WorkReadyNH Soft Skills Curriculum Modules

WorkReadyNH Program Curriculum Overview
Modules in the Soft Skills Course Manual
 2005-2013, Velsoft Training Materials Inc.
1. Getting Your Job Search Started: While looking for work can be an exciting time, it can also
involve fear and discomfort about change and the unknown. This module will help you to
determine what your skill set is made up of, the kind of work that is important and realistic
to include in your search, and how to get started. Today’s job market is not the same as it
was even five years ago. Knowing where to go, who to talk to, and the opportunities that
are available will help.
Learning Outcomes:
o Describe your skills, values, and beliefs about work and looking for opportunities.
o Demonstrate an understanding for the types of work available to you and where to go
for more information.
o Apply different approaches to job searching, such as networking and tapping into the
hidden job market.
2. Creating a Dynamite Job Portfolio: The job market continues to change, as does the way
we look for work. This module examines the value of presenting yourself as a complete
package by using a resume as an introduction to an employer and backing it up with a
portfolio presented at the interview.
Learning Outcomes:
o Speak about yourself using descriptive language.
o Apply the essential elements of cover letters and resumes.
o Understand the need for pre-employment testing and what to expect.
o Design a personalized portfolio.
o Develop a plan that moves you to a new job.
3. Mastering the Interview: The interview is one of the key elements of the job search
process. As with any skill, we can get better at it with preparation and practice. In this
module, you will explore how to prepare for an interview and become familiar with the
types of questions to expect, as well as the questions you should think about asking. You
will also learn how to prepare for second interviews and how to follow up.
Learning Outcomes:
o Understand different types of interview questions and how to prepare to answer them.
o Apply the most effective ways to prepare for an interview, including how to present
yourself professionally.
o Express yourself effectively.
o Know how to ask for feedback following an interview.
MCC Rev. 09.16.15 Page 1 of 10

4. Communication Strategies: Have you ever wondered why it seems so difficult to talk with
some people and yet so easy to talk with others? Can you recall an occasion where you met
someone for the first time and immediately liked that person? Something about the
individual made you feel comfortable. A major goal of this module is to help you understand
the impact your communication skills have on other people. You will also explore how
improving these skills can make it easier for you to get along in the workplace, and in life.
Learning Outcomes:
o Identify common communication problems that may be holding you back.
o Develop skills to ask questions that give you information you need.
o Learn what your non-verbal messages are telling others.
o Develop skills to listen actively and empathetically to others.
o Enhance your ability to handle difficult situations.
o Deal with situations assertively.
5. Critical Thinking: In today’s society, many people experience information overload. We are
bombarded with messages to believe various ideas, purchase things, support causes, and
lead our lifestyle in a particular way. How do you know what to believe? How do you
separate the truth from the myths? The answer lies in critical thinking skills. The ability to
clearly reason through problems and to present arguments in a logical, compelling way has
become a key skill for survival in today’s world. This module will give you some practical
tools and hands-on experience with critical thinking and problem solving.
Learning Outcomes:
o Define critical and non-critical thinking.
o Identify your critical thinking style(s), including areas of strength and improvement.
o Describe other thinking styles, including left/right brain and whole-brain thinking.
o Work through the critical thinking process to build or analyze arguments.
o Develop and evaluate explanations.
o Improve key critical thinking skills, including active listening and questioning.
o Use analytical thought systems and creative thinking techniques.
6. Problem Solving and Decision Making: We make decisions and solve problems continually.
We start making decisions before we even get out of bed (shall I get up now or not?).
Sometimes, we will have made as many as 50 decisions by the time we leave for work.
Despite all the natural decision making that goes on and the problem solving we do, some
people are very uncomfortable with having to make decisions. The key to finding creative
solutions is not just creativity, although that will certainly help. The answer rests in our
ability to identify options, research them, and then put things together in a way that works.
Having a process to work through can take the anxiety out of problem solving and make
decisions easier. That’s what this module is all about.

