1. Kansas WORKReady! Certificate KANSASWORKS State Board
July 27, 2011

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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. Certificate Levels & Employability Core employability skills for:
Gold
Silver
Platinum
Bronze
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

7. 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. $ D. $54.00
B. $ E. $54.54
C. $41.87

8. 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

9. 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 ( ) 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

12. 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

13. 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

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

15. 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)

16. 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

17. 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 *

18. Who Uses WorkKeys Nationally?

21. 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

22. For more information…
Contact the Kansas Department of Commerce Regional Operations Managers
Ursula Drake, Area I
(785)
Gina Coffman, Area II
(785)
Wallace Vaughn, Area III
(913)

23. For more information… Christy Harmon, Area IV
(316)
Jon Pettus, Area V
(620)

24. www.workkeys.com www.kansascommerce.com www.kansasworks.com