Blazing Oklahoma’s Career Readiness Certificate (CRC) Trail

1. Blazing Oklahoma’s Career Readiness Certificate (CRC) Trail

2. Governor’s Council for Workforce and Economic Development (GCWED) Strategic Plan Initiatives: Growing talent, skills and knowledge Growing and delivering solutions for talent recruitment and retention Growing awareness and success

3. The Career Readiness Program • identifies skills needed for specific jobs • pre-assesses and provides training needed to close any gaps • assesses your skill level

4. Pre-Assessment and Upgrading Skill Levels ACT® Level I Publishers: KeyTrain®—www.keytrain.com WIN®—www.w-win.com

5. WorkKeys® Foundational Skills Applied Mathematics Applied Technology Business Writing Listening Locating Information Observation Reading for Information Teamwork Writing

6. CRC Areas Reading for Information Locating Information Applied Mathematics

7. Certification Levels • Gold—awarded to those who score at or above a level 5 in each of the core areas. • Silver—awarded to those who score at or above a level 4 in each of the core areas. • Bronze—awarded to those who score at or above a level 3 in each of the core areas.

8. CRC State Totals South Carolina 68,000 Indiana 60,867 Ohio 37,000 Michigan 34,377 Oklahoma 22,303

9. State Career Readiness Certificate Programs - BlueState Adopted NCRC Programs - GreenStates With Regional Programs - Red

11. Back of CRC

12. Oklahoma’s CRC+ • KeyTrain® Career Skills Work Habits Workplace Effectiveness • Alchemy SISTEM™ Behavior in the Workplace Social Skills on the Job Anger Management Avoiding Destructive Behavior

13. Another benefit: Oklahoma Job Link • Your CRC information is uploaded into Oklahoma Job Link at www.oklahomajoblink.com • Resumes with CRC scores have a “flag” to alert employers of potential candidates with CRCs

14. CRC Info • The assessments take about 45 to 55 minutes each. • 150 Oklahoma Career Readiness Assessment sites • At this time, existing and available workforce participation in the Career Readiness Certification program is absolutely free.

15. What’s in it for the job seeker? • Proof of preparedness • Competitive advantage • Nationally recognized • Higher Skills = Higher Pay

16. Higher Skills = Higher Pay Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, ACT data

17. Benefits of Oklahoma’s CRC Job Seeker State Employer Portable credential nationally recognized that verifies to employers that an individual has essential core employability skills. Facilitates job placement, retention and advancement in our mobile society Confidence that your skills meet the needs of employers Road map for skill improvement, training, and educational needs Improved opportunities for career changes Economic development tool for business expansion and attraction Takes the guesswork out of hiring for the employer Reduces turnover cost and overtime Reduces training time and costs Increases productivity Increases your bottom line

18. Save the Dates • October 27-28, 2008,  “Crossing the Line:  Evolving regional strategies . . . real change, real challenges and real connections.”  2008 OEDC Economic and Workforce Development Summit (This is the Midwest Regional WorkKeys® Conference), Renaissance Hotel/Cox Convention Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, www.oedc.net • February 4-6, 2009, “Walk the River to Workforce Readiness, Southeast Regional WorkKeys® Conference, Jacksonville, Florida, www.southeasternworkkeysconference.com • May 12-15, 2009, 12th Annual National WorkKeys® Conference, Hyatt Regency, San Antonio, Texas, http://www.act.org/workkeys/conf/index.html

19. Contact me! http://www.okcommerce.gov/workkeys Click on WorkKeys®/Career Readiness for Partners Susan Kuzmic CRC Project Specialist Oklahoma Department of Commerce susan_kuzmic@okcommerce.gov (405) 815-5204

20. What’s in it for business? DL Burgess WorkKeys® Authorized Job Profiler Department of Commerce

21. ACT Authorized WorkKeys Job Profiles

22. “WorkKeys is an assessment system created by ACT for use in the business community.  It allows businesses to have a common language regarding workplace skills through job profiling, skills assessment, and instructional support…”

23. Overview: • Uses a focus group to gather job task and WorkKeys skill information from qualified job incumbents, • Provides a detailed report with a customized task list and skill levels related to specific work examples, • Follows an EEOC-compliant process that can be used to support hiring, promotion, and training decisions.

24. The Process: • Through job profiling organizations can analyze the skills needed for specific jobs and describe those needs to educators, students, and job applicants. • The process enables Oklahoma employers to identify required skill levels to more easily match candidates to job opportunities

25. By comparing the results from job profiles with individuals’ certification levels companies can make reliable decisions about hiring, training and program development; • Job profiling is currently being conducted at no cost for employers that meet the application criteria established by and available through the Governor’s Council For Workforce and Economic Development.

26. Methodology: • Site Visit and Job Shadowing, • Initial Task List (DOT, O*NET…), • Meet with Subject Matter Experts, • Conduct Profiling Session(s),

27. Session Results: • Skill Analysis, Ranking, & WorkKeys Levels; • Final Report to Employer and copy to OK Department of Commerce; • Copy and Confidential Support Information stored at Commerce for at least 1 year.

