The Essential Work Skills Workbook

Given the rapid rate of change in the workplace, prospective workers need to develop new skill sets to cope and thrive in this changing environment.

Mergers, takeovers, and business closings will continue to be the business norm. Workers with the most effective work skills will be the most likely to retain their positions and thrive in the workplace. The purpose of this workbook is to provide workers and prospective workers with the requisite skills they will need to be successful in any work setting.

The Essential Work Skills Workbook contains five separate sections to help participants learn more about themselves and the work skills that they possess that are fundamental to their ability to work effectively. They will learn the importance of these skills in the changing workplace and will complete assessments and activities to define the required workplace skills, determine their skill gaps, and learn what they need to know to be effective and productive in the workplace.

• Leadership skills helps individuals identify whether or not they have the requisite skills to be a good leader and to help them develop effective leadership skills for the future.
• Work stress helps individuals identify how much stress they currently experience at work. They will learn to reduce their stress by learning effective coping skills.
• Cultural competency helps individuals explore how effective they are in working and communicating with diverse people in the workplace.
• Organisational skills helps individuals explore and understand their specific organisational style.
• Balancing work and leisure helps individuals explore how effective they are in balancing work, leisure, community, and family activities.

These sections serve as avenues for self-reflection, as well as for group experiences revolving around identified topics of importance. Each assessment includes directions for easy administration, scoring, and interpretation. Each section includes exploratory activities, reflective journaling activities, and educational handouts to help participants discover their habitual effective and ineffective work skills and provides instruction for enhancing their most critical work skill strengths and reducing their weaknesses.