Workplace Language Training

Workplace Language TrainingLASI World Skills

Pieces of the Puzzle

•LINC/ESL instructors •Newcomers •Employers•Enhanced Language Training

Outline

• Snapshot of the issues• Employer Needs, Challenges, Concerns• Just a few Facts• ELT – What is it?• Workplace Language Training• Outcomes• Questions

Employer Needs & Challenges

Pre-screeningWant easy and direct access to job-ready candidates.

LanguageWant high levels of English, and very often bilingualism.

Canadian Work ExperienceViewed as proof of the ability to function in a Canadian context.

NetworkingImmigrant candidates are not part of employers’ formal and informal networks.

AwarenessImmigrants are not considered as a potential supply of workforce needs.

Soft SkillsEmphasis on interpersonal communications and other “soft” skills.

Ottawa is facing a labour crisis. The demand for labour is growing, while the Canadian born workforce is

shrinking.

The crisis can be alleviated by employing skilled immigrants.

By the year 2011 it is estimated that 100% of Canada’s net labour force will depend on immigration.

Immigrants are not being effectively integrated in the labour market.

Immigrants are 4 times more likely than Canadian-born counterparts to be unemployed.

Immigrant unemployment rate is 18.2% compared to 5.4% Ontario average (these are not the most current statistics)

Meanwhile, employers report difficulties finding qualified workers.

Reports indicate impending shortages of skilled workers in select sectors. Yet less that 25% of ITP’s find work in their exact field

Issue snapshot

Concerns of Employers

4 of the areas of concern in hiring ITP’s Oral Communication Writing Lack of Canadian Experience Culture (how will they ‘fit’ with the rest of

the team)

Other areas of concern include foreign credential recognition; security issues and more

Just a few facts:

Based on 2001 statistics, the number of newcomers to Canada with BA’s was equivalent to the number of BA’s that graduated from Carleton that same year

In 2001, the number of newcomers with PhD’s that settled in Ottawa exceeded the number of PhD’s granted by the two universities in Ottawa

(These statistics reflect the information available prior to the RFP of 2004)

Just a few Facts:

70% of newcomers are working age adults and yet the unemployment rate among recent immigrants with university degrees is four times higher than Canadian born graduates

5.9 billion dollars is lost yearly in Canada’s GNP because of underemployment of ITP’s

Enhanced Language Training

What is it?

Fully funded and initiated by Citizenship and Immigration Canada to meet the workplace language needs of ITP’s

BM’s (6), 7, 8, 9 +

Enhance soft communication skills

Bridging component that includes volunteer/co-op/job shadowing, mentorship

(pilot project)

Life after Pilot Project Needs Analysis

• Needs analysis was done based on ELT pilot project

• Participants included instructors, previous and current project managers, cross-cultural specialist, student evaluation forms

• Information gleaned from the ELT conference of November 2006 on best practices and pitfalls of ELT projects across Canada

• Entire curriculum was re-visited

Workplace Language Training

Workplace Culture and Communication

• Understanding what constitutes culture and cultural behaviour of the Canadian Workplace

• Employability Skills and Job Search Strategies• Canadian Workplace Laws, Policies, and

Regulations• Conflict Resolution• Leadership and Management• Team Work• Health and Safety• Labour Unions• Work/Life Balance

Workplace Language Training

Workplace Culture and Communication

Developing understanding what constitutes culture and cultural behaviour of the Canadian Workplace begins with an in depth exploration of concepts of culture and promotion of intercultural communication.

Workplace Language Training

Workplace Culture and Communication

Three concepts of culture are used to give the students an objective language for discussing cultural assumptions and behaviours:• The culture onion• The culture iceberg• The culture puzzle

Workplace Language Training

Workplace Culture and CommunicationOnce the students have an objective vocabulary

for discussing culture, we then use that vocabulary to discuss intercultural issues. Once an issue is identified, we ask ourselves: What does it mean in Canadian culture when someone does X?

I try to discourage asking just “why” because it may imply judgement instead of asking for clarification.

Workplace Language Training

Workplace Culture and Communication

What does it mean to talk about the weather in Canada?

What does it mean to employers to require that a candidate have Canadian experience?

Workplace Language Training

Workplace Culture and Communication

By first establishing an objective language for discussions about culture and then encouraging intercultural (judgement free) discussion of the integration and workplace issues, we give our students/clients a strategy that they can use in their job search and in their new workplaces.

Workplace Language Training

Oral Communication for Professionals

• Employability Skills: workplace human relations skills which include soft skills, people skills, teamwork skills.

• Self-Assessment and Reflection to Develop Accountability: Reflection on communication styles and assessment of learning objectives and progress. Students take ownership of their own learning outcomes in the course as if they were employees in real-life jobs.

• Job Search Preparation: practical application of the language strategies used in the workplace. Understanding the reason for and the language strategies of the behavioural interview

• Pronunciation and Fluency Development: focus on both pronunciation issues as well as spoken fluency improvement

Workplace Language Training

Writing for Professional Purposes

• Audience profiling, clarifying the purpose of a communication and structure in the business message.

• Plain language, word choice, sentence structure and paragraph structure in the business message.

• The Writing Process, including prewriting strategies, drafting and proofreading and editing strategies.

• General principles of written business communication, including writing business messages, e-mails, letters, memos, their types and formats etc.

• The language and details of routine goodwill messages, negative messages, persuasive messages, and informal reports.

• Writing cover letters and profiling potential employers.

Canadian Experience

• Workplace Exposure (internship/job-shadowing/volunteering) in a workplace relevant to their training and experience

• Mentoring – matched with a professional from the same field

Workplace Exposure

Rationale Canadian experience Expand network Professional Reference in Canada Practical application of skills learned in class

Challenges Multiple professional backgrounds Appropriateness of workplace exposure activities Relevance in relation to overall goals Client circumstances

Mentorship

Rationale One-on-one support Sector/Profession specific Information New perspective Expand network

Challenges Multiple sectors Not duplicating newcomer services Relevance to client

Workplace Exposure and Mentorship

SOLUTIONS!!!!1) Individualized Job Search Action Plans

One-on-one interview to discuss skills, experience and career goals Action plan with practical steps to overcome barriers to employment

2) Partnering with other Service Providers Ottawa Job Match Network Volunteer Ottawa Pinecrest Queensway Community Health Centre Algonquin College’s Settlement to Employment Project (STEP) and

Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization (OCISO)

Workplace Exposure and Mentorship

SOLUTIONS!!!!

3) Information and Networking Opportunities Employer information sessions, meet & greets and formal

networking sessions Program Listserv, occasional job matching and setting up of

informational interviews

4) Alumni Mentorship Project Matching students to an alumni now successfully employed in their

field (or related) Goal-oriented matches based on professional compatibility

Outcomes

• Language enhancement including hard and soft skills, language strategies for the workplace. Clients are tested using the CLB exit tasks for BM’s 7, 8, 9 and 10. All clients improved their language benchmarks

• Deeper cultural awareness – now succeeding in the interview process

• Networking opportunities

• Canadian experience

Workplace Language Training

Questions