Overview

REDF has developed this Job Readiness Assessment Tool for your use. It is based on a tool that was first developed for the Los Angeles Regional Initiative for Social Enterprise (LA:RISE) and that has proven successful in ensuring consistent and quality referrals to employers.

The tool establishes a threshold for essential skills and personal readiness for social enterprise employees ready to move into competitive employment. The standards are compelling because they are designed to measure workers’ on-the-job performance, rather than a measurement of inputs or test-based performance.

Before using this tool, we encourage you to read our deep dives on what it means to be “job ready” and structuring an assessment process for your social enterprise.

We have deliberately left this tool completely unlocked and customizable. We encourage you to use the tool as-is, or to modify it to meet your social enterprise’s needs and culture.

Using The Tool

The tool is comprised of two sections:

1. Job Readiness Criteria – to be completed by the supervisor
2. Personal Readiness Checklist – to be completed by the case manager

All cells that contain please select must be completed in order to finish the assessment.

In the Job Readiness Criteria section, the supervisor evaluates the employee’s job readiness and work experience on a scale of 1 to 4 (1=Unsatisfactory, 2=Inconsistent, 3=Proficient, 4=Exemplary). For each job readiness standard, there are descriptions of performance at each score level. Whenever possible, it is important to use data such as attendance records, write-ups, or tangible accomplishments to guide scoring. Once the supervisor has finished scoring the standard requirements, an overall “Job Readiness Rating” score will automatically be calculated in the summary section at the end of this form.

In the Personal Readiness Checklist section, the case manager assesses the employee and indicates whether they have met each of the 5 personal readiness standards. While there are no scores in this section, the employee must “meet standard” for all 5 in order to be considered job ready. We’ve created standard language, but this is an area you can also customize to meet the definitions you use internally. Comments may be included and can be used to help have case management conversations.

Scoring

The scoring described below is what the LA:RISE program uses. But it is up to you how you’d like to compute the scoring.

At the bottom of the tool, the employee’s Job Readiness Assessment Summary is automatically computed and displayed.

Only employees who meet the following conditions are considered job ready:

1. Has a “Job Readiness Rating” score of 3 or higher,
2. Has earned a score of 3+ for two assessments in a row
3. Has not been rated as “unsatisfactory” in any job readiness category, and
4. Has met standards in all 5 personal readiness categories

This assessment should not be sent to employers, but instead act as an internal tool in determining readiness for placement. Once the evaluation is complete, the case manager should review the assessment with the employee, highlighting areas for improvement.