This resource provides an overview of the Core Skills for Work Developmental Framework (CSfW) for
employers, its application and benefits. This resource should be read in conjunction with the CSfW.
CORE SKILLS FOR WORK DEVELOPMENTAL FRAMEWORK:
A GUIDE FOR EMPLOYERS
What are Core Skills for Work?
It’s not just technical skills and knowledge that make someone good at their work.
To be effective in any work situation, people need a combination of technical skills, language, literacy and
numeracy (LLN) skills and a variety of non-technical skills - sometimes called ‘employability’ skills, but
referred to here as Core Skills for Work. 1
Three types of skills needed for performance in any work environment
Core Skills for Work
Work Performance
Technical or
DisciplineSpecific Skills
Language,
Literacy &
Numeracy
Skills
Work Environment
A plumber laying pipes, for example, needs the technical skills necessary for this, as well as the appropriate
language, literacy and numeracy skills to read plans, take measurements, make calculations, etc. In order to
complete the task, he or she also needs non-technical skills such as planning and organising and identifying and
solving problems, and skills for working effectively with others.
The Core Skills for Work Developmental Framework (or CSfW) paints a detailed picture of performance in ten
non-technical Skill Areas that Australian employers have identified as critical to work performance in the
21st Century.
Core Skills for Work enable people to be more productive. They include the skills people need to understand
their work environment, so that they can apply their technical skills more effectively. They include the skills
needed to get on with people from a diverse range of backgrounds and to make use of digital technology, as well
as planning, decision-making and problem-solving processes that help to get the work done. They also include
skills for self-reflecting, self-regulating, making use of different perspectives, innovating and learning – all of
which help people to adapt and respond flexibly and creatively to changes in the work environment.
1 The combination of LLN skills (described in the Australian Core Skills Framework) and Core Skills for Work is referred to as Foundation Skills in
the Vocational Education and Training sector. In the School sector these two types of skills are described as General Capabilities and in the Higher
Education sector they are referred to as Graduate Attributes.
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HOW DOES THE CSFW BENEFIT EMPLOYERS?
The CSfW has been developed to actively support the recognition and development of these non-technical skills.
It provides a common language for talking about skills, a way of clarifying workplace expectations, identifying
an individual’s strengths and areas for further development, and recognising ways in which organisations can
support this.
The CSfW has been developed primarily for use by:
■■ Teachers and trainers preparing learners for real work situations or facilitating learning at any stage
of a person’s career
■■ Employment service providers and career counsellors helping job seekers
■■ Individuals at any stage of their working lives who want to identify their strengths and areas for
further development.
However, employers from a wide range of different industries who contributed to the development of the
CSfW reported finding it very useful as a way of identifying – and sometimes challenging – their expectations and
requirements about non-technical skills in their work environments.
Employers have suggested that the CSfW could also be used as a basis for developing tailored resources to
help them:
■■ Have conversations with teachers, trainers and employment services staff about what they are
looking for in a prospective employee
■■ Have conversations with employees about their strengths and weaknesses
■■ Write position descriptions and undertake formal staff development processes.
The CSfW differs from other approaches to ‘employability’ because it focuses on skills that can be learned,
rather than focusing on desirable employee attributes.
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WHICH SKILLS DOES IT COVER?
The CSfW organises the ten Skill Areas into three clusters:
Cluster
Navigate the
world of work
Interact with
others
Get the
work done
SEPTEMBER 2013
Skill Area
What does it cover?
Manage career
and work life
These skills that help us to make decisions throughout life
about how, when and where to work, and the skills (and
willingness) to learn what a person needs to know to undertake
work tasks.
Work with roles,
rights and protocols
These skills that help us to understand our work roles and
rights and the skills to undertake our work in a way that meets
workplace expectations and ethical and legal responsibilities.
Communicate
for work
The communication skills we need to get work done, including
listening, understanding and getting our messages across
to others.
Connect and work
with others
The skills we need to cooperate and collaborate with others
in order to get work done, including those skills we need to
manage our own behaviour, to be sensitive to the needs of
others and to work as a member of a team.
Recognise and
utilise diverse
perspectives
The skills that help us to recognise, respect and build on the
different perspectives and behaviours that people bring to work
situations, including skills to avoid or manage conflict.
Plan and organise
The skills we need to organise ourselves, our activities and our
workloads.
Make decisions
The skills we need to help us choose between different options
and reflect on the process and outcomes of decisions once they
have been made.
Identify and
solve problems
The skills we use to anticipate and avoid potential problems,
take steps to solve them and reflect on, and learn from, each
experience.