28. Benefits (short-term): • Job Incumbents (SMEs) establish WorkKeys Skill Levels and indentify “Essential Tasks,” • Formally links tasks performed on the job to the CRC skills measured by 3 Core Assessments, • Validates use of WorkKeys as an EEOC compliant hiring tool, • Encourages buy-in from employees (workers doing the job determine the skills and skill levels required),

29. Benefits (long-term): Company benefits: • Improved hiring procedures • Reduced turnover • Reduced training costs • Increased productivity • Higher employee morale

30. Nat’l Case Studies: • MidAmerican Energy Co. Largest utility in Iowa, providing electricity and natural gas in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, and South Dakota. In 1999, MidAmerican pilot-tested ACT's WorkKeys system as the pre-employment test for all meter reader job candidates. Since implementing WorkKeys in 1999, overall turnover for meter readers has dropped 83% (from 19% to 3%).

31. Northrop Grumman Defense contractor for the U.S. Navy and the largest private employer in Mississippi and Louisiana. Beginning in 1998 the company profiled more than 20 positions in 11 skilled trades throughout their ship systems division. Before WorkKeys, turnover rates varied - ranging from 17% to 45%. Two years after starting to use WorkKeys turnover rates dropped in all participating plants from 8% to 28%. The results are approximately $2 million saved in layoff and training expenses.

32. Bradner Village A health care center and retirement community in Northeast Indiana with 230 full-time employees. Confronting high employee turnover in 2004 used the WorkKeys system to profile four key positions. By making appropriate WorkKeys scores a condition for employment interviews, the company reduced turnover by 37%, training costs by 96%, and reduced time to identify qualified applicants by 55%.

33. Cost of Turnover: • The cost of hiring and training a new employee can vary from 25 percent to 200 percent of annual compensation. Costs include customer service disruption, loss of morale, burnout/absenteeism among remaining employees, loss of experience, continuity, etc. • A recent major study of the turnover problem in the supermarket industry estimated total direct and indirect costs of replacing a supermarket cashier earning $6.50 per hour was at least $3,637.00. (source = Coca-cola Retailing Research Council, 2006)

34. Oklahoma: • Seventy (70) Oklahoma businesses/companies currently have active job profiles for one or more positions within their organizations. • “Workforce recruitment, training, and certification are the key to economic development in Oklahoma… one thing every employer needs is workers who can absorb training and do the job.” – Steve Hendrickson, Boeing Co.

35. Profile Timeline: • One Session – Entry and Effective Performance Levels (hiring and promotion) • Two Sessions – Large Number of Employees or Multiple Locations • Reconciliation Session (?)

36. Site Visit and Job Shadowing (4 – 16 hrs) • SME Session(s) (8 hrs for each session) • Total Av’ge Time (8 – 24 hrs per employee)

37. Requirements: • Conference/Meeting Room • DVD and Viewing Screen • Copy Machine • Food and Snacks for SMEs (optional)

38. Jason George Eastern Wrkforce Investment Brd 721 S. 32nd St., Muskogee, OK 74401 Office Phone: 918-683-8553 E-mail: jasongeorge@easternwib.com Beth Jones Norman Economic Dvlpt Coalition 710 Asp, Ste.100, Norman,OK 73069 Office Phone: 405-310-3232 E-mail: bjones@nedcok.com Stephanie Isaacs Cherokee Nation Career Services PO Box 948, Tahlequah, OK 74465 Office Phone: 918-207-3886 E-mail: stephanie-isaacs@cherokeee.org Ron Mullen OK Emplymnt Security Commission 1810 N. Sioux Ave Claremore, OK 74017 Office Phone: 918-341-6633 ext. 17 E-mail: ron.mullen@oesc.state.ok.us Job Profilers:

39. Jo Richter OK Emplymnt Security Commission 301 South 2nd Chickasha, OK 73018 Office Phone: 405-224-3310 E-mail: jo.richter@oesc.state.ok.us Joe Ann Vermillion Rt 2 Box 373 McAlester, OK 74501 Office Phone: 918-423-0163 E-mail: jvermillion@netzero.net Pete Walker Great Plains Technology Center 4500 W. Lee Blvd, Bldg 600 Lawton, OK 73505 Office Phone: 580-250-5569 E-Mail: pwalker@gptech.org

40. Internet Resources: • www.okcommerce.gov/workkeys • www.growoklahoma.com/find_a_job • www.act.org/workkeys • www.gptech.org/wk • www.careerreadinesscertificate.org • www.keytrain.com

41. Contact Information: DL Burgess OK Department of Commerce 900 N. Stiles, OKC, OK 73104 e-mail: dick_burgess@okcommerce.gov phone: (405) 815-5121 mobile: (405) 618-0480