CASE Member Spotlight
Futureworx
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Futureworx, based in Nova Scotia, supports individuals facing employment barriers to overcome obstacles and reach their full potential at home, in their community, and in the workplace.
The Futureworx philosophy is to integrate academic, work life skills, and social and emotional skills into comprehensive training and supports to enable the best possible outcomes for clients. Grounded in local service delivery, Futureworx products and services are developed from a client-centric perspective and are designed to cater to each client’s unique needs – and to be scaled and shared with the world!
With an entrepreneurial and innovative mindset, Futureworx develops offerings that are timely and critical to the future work environment. Futureworx delivers services in every county in Nova Scotia and with partners across the country and around the globe.
Current Offerings
- Futureworx Career College is a private college and significant training centre for Continuing Care Assistants.
- Truro Campus offers vocational and industry-focused training programs.
- Nova Scotia Works, an employment services centre, helps job seekers and employers navigate a range of programs from career planning, job searches, and on-the-job development to recruitment, planning, and HR support.
Select Training
- Short- and longer-term training programs assist unemployed individuals who have had difficulty successfully participating in today’s labour force. These unique programs focus on employability skills sought by employers, essential skills required for today’s job market, and industry specific training certifications.
- The Integrated Program Model (IPM) offers tailored training that orients organizations to deliver industry specific training to merge people with opportunities in their communities.
- Customized and corporate training, such as ESAT’s Assessor Training/Certification, Personality Dimensions, Mental Health First Aid, etc.
Tools
Employability Skills Assessment Tool (ESAT)
This tool provides a framework for the online assessment and development of nine employability and social and emotional skills. ESAT is highly regarded and is used across Canada and internationally. An ESAT Train the Trainer program is also offered.
Retention Skills Enhancement Tool (ReSET)
Developed in partnership with the Hospitality Workers Training Centre (HWTC), ReSET is described in an article in Careerwise magazine by CERIC, as “a first-of-its-kind, adaptive online resource, designed to help employers and employees map and develop the core soft skills that are essential for retaining and developing top-skilled talent.”
Independent Mindset Skills for Empowerment and Transition (ImSET)
Developed in partnership with Independent Living Nova Scotia and CASE’s Innovation Lab, ImSET offers customizable assessments and goal-setting tools, allowing individuals with disabilities to tailor their journey towards independence in the workplace and community. Users can track their progress and engage with a supportive community, promoting self-directed growth.
An ongoing Future Skills Centre project, in partnership with BluePrint and Toronto Metropolitan University, will help capture Futureworx’ best practices and methodology with a view to sharing their approach more broadly across the country and internationally.
Social and Emotional Skills Landscape
Futureworx was a partner in the development of the new national Skills for Success model released in 2021 that has become the new standard in Canada. This modernized version of the old essential skills framework added two new skills, Adaptability and Creativity and Innovation.
As the dynamic and rapidly changing career services environment unfolds, we need to recognize that new soft skills are as important as technology skills.
According to a study by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the three top missing soft skills are:
- problem solving, critical thinking, innovation and creativity;
- the ability to deal with complexity and ambiguity; and
- communication, all of which validate the new Skills for Success model.
Futureworx’s tools and client-centric approach are indeed timely and critical as the future work environment evolves locally, nationally, and internationally. To learn more about Futureworx, visit their website.