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The following was announced at an Essential Skills Information Session for employers held Friday, October 7 at Saffron's Restaurant.

Fanshawe College will establish the first Essential Skills Resource Centres in Canada to help employers and individuals acquire and use "Canada's Essential Credential."

Fanshawe will open three centres at the London, Woodstock and St. Thomas/Elgin campuses this fall. Plans are in the works to develop a fourth centre at the Simcoe Campus.

"We're pleased that Fanshawe College is able to take a leadership role in this important, national initiative. These resource centres will enable our campuses to offer a new, valuable service to individuals and employers in our communities," said Joy Warkentin, Senior Vice-President Academic.

The resource centres will feature information about essential skills in both print and online formats and a staff member to assist clients. The Test of the Workplace Essential Skills (TOWES), a new tool that measures some essential skills, will be a key resource.

The TOWES test is rapidly becoming "Canada's Essential Credential," with major companies such as Suncor, Syncrude, Boeing Technology Canada, and national sectoral organizations such as the Canadian Trucking Human Resources Council now using it to assess job applicants and determine training needs.

Essential skills and the value they can bring to companies were the focus of a special employer presentation at Fanshawe College on Thursday, October 7.

Essential skills - sometimes called generic, transferable or foundation skills - are skills common to virtually every job. Used every day, essential skills allow us to perform tasks, communicate, learn new things and adapt to change. TOWES specifically measures individuals' ability to read, understand and use information they read, and do common mathematical calculations. TOWES helps employers and individuals bridge the gap between the essential skills workers have and the essential skills employers need. Essential skills also are important to health and safety and productivity.

Human Resources Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) has made the essential skills a priority and, to date, has profiled skills requirements for more than 200 occupations listed in the National Occupation Classifications (NOC). These jobs range from professional to skilled trades. All NOC occupations will be profiled by the end of 2005.

Currently, many companies rely on academic credentials to screen job applicants. But simply having a credential doesn't always tell an employer what the person really knows and can do. Applicants may have good technical skills; but employers say they often lack essential skills that are just as critical.

When it comes to reading, using information and doing basic math, almost 50% of Canadians score in the lowest two out of five levels. Jobs that do not require any postsecondary education (e.g. cashier, security guard or labourer) require a minimum Level 3.

So what does this all mean?

For employers, essential skills and TOWES can help companies:

• Assess job applicants and hire the right people with the right skills the first time, thus reducing turnover and costs associated with replacing workers, which can be as high as one and a half times that employee's annual salary;
• Develop targeted, cost-effective staff training that focuses on employees' specific skills gaps.

For job seekers and individuals faced with career and education decisions, essential skills and TOWES can:

• Help individuals assess their current essential skills and compare the skills they have with the skills needed for the job they want;
• Make appropriate training and education choices to get the skills they lack;
• Use their TOWES assessment to demonstrate to employers that they truly have the skills to do that job.

For unions, labour adjustment committees and professionals in counselling and social services, TOWES can help better assist clients and laid-off members in making re-training or career change choices.

Bow Valley College (BVC), Alberta, and the federal government have provided national leadership in the essential skills initiative. Working in partnership with BVC, Fanshawe College has played a major role in the essential skills initiative in Ontario. Bow Valley continues to work with Fanshawe and the Ontario community colleges through the Colleges of Ontario Network for Education and Training. The Ontario colleges are the exclusive distributors of the TOWES test in the province.

"We welcome Fanshawe's participation in this national project," said Conrad Murphy, BVC's Director, TOWES. "Working together, we hope to help individual Canadians and companies achieve greater success and economic prosperity by identifying and acquiring the skills they need for the 21st century," he said.