Case Study: One-Stop Approach Prepares Local Job Seekers for Work

November 2006

The Organization:
WorkSource Columbia Basin, Kennewick, Wash.

The Challenge:
Providing local businesses with a skilled, trainable workforce

The Solution:
Using WorkKeys® assessments to measure job skills so that training is targeted to individual needs

The Results:
Hundreds of workers have received skill credential certificates to use in the job-seeking process

Situation
The Benton-Franklin Workforce Development Council has worked for the past decade creating a "one-stop" approach to career development services for Benton and Franklin counties in Washington state. WorkSource Columbia Basin, the one-stop center, currently serves nearly 550 job seekers daily and more than 1,000 businesses every year with federal and state-funded programs.

Agriculture and the service industry are the two main industries of Benton and Franklin counties. Agriculture in the area has seen a decline over recent years, and the area's biggest employer, a local nuclear site, has also reduced its workforce.

Needs
WorkSource Columbia Basin needed a way to assess the skill levels of job seekers in order to ensure that training funds from the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) would be spent wisely.

WorkSource Columbia Basin also wanted local businesses to know what it was doing to address and fill skill gaps that were a major concern to employers. "Businesses knew that their employees had some gaps, but they didn't know to what extent," said Candice Bluechel, coordinator for business services for the Benton-Franklin Workforce Development Council. "They were also concerned about being able to determine if the job applicants that they were interviewing had the skills to do the job."

Solution
WorkSource Columbia Basin requires that participants in WIA-funded programs take at least two WorkKeys assessments related to their career goals before beginning any training. The assessments allow employment specialists to see what skills the potential employees have and where they could improve with training.

"The wonderful thing about WorkKeys is that it truly assesses industry-specific skills that are used on a daily basis in the workplace," Bluechel said. "Job seekers who have been out there working for 20 to 25 years get their feathers ruffled when they find out that they have to take these assessments, but they realize the benefit once they see the current picture of their skills that the assessment provides."

Results
Since WorkSource Columbia Basin began giving the WorkKeys assessments in October 2001, approximately 1,150 job seekers have taken more than 4,200 assessments. Businesses contact the agency with openings and send independent job seekers to the one-stop center for assessment. Along with their applications or resumes, job seekers often attach copies of their certificates highlighting WorkKeys skill levels.

"I found that WorkKeys assessments have encouraged my clients to want to strive to do better," said Elissa Gorena, employment specialist at WorkSource Columbia Basin. "Some clients who have been unemployed for quite a while see their scores, and it raises their self-confidence and gives them a feeling that they have something to offer an employer."

Outlook
WorkSource Columbia Basin is working to encourage local businesses to request that job applicants include the "Workplace Skills Certificate" with their resumes. To earn the certificate, job seekers must take four WorkKeys assessments—Reading for Information, Locating Information, Applied Mathematics, and another WorkKeys assessment that corresponds to their chosen career path.

"When I had the opportunity to earn the Workplace Skills Certificate, I decided to use it as part of my job application packet," said Kandi L. van Heel, a former job seeker. "The week after I earned the certificate, I had an interview. I included this certificate with my application. I am now working for the company I had been trying to get on with."

Quotes

"We need to know what businesses need for workforce training in order to provide them with a properly trained workforce. WorkKeys is a wonderful tool for making sure that we are successfully preparing our job seekers for local jobs.": – Candice Bluechel, coordinator of business services, Benton-Franklin Workforce Development Council

"The WorkKeys program was critical in helping our office qualify candidates during a recent hiring process. We feel WorkKeys is a sound tool for assisting with such business decisions.": – Kris Watkins, president and CEO, Tri-Cities Visitor and Convention Bureau