Learning Outcomes:
o Apply problem solving steps and tools.
o Analyze information to clearly describe problems.
o Identify appropriate solutions.
o Think creatively and be a contributing member of a problem solving team.
o Select the best approach for making decisions.
o Avoid common decision-making mistakes.
7. Building Better Teams: Teams are an important building block of successful organizations.
Whether the focus is on service, quality, cost, value, speed, efficiency, performance, or
other similar goals, teams are the basic unit that supports most organizations. With teams
at the core of corporate strategy, the success of an organization can often depend on how
well you and other team members operate together. How are your problem-solving skills?
Is the team enthusiastic and motivated to do its best? Do you work well together? This
module can help you get there!
Learning Outcomes:
o Understand the value of working as a team.
o Develop team norms, ground rules, and team contracts.
o Identify your team player style and how it can be used effectively with your own team.
o Build team trust.
o Identify the stages of team development and how to help a team move through them.
o Recognize the critical role communication skills will play in building and maintaining a
team atmosphere.
o Identify ways that team members can be involved and grow in a team setting.
8. Critical Elements of Customer Service: While many companies promise to deliver an
incredible customer experience, some are better at delivering than others. This module is
designed around six critical elements of customer service that, when the company lives
them, brings customers back to experience service that outdoes the competition.
Learning Outcomes:
o Demonstrate a customer service approach.
o Understand how your own behavior affects the behavior of others.
o Demonstrate confidence and skill as a problem solver.
o Apply techniques to deal with difficult customers.
o Make a choice to provide customer service.
9. Conflict Resolution: Many people see conflict as a negative experience. In fact, conflict is a
necessary part of our personal growth and development. Think of when you were trying to
choose your major in college, for example, or trying to decide between two jobs. However,

conflict becomes an issue when the people involved cannot work through it. They become
engaged in a battle that does not result in growth. When this type of conflict arises,
negative energy can result, causing hurt feelings and damaged relationships. This module
will give you the tools that will help you resolve conflict successfully and produce a win-win
outcome.
Learning Outcomes:
o Understand what conflict is and how it can escalate.
o Understand the types of conflict and the stages of conflict.
o Recognize the five most common conflict resolution styles and when to use them.
o Increase positive information flow through non-verbal and verbal communication skills.
o Develop effective techniques for intervention strategies.
o Become more confident of your ability to manage conflicts to enhance productivity and
performance.
10. Business Ethics for the Office: What exactly makes a decision ethical? The problem with
ethics is that what may seem morally right (or ethical) to one person may seem appalling to
another. This module will not provide you with an easy way to solve every ethical decision
you will ever have to make. It will, however, help you define your ethical framework to
make solving those ethical dilemmas easier. We’ll also look at some tools that you can use
when you’re faced with an ethical decision. And, we’ll look at some techniques you can use
so you don’t get stuck in an ethical quandary. Best of all, we’ll look at a lot of case studies so
that you can practice making decisions in a safe environment.
Learning Outcomes:
o Understand the difference between ethics and morals.
o Understand the value of ethics.
o Identify some of your values and moral principles.
o Be familiar with some philosophical approaches to ethical decisions.
o Identify some ways to improve ethics in your office.
o Know some ways to avoid ethical dilemmas.
o Have some tools to help you make better decisions.
o Be familiar with some common ethical dilemmas.
11. Safety in the Workplace: Workplace accidents and injuries cost corporations millions of
dollars and thousands of hours lost every year. They also have a profound, often lifelong
impact on workers. Practicing a safety culture in your organization, where safety is valued
as an integral part of the business’ operation, not only saves the business time and money,
it also builds a committed, loyal, healthy workforce. This module will give you the
foundation to start building your safety culture.

Learning Outcomes:
o Understand what a safety culture is.
o Identify hazards and reduce them.
o Identify groups particularly at risk for injury and know how to protect them.
o Respond to incidents and near misses.
o Understand the basics of accident investigation and documentation.
12. Celebrating Diversity in the Workplace: More than ever, a workplace is a diverse collection
of individuals proud of who they are: their gender, their sexual orientation, their religion,
their ethnic background, and all the other components that make an individual unique. One
of the challenges for the workplace is how to help these diverse individuals work as a team.
We all know what happens to organizations that don’t have effective teamwork: they fail.
And, failing to embrace diversity can also have serious legal costs for corporations. This
module will give you ways to celebrate diversity in the workplace while bringing individuals
together.
Learning Outcomes:
o Describe what diversity and its related terms mean.
o Explain how changes in the world have affected you and your view.
o Identify your stereotypes.
o Use terms that are politically correct and avoid those which are not.
o Apply the four cornerstones of diversity.
o Avoid the pitfalls related to diversity.
o Use a technique for dealing with inappropriate behavior.
o Develop a management style to encourage diversity.
o Take action if you or one of your colleagues feels discriminated against.
13. Workplace Harassment: In 2012 alone, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
ordered that $365,400,000 (that’s 365.4 million dollars!) be paid out for discrimination and
harassment charges. No wonder companies are working to be more proactive in preventing
harassment. But how do you prevent harassment from occurring? What sorts of policies
should be in place? What should managers do to protect their employees? And if a
complaint is filed, what will we do? All of these questions will be answered in this module.
(Source for statistics: http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/enforcement/all.cfm)
Learning Outcomes:
o Explain what is acceptable behavior in the workplace and what is not, and why.
o Apply the benefits of harassment training.
o Define the various types of harassment, including sexual harassment.
o State some ways to prevent harassment and understand what role you can play.
o Demonstrate some ways to protect yourself from harassment.

