Enhancing Employability Through Soft Skills Development

About

Strong soft or essential skills are the key to workplace success. They are used in different combinations within all jobs. Workers who can communicate well, act professionally, are able to handle disputes, and understand workplace expectations are typically much better employees. They can learn new technical skills more quickly; can teach others more effectively; are able to contribute more deliberately; and can adapt to change.

The aim of this project is address the soft skill deficiencies that some struggle with. We will work to increase the work-ready labour supply by providing individuals with the training needed to become valuable and productive members of the province’s workforce.

At Academy Canada we are excited to apply our 35 years of training experience to this new partnership with the Newfoundland and Labrador Workforce Innovation Centre. We believe this is an important extension of the work we’ve already been doing with our 30,000 alumni since 1985.

Our research project and pilot program proposes to identify the soft skills gaps among Newfoundland and Labrador’s labour supply and to evaluate the impact of a specially designed soft skills development workshop series on the employability of its participants.

Primary Research Question

Will focused soft skills training enhance the employability of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians?

Who

Research led by Academy Canada.

Where

Research data will be collected from all across the province. Workshops will be held in St. John’s and Corner Brook.

When

October 2019 – February 2023 *This research project is completed.

Research Project Deliverables

This research project and pilot program sought to determine the soft skill gaps among workers in Newfoundland and Labrador and further assess how programs designed to develop these soft skills would impact the employability of its participants.

Phase I of the project involved an in-depth labour market analysis in order to collect documented evidence of soft skills that are lacking and/or in demand in the province’s labour force. Phase II involved a series of needs assessment interviews and surveys which were completed with stakeholders in the post-secondary education and business communities.

Based on the findings from the research and surveys of phases I and II, the list of skills identified were combined in clusters to identify topics for prospective training workshops. As such, a total of 5 workshop titles were identified and delivered.

Click here to read the Enhancing Employability through Soft Skills Development Final Report