Essential Skills and Literacy
Do your employees have the skills they need to help your business succeed? Can they figure out a problem, communicate with each other and with your customers, and work effectively together?
Literacy and other essential skills make your employees productive and prepare your business for a changing economy.
Nine “essential skills” are the foundation for learning all other skills. They let people work productively, learn what they need to know, solve unexpected problems and adapt to workplace change. The nine essential skills are reading, writing and numeracy; document use and computer use; oral communication and working with others; thinking and continuous learning.
Find out how supporting your workers’ essential skills can become an investment in your business success.
- Employers’ guide to essential skills – Discover the benefits, case studies and a simple process for integrating essential skills training in the workplace.
- Essential skills profiles – Review which essential skills are most important in your industry.
- SkillPlan – Find resources for employers and instructors from the BC Construction Industry Skills Improvement Council.
- ASPECT – Find out how organizations that offer training in job skills and careers can benefit your business.
The B.C. ITA Essential Skills
website can help workers who want to improve their essential skills, especially those interested in the trades.
Strong reading and writing skills are essential so that your employees can work safely, read instructions, record their activities and report to customers.
B.C.’s Ministry of Advanced Education
lists adult literacy programs throughout the province.
Decoda Literacy Solutions
provides information and stories about literacy in B.C.
English Language Skills
Employees who are new to B.C. may need to improve their English language skills. You can help them become more productive by supporting them in learning English.
Help them find language courses through the Language Instruction Support and Training Network
To learn more about the various English language programs and services available to newcomers in B.C., visit WelcomeBC.