What are employment skills in a workplace?
They are the habits that let technical ability show: clear writing and speaking, reliability, working safely, serving customers, managing time and understanding pay, rosters and leave. New and entry-level staff are often hired for attitude and expected to absorb the rest. Without a plan, what each person learns depends on who happens to be supervising that week.
Why is induction not enough?
Induction covers your site: its rules, systems and people. It seldom has room for how to write a clear email, raise a problem early or read a payslip. Those skills transfer from job to job, so a ready-made course can teach them and leave supervisors free for the things only they can teach. A course does not replace induction. It sits beside it.
Which skills should come first?
Pick the two or three that cause the most rework in your business. For a customer-facing team that is often communication and customer service. For a team on rosters and timesheets it may be numbers and pay. Starting narrow lets staff finish something quickly, and a finished course is easier to build on than a long list of good intentions.
How do employers deliver the training?
Three methods, usually combined.
- A structured course. Every starter gets the same content, online, in time you set aside on the roster.
- Supervisor coaching. A short weekly conversation ties the latest module to the work in front of the person.
- Practice on the job. One real task uses the skill, such as writing the handover email.
The course gives consistency. The supervisor gives relevance. Neither does as much alone. Whichever mix you choose, write it down so the next starter gets the same start.
What should you ask a training provider?
- Is the content written for Australian workplaces?
- Can entry-level staff read it comfortably?
- How is learning checked and does a manager have to mark it?
- What will I see about each person's progress?
- Is the price per seat, per course or per organisation?
- Does the certificate carry a formal qualification? If not, is that stated?
- Can we read a lesson before paying?
How do you roll it out and know it is working?
Start with one team and one course. Explain why it matters, roster the time and ask supervisors to follow up. After a month or two, look at three things: whether modules are being completed, whether supervisors see the skill used on shift and whether the same small mistakes come up less often.
Ask staff too. They will tell you which modules were useful and which felt obvious. Judge the training by what changes at work, not by certificates alone. Then decide whether to widen it, change the course or stop.
What will your staff read?
A sample of what a learner reads follows: the email structure section of Professional Tone and Email Structure, the first lesson in the Communication course, word for word.
Every good workplace email follows this structure:
- Subject line: Short and specific. "Shift swap request, Friday 17 April" is much better than "Hey" or "Question".
- Greeting: "Hi Sarah" or "Dear Mr Chen" depending on how formal the workplace is. Never start with just a name or nothing at all.
- Purpose: State why you are writing in the first sentence. "I am writing to let you know that the delivery for order #4521 will arrive one day late."
- Body: Give the detail the reader needs in one or two short paragraphs. Stick to what matters: dates, names, what happened and why.
- Action: Tell the reader what you need them to do, or what you will do next. "Could you please confirm the new delivery time works for you?"
- Sign-off: "Thanks," "Kind regards," or "Best regards" followed by your name. Keep it simple.
Which options should an employer compare?
Five options, compared on fit for entry-level staff, consistency from one starter to the next and what a manager can see. Judge each one on the same three points.
Why Worthy Courses?
Worthy Courses is written for Australian workplaces. Its 9 courses and 52 modules teach practical employment skills online, on any device. Here is how it is described to the people who take it.
Lessons are written in plain English, at a Grade 6 to 9 reading level, so they make sense the first time. Learn at your own pace, on any device. Each module has a quiz, and the course ends with a scored final assessment. Pass it and you earn a verifiable certificate of completion you can show an employer.
For an employer, that means every starter works through the same lessons, managers can see progress and completion and nobody on your team has extra marking. Corso is the AI coach that comes with every lesson. He helps staff when they are stuck between sessions and never marks anything. An organisation licence is annual and opens all 9 courses for every seat. It lasts 12 months from the day you buy it, and all of its seats end with it. Licences start at a single seat. It sits alongside funded and accredited programmes and does not replace them.
Short answers
- What does it cost for a team?
- A team of up to 49 pays $399 a year for each seat. From 50 seats the yearly rate is $349 and from 200 seats it is $319.
- Does it replace our induction?
- No. Induction teaches your site, systems and rules. This training teaches the transferable basics around them.
- Is it accredited or nationally recognised?
- No. We are not a registered training organisation and this is not nationally recognised training. It is practical skills training with a verifiable certificate of completion, built to sit alongside funded and accredited programmes, not replace them.
- Do managers have to mark anything?
- No. Managers have no extra marking, and they can see how each person is progressing and who has completed a course.
- Can staff read a lesson before we buy?
- Yes. Try the free demo lessons: one real lesson from each course, no account needed.