National Career Readiness Certificate Certify Your Workforce

2. National Career Readiness Certificate Certify Your Workforce The NCRC is a portable, evidence-based credential that certifies essential workplace skills that are important to workplace success.

3. National Career Readiness Certificate Certify Your Workforce • September 2011 marked the 5-year anniversary of the NCRC • Over 1.2 MILLION Certificates have been registered • 44 states have regional or statewide Certificate programs

4. National Career Readiness Certificate Benefits CAREER SEEKERS AND STUDENTS create career pathways by defining their interests, measuring and improving workplace skills, and earning portable workplace credentials that provide employers with verifiable evidence of fitness for specific jobs. EMPLOYERS screen applicants effectively and hire the best employees for jobs at all levels, resulting in reduced turnover, increased ROI, and better decisions about training and advancement. EDUCATORS AND CAREER COACHES ensure students’ success by giving them guidance on finding the right career pathway and helping them develop the skills they need to achieve their goals. INDUSTRY LEADERS build a qualified workforce by adopting workplace credentials, based on industry competency models, as the foundation of their skills certification systems. WORKFORCE LEADERS strengthen America’s competitiveness in the global economy and close the skills gap by supplying employers with workers who possess the necessary skills to meet demand. ECONOMIC DEVELOPERS inform businesses’ decisions about where to locate or expand, by demonstrating the skill level of regional labor sheds.

5. National Career Readiness Certificate Certify Your Workforce The NCRC is a credential that is used across all sectors of the economy and certifies the following skills: • Problem solving • Critical thinking • Reading and using work-related text • Applying information from workplace documents to solve problems • Applying mathematical reasoning to work-related problems • Setting up and performing work-related mathematical calculations • Locating, synthesizing, and applying information that is presented graphically • Comparing, summarizing, and analyzing information presented in multiple, related graphics

6. NCRC Plus Measures Soft Skills Combining measures of foundational skills with measures of work-related behaviors—soft skills—brings even greater accuracy to predictions about an individual’s success at work or in training.

7. NCRC Plus Measures Soft Skills • In addition to certifying foundational skills, the NCRC Plus ranks individuals in four soft skills categories. • Work Discipline—productivity and dependability • Teamwork—tolerance, communication, and attitude • Customer Service Orientation—interpersonal skills and perseverance • Managerial Potential—persuasion, enthusiasm, and problem solving

8. NCRC Plus Measures Soft Skills Individuals can earn the NCRC Plus by taking the WorkKeys Talent assessment. The Talent assessment is not required to qualify for a National Career Readiness Certificate.

9. National Career Readiness Certificate New Design

12. National Career Readiness Certificate New Design: NCRC Plus

16. NCRC Plus Talent Assessment WorkKeys Talent is a highly reliable inventory of personality that reports the behaviors an individual is inclined to practice on the job and in life. • 165 survey items • Delivered on Validus® platform in computerized format only • Agree or disagree statements relating to everyday activities and habits • Measures 12 personal characteristics • Compound scales summarize four areas common to most work environments • Work Discipline, Teamwork, Customer Service Orientation, and Managerial Potential

17. NCRC Plus Talent Assessment Outcomes • Employers: Make better HR decisions by hiring and developing people with the right set of “soft skills” to be successful • Career Seekers: Promote better decision-making about careers, and providing a new means for demonstrating soft skills • Economic Developers: Attract investors and companies to states and regions in order to create jobs and improve the local economy

18. Talent Assessment Personal Characteristics 12 measures of behavior • Carefulness • Striving • Cooperation • Sociability • Optimism • Sociability • Goodwill • Stability • Order • Savvy • Influence • Discipline Combinations of certain attributes form compound scales.

