The ESRP Methodology

The Essential Skills Research Project interviews competent workers (recommended by employers and labour unions) in the occupational areas targeted for study – occupations defined according to the National Occupational Classification (NOC) system (www.cnp2001noc.worklogic.com). Care is taken to sample worksites in different regions of Canada and to ensure that a wide variety of workplaces are used. Information is compiled and recorded in an essential skills profile template. The Essential Skills Profile describes how each essential skill is actually used by workers in an occupational group. Initially, the ESRP focused on occupations requiring a secondary school diploma or less and on-the-job training. Of the approximately 180 occupational profiles currently available, 150 refer to occupations that can be entered with a high school diploma or less. (Some are part of National Occupational Standards developed by the private sector with assistance from Human Resources Development Canada.) Data collection is continuing in occupations requiring higher levels of formal education and training – as part of the National Occupational Standards developed by the private sector, or National Occupational Analyses conducted in the Red Seal program for apprenticeable trades. Additional profiles will be added to the HRDC website (www.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/essentialskills) as they are completed.

The Essential Skills Profiles

Essential Skills Profiles describe the frequency and complexity of use of essential skills in different occupational groups. An Essential Skills Profile also describes how each essential skill is actually used by workers in an occupational group. For each essential skill, a Profile generally contains:

  • complexity ratings that indicate the level of difficulty of the tasks related to that skill.
  • examples that illustrate how the skill is used.
  • a standardized description of how that skill is used so readers may make comparisons between occupations or aggregate information across occupations.

Each Essential Skills Profile uses the same format, to make information easy to find. Readers will find the same headers in each profile, the same ordering of the essential skills, and data that is presented in a consistent manner. Every Essential Skills Profile includes the following sections in the same order:

Title
Introduction

  1. Reading Text
  2. Document Use
  3. Writing
  4. Numeracy
  5. Oral Communication
  6. Thinking Skills
    1. Problem Solving
    2. Decision Making
    3. Job Task Planning and Organization
    4. Significant Use of Memory
    5. Finding Information
  7. Working with Others
  8. Computer Use
  9. Continuous Learning
  10. Other Information

Every Profile also uses standardized terms to describe the essential skills and standardized concepts to measure their use.