Developing employability skills to maximize potential

Employability Skills Assessment Tool

The Employability Skills Assessment Tool (ESAT) provides a process and online supports for the assessment and development of social and emotional skills. Developing skills such as attitude, accountability, confidence, adaptability, creativity and collaboration can be identified as outcomes in your training or employment programs.

License holders can select from over 40 existing ESAT skills or develop their own skill descriptions for specific applications.

How does ESAT work?

ESAT takes a web-based and appreciative approach to social and emotional skill development by:

  • Establishing a clear assessment framework of skill definitions and exemplars

  • Connecting teams that work together to help program participants develop their skills in a consistent manner

  • Gathering observations to identify behavioural patterns and ensure assessment is evidence-based

  • Fostering participant self-awareness of strengths and skill gaps through honest, consistent, timely and respectful feedback

  • Supporting both self and staff-assessments so participants understand how their social and emotional skills are seen by employers

  • Supporting communication between staff and with participants to overcome employment barriers

  • Providing clear and motivating progress reports

Why are social and emotional skills important?

Getting and keeping a good job requires multiple skill sets. Social and emotional skills are the foundation upon which other skills rest. If a client’s social and emotional skills are not solid, they can have a negative impact on employment no matter how good their other skill sets are. The Canadian government is also recognizing the importance of social and emotional skills in the new Skills for Success Framework.

Under-developed social and emotional skills can also lead to a cycle of ineffective training in which clients repeat training that doesn’t directly address their employability needs. The result can be decreased labour market participation and mobility.

For more information on the core nine ESAT social and emotional skills, click here.

Applications

ESAT can be used in programs as short as three weeks, where the aim is to create awareness of employability expectations, to programs 12 weeks or longer where more challenging behavioural changes can be achieved. It can be applied in any training or educational setting where the development of social and emotional skills is relevant to the long-term success of the client.

Training

ESAT training is available in various forms:

  • two-day in-person ESAT accreditation course for groups of 8 or larger.

  • online orientation courses.

  • online in person orientation

  • Practical supports/guides on how to use ESAT to effectively remove barriers to employment are also provided to license holders.

If you are interested in learning more about ESAT, please download our ESAT brochure or contact our team at esat_reset@futureworx.ca.