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September 7, 2010, 6:10 am
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KnowledgeBase article #1 |
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OPSEU- Ontario Public Service Employees Union |
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Program: |
Programs for Corporations [en] |
The Company
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union is Ontario's third largest union with approximately 100,000 full and part-time members. Through this formidable institution, its vast number of members has access to multiple services via 20 offices across Ontario. Its functions involves negotiating collective agreements that affect wages, working conditions, and protect job security in the diverse operational areas that employ their members. OPSEU's staff also handles various issues relating to pensions, health and safety, worker's compensation, research and communications.
The Operational Challenge:
OPSEU had the opportunity to fill job openings for several Negotiator positions. An important criterion for this role was to possess effective sector-specific bilingual communication capabilities. Assessing this particular skill presented challenges, as candidates' language and communication skills may not be evident in the normal interview process. OPSEU previously conducted these specialized communication skill assessments in-house. However, OPSEU's human resources devoted to this particular field were limited and OPSEU did not have any specific criteria for evaluating French language proficiency of bilingual employees. As a result OPSEU desired a more objective method of evaluating linguistic and communication skills of potential employees. Another challenge, which presented itself, was due to the varied locations of some of the job positions. As a result, some evaluations needed to be conducted at a distance (telephone) and others needed to be conducted in person within the city limits of Toronto.
The Complete Solution:
SpringHills met with OPSEU representatives to delineate the optimal communication level and critical skill sets needed for such a sector-specific position. Once this benchmark was established, SpringHills developed a customized, company-specific assessment tool that contained both holistic and sector-specific French language proficiency components. This proprietary system of French language assessment was partially based on a range of internationally recognized assessment vehicles and taxonomies including the ACTFL guidelines (American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages), the TFI (Test de Français International), the Canadian Language Benchmarks and the Federal Government French language proficiency guidelines.
The first phase of this assessment process was divided into four parts: a 30 minute recorded speaking/interview evaluation, a 30-minute multiple choice listening test, a 30-minute multiple choice reading evaluation and a 30-minute letter writing assignment to gauge industry-specific writing proficiency. Each stage of the assessment was designed to gradually increase in difficulty until a functional linguistic level was reached among each candidate in each specific skill area.
Industry-specific communication tasks that were assessed:
- Contract/dispute settlement language (writing aptitude)
- Provide/summarize opinions & specialized opinions, specialized advice and give guidance (all skill areas)
- Synthesize, summarize and pinpoint information from complex sources, with a high degree of accuracy through written & verbal communication (all skill areas)
- Persuade others in verbal/written language (listening/speaking)
- Provide/exchange information with tact (listening, speaking and intercultural aptitude)
- Interpret and respond to linguistic nuances in writing and oral communication
An example of a assessment component:
-Oral communication skills were evaluated through an interactive interview that continually adapted to the speaking abilities of the individual being assessed. Through a series of personalized questions, the interviewer elicited examples of language proficiency in order to define a clear ‘ceiling’ of consistent functional linguistic abilities. At times, candidates were asked to interact in position-related simulations in order to create the opportunity for relevant linguistic functions not easily elicited through the conversational format. The conversation was audio taped where possible and evaluated by several assessors.
Flexibility:
SpringHills easily adapted this programs and time-lines to accommodate OPSEU's preference for particular channels (telephone & face to face interview) at numerous locations.
Quality Assurance:
Following each assessment, OPSEU was provided with a detailed report, which focused on the linguistic profile of each candidate. Language abilities, in all skill areas, for each potential employee was rated on a scale from novice to superior. Assessors' commented on each client’s overall communicative competence and linguistic strengths and weaknesses were highlighted. For industry-specific testing, assessors provided pass and fail results for the specifically determined specialized communication needs required.
With these comprehensive accurate evaluations on hand, OPSEU Human Resources managers were able to make final hiring decisions.
The Return on Investment:
-SpringHills conducted these assessments over a period of 2 days and with in a week, evaluated and analyzed the results, which was delivered to OPSEU in a complete comprehensive report format.
-OPSEU hired the candidates with the most suitable skills and qualifications for these Bilingual Negotiator positions.
-OPSEU asked SpringHills to design and administer another customized industry-specific assessment tool for other staffing positions. This tool was designed to test and evaluate the French language communicative competence of selected applicants for certain positions along with an estimate of the time and training necessary for applicants to reach the target fluency level.
-SpringHills also tailored additional assessment tools for OPSEU's staff to administer themselves for recruitment purposes. |
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