National Adult Literacy Database

In the Conceptual Age, right-brain skills will be key. Given the velocity of change and the complexity that results from this, we need to go beyond just knowledge or expertise. The best employees of the future will excel at creative problem solving and different ways of thinking -- synthesizing seemingly diverse things together for better solutions, using metaphors to explain new ideas for which no context yet might exist.

Today, managers no longer have to hire the "best qualified" candidate and can hire someone who is competent, qualified and the "right fit."

Workers affected by the Bowater closure in Queens County, Nova Scotia, are getting career specialists to help them train and find new employment.

Consulting firm Towers Watson says it has found evidence that employers with a fully engaged workforce tend to have higher profit margins. The firm’s study covered some 32,000 employees, including 1,000 in Canada. It found that about two-thirds of the Canadian employees surveyed weren’t “fully engaged” in their work and felt frustrated by the level of support they receive.

A European study claims that the UK has an oversupply of low-skilled workers, but demand is falling and there is a shortage of workers with high-quality vocational skills. It also continues to have a relatively high number of adults with very poor basic literacy and numeracy skills, who are not well placed to benefit from vocational training.

Twenty-seven managers and supervisors from a dozen companies in Nova Scotia learned how to work more efficiently by communicating better with staff through jobsHere training delivered by the province. The 40-hour program was jointly organized with the Excellence in Manufacturing Consortium, a not-for-profit that helps member companies become more competitive, more profitable and better managed.

According to Randstad Canada, in order to achieve work-life balance, it's important for workers to set boundaries between their work and personal lives as the line between work and home continues to blur.

The strategy outlines three policy issues which should form the basis of skills policies: firstly to develop relevant skills to meet current and emerging economic needs; secondly to “activate” the skills held by working-age unemployed by integrating under-represented groups into the labour market and removing demand-side barriers to hiring; and thirdly “putting skills to effective use,” ensuring that skills are used effectively in employment by enlarging demand of skills.

The third annual Essential Skills Day will take place September 21, 2012, to raise awareness of the nine essential skills as defined by the Government of Canada and the importance of training in the workplace.

Skills/Compétences Canada, a not-for-profit organization that actively promotes careers in skilled trades and technologies, has announced that the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry (UA Canada) has signed on as a presenting sponsor of the next three Skills Canada National Competitions.

"If work-life balance is important to you, define what that means and weigh the job against realistic criteria that is within your control. And remember, that criteria may change, and so the may the job a few years down the road."

Certificates are the fastest-growing U.S. college credential, with more than 1 million awarded nationally in 2010, according to a recent study from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

Amid economic uncertainty around the globe, Canadian employers expect to add more jobs in the second half of 2012, but at a slightly lower rate than anticipated in last year's study. Forty per cent of hiring managers said they are planning on hiring new permanent, full-time employees between now and the end of the year compared to 43 per cent in 2011.

In times of economic uncertainty and ever-changing information technology, organizations – whether in the public domain or private sector – are often obligated to sit back, reflect and re-evaluate their activities and priorities. With this in mind, the National Adult Literacy Database (NALD) is adapting some of its services and setting a new course for the future.

Because so much of our time is spent at work, it is the ideal place to encourage good health habits. As an employer, you are in the position to stimulate change. To launch a healthy lifestyle initiative, you could implement a health audit to discover the issues that affect your employees.