OLYMPIA— Washington’s Workforce Training Coordination Board has awarded $50,000 to the AWB Institute  to help employers better evaluate perspective employees and new hires. The Institute, an affiliate of the Association of Washington Business, is charged with developing and coordinating worker training programs for large and small businesses in Washington state.  

 “Employers need a way to determine which employees have a good work ethic, will show up at work each day and work as part of a team,” said AWB Institute Director Mike Hudson. “Hopefully, these work readiness assessments will be a big part of the answer to this need on the part of employers to evaluate these soft, but essential skills.”

The Institute will coordinate with businesses on the use and application of the assessments, which are in both video and online formats. The grant includes:

• A “tool chest” of assessments that look at existing basic employability skill sets and remediations;
• Identification of the most cost effective uses of the assessments and industry sectors for which the products have a track record;
• Third party evaluations of the assessments;
• Administration of an in-state survey of the need for a work-ready credential and training/remediation curricula through the public workforce development system and selected business community members; and
• Development of a curriculum work group to evaluate curricula that prepares individuals for work or remediates individuals who fail work readiness assessments, existing successful efforts, the need for additional curriculum enhancements, prepare a curriculum framework and trainer’s guide for distribution to the Washington workforce development system, and a possible train-the-trainer system with three pilot programs.

“The work readiness assessment, which consists of a video tape with various work related questions, really helps get our students ready for the workplace,” said Keith Marler, director of workforce development at South Seattle Community College. “We find it has a very good value in assessing our students.”

For more information on the grants, contact Mike Hudson, executive director, AWB Institute, at 360.943.1600 or MikeH@awb.org.

About the AWB Institute
Founded in 2001, The AWB Institute is an affiliate of the Association of Washington Business. The purpose of the Institute helps identify and define the needs of Washington’s businesses and industries in workforce development and education, safety, environmental compliance and competitive issues. The Institute advocates for public policy positions at the state and federal levels, and develops best practices for Washington employers and members of AWB. As grant funding permits, it also partners with the public sector employment and training system and public schools on partnerships to expose the current workforce, students and educators to the world of work. For more about AWB, visit www.awb.org.