Helping Adults Gain Complementary Skills

Work Maturity

If you ask almost any employer what he/she wants most in an employee, he/she will say:

• Someone who shows up for work every day
• Someone who is on time for work and doesn't leave early
• Someone who takes pride in what he/she does
• Someone who has a positive attitude
• Someone who doesn't have to be told what to do next, but can instead take the initiative and move to the next task

Each of these responses reflects a need for a higher level of work maturity.  The employee who has a higher level of work maturity is much more likely to be successful on the job.

Employability

The NSSB has also identified a number of employability skills that employees should have.  These include things such as the ability to:

• Be an active or effective listener
• Communicate effectively
• Use basic tools of technology (computer, fax, etc.)
• Solve problems
• Organize and plan
• Work as part of a team

When you review the NSSB skills, you realize that they are closely tied to SCANS, an important part of any VPI curriculum.  If you want more information on SCANS, you may want to access the Workplace Readiness Web-based Training at www.floridatechnet.org/inservice/VPI. That training will provide you with more information about how to help students gain the workplace readiness skills that employers want and students need in order to be successful.