Detailed Work Activities Common Language Project publication

The Detailed Work Activity (DWA) Common Language Project white paper

The labor market can be a very confusing place. Finding a job, and keeping a job can be a real challenge. The national conversation is about job creation and getting people back to work, but how do job seekers connect with the business community and how does business find the skilled workers they need? In order for the economy to grow, every person in America must have a vested interest in a smooth functioning and effective labor market. Business cannot function and grow without a skilled workforce, educational intermediaries have a responsibility to prepare the citizenry for future labor market success, and individual jobseekers need a way to communicate what they know to an employer in search of such skills. But what constitutes a “skill”? Clearly a common language is a necessary prerequisite to effective worker preparation and labor exchange. This white paper is intended to document the underlying philosophies of the Detailed Work Activity (DWA) Common Language Project to create a universal skill transferability system. The document describes the various skills databases that have been developed, the talent management context within which this initiative was originated, and the many potential applications for the DWA data sets. It is written to describe the administrative processes thus far undertaken in Texas to bring a universal skill transferability system to fruition, and to stimulate further thinking about the role of skills in assessing the relationship between worker capabilities and employer hiring requirements.
Product Details
Softcover: 36 pages
Publisher: The Texas Workforce Commission
Language: English
Product Dimensions: 10.875 x 8.25 x 0.25 inches
Download The Detailed Work Activity (DWA) Common Language Project White Paper PDF document

The Workplace Essentials Soft Skills white paper

We’ve heard often over the years that employers hire because of a person’s hard skills, but promote, or fire, because of their soft skills. Yet, "soft skills" are loosely defined and hard to quantify. We don’t even know what to call them: soft skills, workplace basics, job essentials, professional job skills. The task of including them in employment decision making, no matter which side of the table we are on, is made all the more difficult by this lack of a common language. To bring some order to the chaos, in 2014-15, the Texas Workforce Commission funded research by the Texas State Technical College system to define and validate a common language to describe what we will call Workplace Essential Skills. The result was this Workplace Essentials Skills analysis that for the first time gives company hiring managers, job seekers, employment counselors and students a common language and standardized definitions for the "soft skills" necessary better match individuals to specific job requirements.
Download a one page overview of the Workplace Essentials white paper PDF document
Download the four-page report PDF document