DuPage County Offering Businesses Free Employee Assessments

The following is a message from DuPage County:

The DuPage County Workforce Board and the College of DuPage invite county businesses to take advantage of a free program that tests employees’ occupational readiness through the “Tomorrow’s Workplace Now” program.

DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin is pleased that the successful program will be provided to local businesses.
 
“I strongly encourage DuPage businesses to take advantage of this valuable tool that can significantly impact their bottom line. This employee assessment has been proven to reduce the costs associated with training and turnover by determining if a candidate has the skills necessary to compete for the job,” he said.
 
Through the “Tomorrow’s Workplace Now” program from ACT’s Workforce Division, 25 County businesses may receive Work Keys assessments for free, leading to the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC) for prospective and incumbent employees.
 
Once a business has registered for the program, a total of 20 employees can be assessed to measure their aptitudes in math, reading and problem solving. Based on their scores, employees will receive a NCRC credential of bronze, silver, gold or platinum. The ACT website www.act.org/workkeys/analysis/occup.html provides recommendations of desired skill levels for more than 18,000 occupations. 
 
The “Tomorrow’s Workplace Now” program will also provide personality assessments, which identify strengths and development needs in essential, but often times difficult to measure, behavioral skills such as cooperation, discipline, influence and stability.
 
The program has proven successful for a number of businesses including MidAmerican Energy that has reported an 83 percent reduction in turnover while Bradner Village, a healthcare center located in Indiana, saw a 96 percent reduction in training costs.
 
The employee assessment testing will be offered at the College of DuPage’s Bloomingdale, Glen Ellyn, Naperville and Westmont sites. Businesses will have 180 days to test their employees. All testing must be completed by December 2013.
 
For more information and to register for the workplace program e-mail Barbara Tartaglione at btartaglione@dupageworkforceboard.com or call (630) 955-2083.