Yorkton — The partners were the Regional College and a local business. In addition, SkillPlan donated half the assessment booklets. The training focus was on preparing an Essential Skills Profile for one occupation, and providing appropriate training as a result of the assessment. The delivery was profiling at the business around the shifts of the workers, assessing at the college, and providing one-on-one tutor training to the workers.

Nipawin — The partners were the Regional College (four campuses) and four local Chambers of Commerce. The training focus was on “soft skills,” particularly conflict resolution, as identified in surveys of Chamber members. Delivery was a workshop in each of the four communities given by a trainer hired by the College.

La Ronge — The partner was La Ronge Motor Hotel (owned by the Lac La Ronge Indian Band) with support from the Regional College and Saskatchewan Tourism Education Council. The training focus was to provide both a literacy learning centre for all hotel staff as well as specific literacy coaching in order to attain national certification for one department of the hotel, the housekeepers. Delivery was the provision of a learning centre on-site at the hotel open for three hours a day, five days a week, and staffed by a former employee who had taken tutor training; coaching was done by the same staff person at hours chosen by the housekeepers.

Lessons Learned

Collectively, these six pilots provided a wealth of information from which we can draw lessons, but it is also necessary to remember that there are several groups for whom these lessons will be important: the clients or participants, the deliverers/trainers/instructors, the organizations involved, and the community at large. The lessons learned can be grouped under the headings of context, planning, delivery, and future sustainability.

By context we mean the environment that will support implementation of essential workplace skills training, and this comes from a focus on raising public awareness around workplace literacy issues. In addition, planners must be aware of the limited amount of time that the relatively few business/labour leaders have in small communities and work to conserve the time of these important partners. Finally, deliverers/trainers must thoroughly understand the mindset of the workplace.

Planners have to take into account several issues. First, the timing of the training is crucial (not at spring seeding!). Second, planners must consider how long the training should be (what can individuals and businesses afford). In addition, planners must be prepared for a lot of “leg-work” initially and throughout the delivery of the training. Those responsible for planning must also look at “soft skills” as being important training needs, as a mask for other essential skills gaps, and as a training entry into the workplace. Finally, the workplace itself should be considered as a delivery site to provide a meaningful context for the training.

At the delivery stage, consideration should be given to the impact of the training style and the importance of matched objectives between deliverer and participant. Furthermore, specialized trainers are a necessity so that time and money is not wasted. Finally, follow-up is crucial so that participants feel the training providers are accountable and so that the training providers can improve their offerings the next time.