Kansas WORKReady! Certificate KANSASWORKS State Board July 27, 2011

Kansas WORKReady! Certificate is a credential that is: Evidence-based Industry-recognized Portable Certifies essential skills important for workplace success

The Kansas WORKReady! Certificate is a credential that is used across all sectors of the economy and measures the following skills: Problem solving Critical thinking Reading and using written, 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

Kansas WORKReady! Certificate Certificate documents skills using three assessments: Applied Mathematics Locating Information Reading for Information Employers get meaningful evidence of work skills in common language that business understands

Certificate Levels & Employability Core employability skills for: Gold Silver Platinum Bronze 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 6 6 6 35% of occupations 65% of occupations 90% of occupations 95% of occupations The discussions came down to this – Communication skills, Problem solving skills, and Interpersonal skills. And let me add, this was nothing new. ACT took these three areas and developed 9 assessments that fall under one of more of those three umbrellas. 6 6

Level 5 Applied Mathematics Quik Call charges .18 per minute for long-distance calls. Econo Phone totals your phone usage each month and rounds the number of minutes up to nearest 15 minutes. It then charges $7.90 per hour of phone usage, dividing this charge into 15-minute segments if you used less than a full hour. If your office makes 5 hours 3 minutes worth of calls this month using the company with the lower price, how much will these calls cost? A. $39.50 D. $54.00 B. $41.48 E. $54.54 C. $41.87

NCRC Certificate Levels Bronze: Level 3 minimum in each skill Core employability skills for approximately 35% of jobs Silver: Level 4 minimum in each skill Core employability skills for approximately 65% of jobs Gold: Level 5 minimum in each skill Core employability skills for approximately 90% of jobs Platinum: Level 6 minimum in each skill Core employability skills for approximately 95% of jobs Bronze: Level 3 minimum in each skill Core employability skills for approximately 35% of jobs Silver: Level 4 minimum in each skill Core employability skills for approximately 65% of jobs Gold: Level 5 minimum in each skill Core employability skills for approximately 90% of jobs Platinum: Level 6 minimum in each skill Core employability skills for approximately 99% of jobs 8 8

Higher Skills = Higher Pay National Career Readiness Certificate Levels and Approximate Average Annual Salaries (U.S.) Platinum Occupations Gold Occupations Silver Occupations Bronze Occupations $92,000 $55,000 $31,000 $27,000 Data are based on the most recent 5 years of JobPro data (2006-2010) and BLS Occupational Employment and Wage data from 2009 NCRC levels were assigned to each job profile in JobPro based on the maximum score across the 3 NCRC skill assessments. An average NCRC level was then created for each occupation (in this case, the SOC code used by BLS so that we could cross it to BLS wage data as BLS does not calculate wage data for O*Net codes). The average wage within each NCRC level was weighted by employment for the occupations in that level. Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wages 2009, ACT JobPro Data 2006-2010

Kansas WORKReady! Kansas WORKReady! benefits to job candidates: Provides tangible proof of workplace skills May be used as an additional tool for application Can help in determining a training program which may result in increased skills and earnings May be used as a portable credential

KANSASWORKS Info Scores are posted on KANSASWORKS Employers will see the certificate level next to the name Only those with complete active resumes can be searched by employers KANSASWORKS will show the last date an assessment was completed

Certified Workforce From 4/09-6/11 Kansas has issued: 360 Platinum Certificates 3482 Gold Certificates 6021 Silver Certificates 1929 Bronze Certificates 11591 Total Certificates

Return on Investment Case Studies Training: Morningstar Farms: Training time reduced 50% Cost savings of $2500-$3700 per employee Northrop Grumman Ship Systems: 28% reduction in turnover (layoff) rates Reduced layoffs via cross-training ($2M savings)

Return on Investment Case Studies Performance: Creative Extruded Products: Overtime hours reduced (95%) Scrap expenditures reduced (21%) 50:1 profit / cost ratio UP Special Delivery: Increased productivity resulted in 20% staff reduction in data processing department

Outcomes* Increased employee satisfaction / morale Increased management / supervisory satisfaction Increased employee focus on education Industry competitiveness Job satisfaction Skill data (succession planning) Employee performance ratings *www.workkeys.com/case

Who Uses WorkKeys Nationally? https://www.kansasworks.com/ada/mn_workready_dsp.cfm

How Are WORKReady! Certificates Earned? Job candidates take KeyTrain as a pre-assessment to determine if they need skill enhancement KeyTrain can be completed anywhere through the internet Job candidates will take the three WorkKeys assessments online through: Local community or technical college program Local adult education program Their local Workforce Centers

For more information… Contact the Kansas Department of Commerce Regional Operations Managers Ursula Drake, Area I (785) 224-4339 udrake@kansasworks.com Gina Coffman, Area II (785) 235-1622 gcoffman@kansasworks.com Wallace Vaughn, Area III (913) 577-5900 wvaughn@kansasworks.com

For more information… Christy Harmon, Area IV (316) 771-6804 charmon@kansasworks.com Jon Pettus, Area V (620) 232-2622 jpettus@kansasworks.com

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