Create and innovate
The skills we need to identify new ideas ourselves (and to
recognise the value of ideas developed by others), and apply
them to improving or creating new processes, products or
strategies.
Work in a
digital world
The skills we need to use technology to get our work
done, including our capacity to understand and use
accepted conventions and appropriate safeguards in online
environments.
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WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THESE SKILLS?
Individuals develop these skills over time
We develop the knowledge, skills and understandings associated with each Skill Area throughout our lives.
Research has identified recognisable stages that we move through as we develop our skills. To progress, we
need practical hands-on experience, opportunities to try things out and time to reflect on, and learn from, what
happens.
Therefore, the CSfW describes performance across five Stages of Development - Novice, Advanced Beginner,
Capable, Proficient and Expert.2
Different work environments require different skills or
different Stages of Development
There is no suggestion that every individual needs to aim to develop all of their skills to an Expert level. Every
work role and environment has its own unique set of priority CSfW Skill Areas and Stages of Development.
The CSfW provides generic descriptions of skills development that can be adapted and tailored to specific
industries and occupations. (See pages 8-10 for an example of the generic problem solving descriptors)
Performance at any time is influenced by a range of factors
Our ability to use our skills or to develop them further depends on many factors. For example:
■■ Do we have opportunities to learn and practice in real work situations?
■■ Do we reflect on our performance to learn from successes and mistakes?
■■ Do we have the right kinds of supports (such as mentors, supervisors or professional networks) to
help us learn from our experience?
■■ Are there cultural or attitudinal factors that are encouraging or undermining skills development and
work performance?
The CSfW describes a number of Influencing Factors that may affect an individual’s ability to develop and apply
their skills in a specific work situation. These include:
■■ Individual factors, such as a person’s motivation, self-belief, resilience and familiarity with the work
context, and the values and attitudes that affect their behaviour at work
■■ Work factors, such as the complexity of tasks, level of autonomy, the nature and degree of support
available, and workplace values and culture
■■ External factors, such as an individual’s health, access to transport, housing arrangements, family
responsibilities and other personal circumstances.
2 These stages are based on the Dreyfus and Dreyfus Novice to Expert Model of Skills Acquisition and other research on skill development
and performance.
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HOW DOES THE CSFW SUPPORT SKILL DEVELOPMENT?
The CSfW takes the non-technical capabilities that employers have identified and breaks them into elements
that can be more easily and explicitly taught and learned.
For example, employers told us they valued punctuality. But how does someone learn to be punctual?
Firstly, they need to understand that workplaces usually have expectations
of when you need to be there and what to do if you can’t be there.....
Then they need the skills to find out what the specific
expectations of a particular workplace are....
They need planning and organising skills to make sure
they can meet those expectations....
...and they may need to address external factors,
such as transport or care arrangements.
While these things may seem obvious to us, a novice in navigating the world of work may benefit from explicit
help in each of these areas.
The knowledge, understandings and skills required for arriving on time are explicitly described by the
CSfW under:
■■ Work with roles, rights and protocols
■■ Communicate for work
■■ Plan and organise, and
■■ Influencing Factors.
The ability to work in a team is another commonly valued capability. Teamwork is however not a single skill, but
the result of a combination of several skills, all of which are covered within the CSfW Skill Areas.3
Understanding
your role and
responsibilities
and those of
others
Effective
Teamwork
Planning and
implementing
tasks and
organising your
workload in
relation to
others
Managing your
own behaviour,
building rapport,
cooperating and
collaborating
Communicating
with others
Recogising and
responding to
other perspectives
and managing
conflict
3 An explanation of how the CSfW relates to the Employability Skills and attributes developed by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(ACCI) and the Business Council of Australia (BCA) in 2002 can be found at www.innovation.gov.au/csfw.
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WHAT CAN EMPLOYERS DO TO SUPPORT SKILL DEVELOPMENT?
Effective work performance is not just the result of the skills that individuals bring with them into the workplace.
Employers also have a critical role to play in supporting employees to use and further develop their skills,
knowledge and understandings.
