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In today’s competitive job market, technical competencies no longer ensure employment. The workplace has evolved and soft skills such as effective communication, organization, teamwork, initiative, and conflict resolution are paramount.

Responding to this identified need of employers, the Simcoe Muskoka Workforce Development Board (SMWDB) has developed a comprehensive curriculum framework, with broad employer appeal, that will enhance participants’ soft skills and employability skills.

To this end, in late 2013 the SMWDB engaged Millier Dickinson Blais to advance a project that would centre on the following objectives:

      1. Identify and analyze related curriculum in Southern Ontario

      2. Identify global and national best practices in soft-skill curriculum framework delivery and content

      3. Develop a Curriculum Framework

      4. Develop a Curriculum Delivery Framework

What is Soft Skills Solutions©?

• A 25-30-hour employability/soft skills training program for youth and adults - developed by Simcoe Muskoka Workforce Development Board (SMWDB)

• Designed to help individuals not only obtain or retain employment, but to become highly valued employees

• Certificates issued upon successful completion

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What Makes Soft Skills Solutions© (SSS) Different?

• Custom, copyrighted content

• Comprehensive - yet compact - program

• Universal and equitable access to training - free for participants

• Simcoe Muskoka Workforce Development Board trains facilitators

• Authentic response to employer needs; addresses workplace issues from the employer's perspective

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What are people who have taken Soft Skills Solutions© saying about it?

“You learn how to get along with coworkers”

“It helps to both remind you of some skills you have but forgot, and teach you the skills needed to be successful in the

modern workforce”

 

What are SSS facilitators are saying about Soft Skills Solutions©?

“Excellent materials - set up for simple and straight forward presentation”

“Excellent! It is clear that a great deal of research and effort went into the preparation of this program”

 

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Background of Soft Skills Solutions©

                             

Through an Employability Skills Training Research Project conducted in 2013/2014,

best practices in soft skills training at the local, national and global levels were examined which validated the development of an employability skills training framework.

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Further, the employers surveyed clearly indicated:

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• Employability skills are a critical element informing hiring decisions and retention.

• The majority of employers would send their employees for “no cost employability skills training”

• The majority of employers indicated “yes” they would be more likely to consider hiring a job candidate that has participated in an ‘employability skills training program’’ considering that 'hard skills' are met.  

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Over time, Soft Skills Solutions© will be more widely recognized among employers,   organizations and job-seekers as a standard in employability skills training program.