British Columbia is helping employ­ees gain essential skills while in­creasing productivity for employers through a $1.5-million investment in essential skills training.

As part of Canada Starts Here: The B.C. Jobs Plan, more than 450 British Columbi­ans will benefit from essential skills train­ing through nine SkillsPlus training projects throughout the province.

Through partnerships between business­es, training institutions and service provid­ers in each community, SkillsPlus brings training to the workplace, building them into everyday employee training and work practices. Essential skills are identified as reading text, document use, numeracy, writing, oral communication, working with others, continuous learning, thinking skills and computer use.

Benefits of SkillsPlus have included im­proved customer service skills, increased confidence in the ability to master new skills and improvements in computer lit­eracy and understanding of written instruc­tions, said the government.

“Our government’s top priority is job creation and economic growth,” said Min­ister of Human Resources and Skills Devel­opment Diane Finley. “By enabling British Columbians to develop their essential skills, through projects such as SkillsPlus, we are helping to ensure that they can fully partici­pate in the labour market and contribute to their communities.”

The latest investment in these training projects is in addition to $4 million that has been allocated to SkillsPlus since the pro­gram’s inception in 2009. Since this time, about 900 employees throughout the prov­ince have received essential skills training in the following sectors: tourism and hospi­tality; retail, wholesale and grocery; health services; construction; social housing; secu­rity; manufacturing; forestry; and mining.

Eligible organizations include small to medium-sized employers with 500 or fewer employees.

Read BC HRMA’s reaction:
BC’s $1.5 million Skills Investment Called Good Timing, Forward Thinking

© Copyright Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. – January 13, 2012 – Toronto, Ontario, (800) 387-5164 www.hrreporter.com.