o Know what to do if you are harassed or accused of harassment.
o Understand the complaint process, from the complaint to the reply, to mediation or
investigation, to a solution.
14. Bullying in the Workplace: Bullying is called the silent epidemic. Although half of workers
have experienced or witnessed bullying, policies and laws dealing with it are far less
prevalent. This is, in part, because bullying can be hard to identify and address. People
wonder, what does bullying look like? How can we discourage it in our workplace? What
can I do to protect myself and co-workers? This module covers all of these questions and
more.
Learning Outcomes:
o Define what bullying is and is not.
o Understand the costs of bullying to people and organizations.
o Identify bullying behaviors and the reasons behind them.
o Know some ways to prevent bullying and understand what role you can play.
o Know some ways to protect yourself from bullying.
o Know what to do if you are bullied.
o Identify appropriate solutions for a bullying incident (within and outside the
organization).
15. Personal Brand: Abigail Van Buren, the writer of Dear Abby, once said, “There are two kinds
of people: those who come into a room with the attitude, ‘Here I am!’ and those who have
the attitude, ‘There you are!’” This module is an exploration about the type of impact we
want to have in life and work. You will consider and define the influence that you can have
on your life and work. You will also learn skills for success and how to create those
circumstances.
Learning Outcomes:
o Speak in terms of the impact and influence that you want to have in life and work.
o Understand your personal style in terms of your personal brand.
o Develop skill in focus, concentration, and communication to support your brand.
o Build credibility and trust by living your brand.
o Take ownership of your image, both online and in person.

Additional Program Components
KeyTrain® (Online): This is an assessment and training program used to determine your current
“hard skills” in Reading for Information, Applied Mathematics and Locating Information. The
scores are based on a level system ranging from Level 0 (lowest) through Level 7 (highest).
Upon completion of the pretest, you are assigned skill building lessons in these three subject
areas according to your scores. The skill building lessons are to be completed independently,
online, at your own pace, outside of classroom hours. This is used as a training tool to aid you in
preparing for the WorkKeys® Assessments that you will take at the end of the course.
KeyTrain® Module 1: Reading for Information
The Reading for Information skill involves reading and understanding common workplace
documents (letters, manuals, procedures, memos), and examines the essential aspects of
understanding and applying information given in practical situations. The Reading for
Information module includes dozens of sample workplace documents. All exercises are based
on realistic work situations.
Some of the beginning topics include: More advanced topics cover:
• Determining the meaning of unfamiliar words
• Extracting details
• Reading forms
• Finding the main idea
• Applying instructions
• Complex information
• Drawing conclusions
• Technical jargon
• Acronyms
KeyTrain® Module 2: Applied Mathematics
The Applied Mathematics skill involves applying mathematical reasoning and problem-solving
techniques to workplace situations; emphasizes the application of these skills to real-world
situations; and reviews the basic concepts of mathematical operations including money,
measurement and time.
Topics in the beginning levels include: More advanced topics include:
• Money and time
• Measurements
• Proportions and ratios
• Fractions and decimals
• Negative numbers
• Percentages
• Areas and volumes
• Determining best deals
• Troubleshooting errors
• Production rates
• Multiple unknowns
• Non-linear graphs