19. Talent Assessment Score Report Percentile score reported for each characteristic and compound scale

20. Talent Assessment Work Discipline Demonstrates dependability and maintains a disciplined and positive attitude toward job tasks, rules and regulations, and the work environment. These personal characteristics contribute to the Work Discipline index:

21. Talent Assessment Work Discipline Positive Work Discipline behaviors • Be punctual, set goals, and follow through on tasks • Master new skills by investing personal time and effort • Adopt systems that help them manage time and resources • Maintain an organized work environment • Search for information in a systematic manner • Adjust their behavior in different situations and among different people • Recognize problems and focus on solutions • Reduce stress by balancing work with healthy activities • Avoid emotional responses by thinking before they speak and act

22. Talent Assessment Teamwork Demonstrating compromise, cooperation, and interpersonal understanding when working with others. These characteristics contribute to the Teamwork index:

23. Talent Assessment Teamwork Positive Teamwork behaviors: • Control personal feelings when communicating • Maintain composure in stressful situations • Complete tasks with confidence and celebrate success • Look for positive aspects of seemingly negative events • Accept and respond to constructive criticism • Take responsibility and use setbacks as opportunities to improve • Listen carefully and speak frankly and honestly at the appropriate time • Gain coworkers’ support through compromise and negotiated solutions • Direct negative comments at tasks and processes, not at people • Recognize how actions and words can affect others on multiple levels

24. Talent Assessment Customer Service Orientation The potential to demonstrate high levels of attentiveness and courtesy and to provide helpful service to customers. These personal characteristics contribute to the Customer Service Orientation index:

25. Talent Assessment Customer Service Orientation Positive Customer Service Orientation behaviors: • Gather information and feedback from diverse sources • Understand background information before developing solutions • Seek suggestions on improving performance or solving a problem • Set realistic personal goals and remain accountable for them • Take responsibility for mistakes and respond to criticism • Work without direct supervision and adjust pace to workload • Rely on systems for managing multiple tasks or assignments • Identify and search out resources needed to complete tasks • Focus on solving problems and resist complaining about them • Respond to stress by communicating clearly and calmly • Encourage others to share ideas and engage in solutions

26. Talent Assessment Managerial Potential The potential to demonstrate a high level of work performance in supervisory and managerial roles. These personal characteristics contribute to the Managerial Potential index:

27. Talent Assessment Customer Service Orientation Positive Managerial Potential behaviors: • Demonstrate sensitivity to the needs and feelings of diverse individuals and groups • Listen effectively, maintain appropriate eye contact, and ask questions • Interpret body language and other nonverbal communication • Project confidence when interacting with individuals and large groups of people • Persuade and influence others by using data, facts, and logic • Resolve conflict through negotiation and compromise • Deliver feedback with a constructive, respectful approach • Avoid negative thinking and keep personal feelings in check • Accept responsibility and respond to constructive criticism • View setbacks and challenges as opportunities to improve • Commit to achieving clear, specific, challenging, and achievable goals

28. RegiSTAR™ Updates • Changes in reporting: • Indices information for the Talent assessment will show in the Test Export • The expiration date column will now be NULL • Extended Attributes will now be reported through RegiSTAR • Sorting of printed certificates: • Certificates will be printed and sorted alphabetically by last name and by site • Reinstatement of expired certificates: • All certificates in the system older than 5 years will be unexpired

29. Current Contracts Amendment • Online End User License Agreement – similar to Workplace Observation & Listening for Understanding • Collects basic information from the site • Authorizes ACT to add Talent assessment to testing realms if it is not already included in the contract • Authorizes ACT to change the design of their certificate to include the NCRC Plus logo

30. MyWorkKeys Homepage Update

31. MyWorkKeys Test Management Update

32. MyWorkKeys Certificate Management Update

33. MyWorkKeys Employer Verification Update

34. Key Contacts MIKE FLANIGAN NCRC Product Manager Michael.Flanigan@act.org • (319) 341-2540 TOBIN KYTE Personal Skills Product Manager Tobin.Kyte@act.org • (319) 885-8136 GARY NOLAN Marketing Project Manager Gary.Nolan@act.org • (319) 337-1526 AMANDA MALLOY Product Support Coordinator Amanda.Malloy@act.org • (319) 341-2519