Introducing the New Workplace Readiness Skills for the Commonwealth

UPDATE (11/04/10): Read the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center’s report detailing research behind the New Workplace Readiness Skills for the Commonwealth: “Critical Workplace Skills for Virginia’s Economic Vitality.”

Much has changed since Virginia first developed Workplace Readiness Skills in the 1990s. The economy has evolved and so have the ways we work. Therefore, in 2008 Virginia Department of Education decided to re-evaluate Virginia’s Workplace Readiness Skills.

What Needed to Change?
Employers across Virginia reviewed the existing Workplace Readiness Skills and made the following recommendations:

  • Add career planning.
  • Add safety.
  • Review and update computer literacy.
  • Add skill statements to reinforce identified areas.
  • Revise long statements containing multiple tasks.
  • Add, or rewrite, statements to include creativity/innovation, cross-cultural/global markets, and health and wellness.

Final Workplace Readiness Skills List
The final list was developed based on employer input and 21st Century Skills:

Personal Qualities & People Skills
  • Positive Work Ethic
  • Integrity
  • Teamwork
  • Self-Representation
  • Diversity Awareness
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Creativity & Resourcefulness
Professional Knowledge & Skills
  • Speaking & Listening
  • Reading & Writing
  • Critical Thinking & Problem Solving
  • Health & Safety
  • Organizations, Systems, & Climates
  • Lifelong Learning
  • Job Acquisition & Advancement
  • Time, Task, & Resource Management
  • Mathematics
  • Customer Service
Technology Knowledge & Skills
  • Job-Specific Technologies
  • Information Technology
  • Internet Use & Security
  • Telecommunications

We have converted the skills list into the appropriate format for Virginia’s CTE curriculum: skills are now tasks/competencies with definitions to amplify and describe the skills. We have incorporated instructional activities and blended our Workplace Readiness Skills Featured Resources into the new tasks. Rather than one task for Workplace Readiness Skills, each course task list now begins with the 21 new skills.

A new assessment for the new 21 WRS offers a stand-alone credential for a verified credit. The current NOCTI test, which must be coupled with an IC3 exam to qualify for a verified credit, may be used through the end of this school year.

Please e-mail the Center if you have questions or comments, or call us at 804-673-3778.