customers?

• Identify the elements of an action plan to accomplish the above. Who should be part of the implementation team - within and without WD and WorkSource? Is there additional information you require? How will you access it?

• The intent of this part of the training is to develop enough specific information so that, once WD leadership approves your plan, implementation of the plan can begin promptly.

• How will you help – and reinforce – customers’ commit-ment to developing their soft skills?

Establishing Development Protocols• Will individual development plans be created - by whom, when? How will

they be monitored?• What will people be told about remediation opportunities that exist? • Will assessment-related individual development plans be developed? By

whom? When? How will this process be monitored?• What are the expectations for (academic and career/technical) faculty

involvement in integrating soft skills into their curricula? • What training and support will faculty receive to assist them in

contextualizing soft skill development tools to specific pathways and career training?

• What feedback will faculty receive regarding their effectiveness at supporting learners’ development of soft skills?

• Will work experience provide additional opportunities for soft skills development?

Workforce Development System

Topics:• Administrator Access

• Participant Input – online• Participant Input – offline• Access Feedback Report

• Administrator log in information provided by LRI specific to your location

Administrator Access

• Input Participant fields

• Assign Program/Assessment access

• Deliver Participant log in information

Participant Input – online assessment

• Input Participant fields• Assign

Program/system access

• Select Assessment• Input Participant

responses from answer sheet

Participant Input – offline assessment

• Select Participant• Select from available

Assessments• Preview and/or Print

Access Feedback Report

Post-training questions/contact

Protocols need to be established as to when and how contact is made between trained trainers, WD and LRI.

Planning – Major Initiatives

Review how the proposed Strategic Planning Document can be used by:• WD• Trainers• WorkSource Centers

Wrapping UPEvaluation

The last exhibit! Please complete and give to Blanca, Todd or Cabot before leaving.

Contacts

Cabot Jaffee, AlignMark, Maitland, FLPhone: 407-659-3500 E-Mail: cjaffee@alignmark.com

Alan Lesure, Learning Resources, Inc., Riverside, CTPhone: 203-637-5047 E-Mail: alesure@learning-resources.com

Susan Swigert, AlignMark, Maitland, FLPhone: 800-682-4587, Ext 3557 E-Mail: sswigert@alignmark.com

Connie Krupp, Curriculum DeveloperPlease contact Al Lesure if a webinar or otherCommunication would be helpful.