KeyTrain® Module 3: Locating Information
The Locating Information skill involves finding, extracting, understanding and using information
that is not in the form of normal text. These types of documents include charts, graphs, tables,
forms, maps, and drawings.
Beginning topics include:
• Pie charts
• Line graphs
• Maps
• Gauges
• Bar charts
• Tables
• Diagrams
Higher-levels practice more complex
concepts that may deal with several
different kinds of documents at one time.
Some of these are:
• Extracting data
• Drawing conclusions
• Using data criteria
• Identifying trends
• Determining data relationships
WorkKeys® Assessments: Subsequent to the last day of the Soft Skills Course, you will take the
WorkKeys® Assessments in Reading for Information, Applied Mathematics and Locating
Information. Passing scores are considered a Level 3 or higher in each subject. You will receive a
WorkKeys® Assessments Test Prep Booklet at the beginning of the course. In addition, an online
demo of the WorkKeys® Assessments will be presented in class. Successful completion of the
WorkKeys® Assessments leads to a National Career Readiness Certificate® (NCRC).
Performance Evaluations: During the Soft Skills Course you will undergo an employee
performance review which is completed by the instructor on a weekly basis. You are evaluated
on attendance/punctuality, personal/professional appearance, job knowledge,
performance/work quality, initiative/proactive approach, dependability/reliability, and
communication/listening skills. You are given an overall numerical rating, feedback on your
performance in class and areas where you can improve.
Employer Expectations: This is a document that will be covered in detail on the first day of class
and requires your signature acknowledging your understanding. A copy of your signed
agreement will be provided to you. This agreement outlines the expected standards of conduct
including: reporting to work (class) promptly and regularly; keeping absences to a minimum;
notifying the instructor (CEO) of absences, late arrivals and early departures; physical
appearance; dress code; personal conduct; mutual respect; disciplinary action; and the exam
policy. You must abide by these standards of conduct and are expected to act in a professional
and responsible manner at all times. If you incur more than 1 absence or 2 infractions, you will
be dismissed from the program (fired).

Business Group Project: The purpose of this project is to provide a simulated work
environment where you can interactively utilize the Soft Skills discussed in class. The goal of the
WorkReadyNH program is for you to exit with a skill set that can be applied to any career or
industry you pursue. It is not the intention for each group to create sales or profits. It is up to
the group if you would like to proceed in that direction. You have the option of reimbursing
yourselves for any funds contributed by group members to start production and then donating
the remainder of the proceeds to any charity of your choice. However, as long as the group has
created a prototype or business plan by the end of the course then you have achieved the goal.
The following is a general outline which can be fluid depending on the progress made by each
individual group.
Business Group Project Outline
Day 1 Explanation of the model and examples of what past groups have created including
their company manual. Start brainstorming ideas for a product or service.
Day 2 Gather as a business team to brainstorm and map out ideas for a company product or
service. Start weeding out some ideas that would not be feasible in the time frame of
the course or due to lack of resources could not be completed.
Day 3 Decide on a company product or service, a company name and a sales and marketing
strategy if applicable (past groups have created email addresses, Facebook pages,
websites, flyers, utilized campus media, set up tables on campus, etc., and have chosen
charities to donate proceeds to – note this is not a requirement, it is all dependent on
what the group decides together).
Day 4 Begin creating the company manual using the template provided or previous company
manuals as a guide.
Day 5 Continue working on the company manual and form job descriptions. The final product
should be typed up by a team member or can be divided amongst team members. The
company manual will be part of the group presentation.
Day 6 Interview for the jobs created from both the interviewee and interviewer perspectives.
Alternate conducting group interviews with the facilitation of the instructor.
Day 7 Positions are assigned to each team member who will maintain their assigned role for
the remainder of the course but can be flexible as needed if the team loses members.

Day 8 Start working on the prototype and/or business plan for the product or service.
Day 9 Complete the prototype and start production if applicable or continue working on the
business plan and company manual. Start working on the group presentation (i.e.
PowerPoint, website, installation, demonstration, delegate speaking parts, etc.).
Day 10 Continue with production/business plan, company manual and group presentation.
Day 11 Continue with production/business plan, company manual and group presentation.
Day 12 Finalize production/business plan, company manual and group presentation. Execute a
10-15 minute group presentation to the class and staff that includes the company’s
formation, team member roles, prototype/business plan and company manual.
*Guidelines for the Business Project (if the group chooses to launch more than a prototype):
A. There are existing non-compete agreements in place with school vendors (i.e. cafeteria
and bookstore). Business projects must be presented to the Director of WorkReadyNH
before further developing them to ensure that existing vendor agreements are honored.
B. Marketing plans must be reviewed by the Director of WorkReadyNH before being
implemented. This includes but is not limited to: flyers, posters, handouts, websites,
blogs, social media pages, contacting the press (i.e. newspapers, television and/or radio)
and partnerships with charities, retail outlets, organizations and/or businesses.
C. All campaign efforts should first be executed via intra-campus activities before
considering external avenues. Contact the Director of WorkReadyNH for further details.
D. Permission to set up a vendor table on campus requires pre-approval from the Office of
the President. Contact the Director of WorkReadyNH to ensure that proper procedure is
followed and the appropriate channels are utilized.
*The guidelines outlined above are not all encompassing. Please consult the Director of
WorkReadyNH for specific questions, concerns and additional clarification.
MCC Rev. 09.16.15 Page 10 of 10

WorkReadyNH Soft Skills Curriculum Modules

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