Overview:

Chris Bates leader of the Essential Skills Outreach Team with the Human Resources Partnership Directorate, Government of Canada provided an overview of the Essential Skills and Workplace Literacy Initiative and the Government of Canada’s Workplace Skills Strategy. He also explained why essential skills are considered so important and what the Government is doing to improve the essential skills of Canadians. Chris then described for delegates some of the many essential skills tools and resources available and provided information on how to access them.

Chris pointed out that essential skills are not a silver bullet. They are also not the same as employability skills.

• Essential Skills are the skills deemed necessary by employees
• Employability skills are those skills identified as critical from the point of view of employers and tend to be more attitudinal in nature.

Essential skills are not technical skills. Rather, they are nine transferable skills seen as integral to successful participation in life, work and community. It should not be assumed that essential skills are simply basic skills. Essential skills proficiency is a continuum, measured on a five point scale and at the upper levels of the scale (levels 4 and 5), essential skills are very advanced.

One of the reasons essential skills have become so important in today’s workplaces is that workers, more than ever before, must be life long learners. For example, new demands have been placed on workers with the introduction of universal standards such as ISO and the pressure for Canadians to be more productive due to the global economy. Without the underlying essential skills, workers will have difficulty adapting to change and acquiring new technical skills.

Businesses can address the Essential Skills issue more effectively by:

• avoiding the word “literacy” when offering training
• embedding essential skills training in technical training
• approaching employers through other employers (stressing the competitive advantage of developing the essential skills of workers)
• encouraging training partnerships and ensuring unions are involved