There are many ways in which individuals can be actively supported to perform at their best and to develop
greater expertise in each of the Skill Areas. Individuals at every stage of development need opportunities to
practice over time, and will benefit from some form of formal reflection on their experiences. (Even people at the
Expert stage need to continue to reflect and learn if they are to maintain their expertise). However, there are also
some specific types of support and opportunities that have been found to assist (or hinder) performance at each
stage, and help in moving to the next stage. 4
Stage 1. A Novice performer:
Is focused on trying to survive
Benefits from:
■■ clearly articulated expectations, reviewed regularly to ensure they are reasonable and achievable
■■ unambiguous step by step instructions, with modelling by someone at the Capable stage or by
someone with expertise in working with novices
■■ small amounts of new information at any one time
■■ a limited range of tasks with clearly stated priorities and sequences
■■ active encouragement to ask questions when something is not clear
■■ achievable challenges and opportunities to practice
■■ assistance to recognise important features of a situation
■■ acknowledgement that mistakes are an important part of learning
■■ encouragement and time to reflect
May be confused or overwhelmed by:
■■ too many new ideas, information and/or new tasks at one time
Stage 2. An Advanced Beginner:
Is looking for certainty
Benefits from:
■■ clearly articulated expectations, reviewed regularly to ensure they are reasonable and achievable
■■ assistance to identify priorities and support to reflect on why some things are more important
than others
■■ a broadening range of tasks with increasing challenge
■■ formal and informal support from a Capable performer in the Skill Area concerned
■■ specific, focused feedback from a trusted mentor
■■ guided reflection and assistance to identify strategies that facilitate self reflection
May be frustrated by:
■■ ambiguity and results that don’t fit established patterns
4 Based on work by Professor John Edwards of Edwards Explorations.
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Stage 3. A Capable performer:
Is looking for a sense of control over events/activities
Benefits from:
■■ assistance to notice subtle variations, identify meaningful patterns and well articulated
principles and concepts in different contexts
■■ practice in planning and coordinating increasingly complex workplace situations
■■ opportunities to learn and test new strategies (including training using games and simulations)
■■ mentoring by those who are experts in the Skill Area concerned
■■ formal feedback and reflection sessions
May be frustrated by:
■■ deviations from the status quo
Stage 4. A Proficient performer:
Is starting to see the bigger picture
Benefits from:
■■ learning inductively e.g. from complex case studies relating to real work situations that enable
reflection on own experience
■■ responsibility for applying relevant skills in complex situations, supported by expert mentors
■■ coaching/guided reflection to identify principles and concepts and develop insights into the
complex relationships between variables in different situations
May be frustrated by:
■■ ‘context-free’ training, and inflexible rules and processes for doing things
Stage 5. A Expert performer:
Understands that ‘it all depends’…
Benefits from:
■■ opportunities to think through complex situations, challenge accepted perceptions and ways of
doing things and test new theories and strategies
■■ coaching/mentoring of individuals at the Capable and Proficient Stages
■■ reflective practice that encourages the articulation of tacit knowledge and understanding e.g.
through skilled interviews conducted by fellow experts, thinking aloud using videotapes of the
expert performing their work
May be frustrated by:
■■ non-experts who cannot ‘see’ what is obvious to the expert or who seek the certainty of rules
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CORE SKILLS FOR WORK DEVELOPMENTAL FRAMEWORK: A GUIDE FOR EMPLOYERS
8
Identify
problems
Focus
Area
Recognises and responds
to predictable routine
problems related to
role in the immediate
work context
Seeks assistance
when problems are
beyond immediate
responsibilities or
experience
May need encouragement to seek assistance
when problems are
beyond immediate
responsibilities or
experience
An Advanced
Beginner in
identifying and
solving problems:
May recognise and
respond to highly obvious,
routine problems in the
immediate work context
e.g. a disruption to a
familiar procedure
A Novice in
identifying and
solving problems:
STAGES
Generally accepts the
obvious symptoms of a
problem as ‘the problem’
and seeks to re-establish
the status quo
Understands when to
take responsibility and
when to notify others
Recognises and takes
responsibility for
addressing predictable,
and some less
predictable problems in
familiar work contexts
A Capable
performer in
identifying and
solving problems:
Begins to look behind
the obvious symptoms to
redefine the problem and
identify underlying causes
Recognises and
addresses some
unfamiliar problems
of increasing complexity
within own scope,
recognising when to seek
the expertise of others
Recognises and
anticipates an
increasing range of
familiar problems,
their symptoms and
causes, actively looking
for early warning signs
and implementing
contingency plans
A Proficient
performer in
identifying and
solving problems:
An example of the detailed descriptors - Identify and solve problems
Recognises that identified
’problems’ can be surface
indicators of deeper issues,
and routinely reframes
problem definitions as part
of the process of identifying
a root cause
Uses nuanced
understanding of context to
recognise anomalies and
subtle deviations to normal
expectations, focusing
attention on critical issues
and variables and filtering
out peripheral issues
Recognises and addresses
complex problems involving
multiple variables
An Expert in
identifying and
solving problems:
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CORE SKILLS FOR WORK DEVELOPMENTAL FRAMEWORK: A GUIDE FOR EMPLOYERS
9
Apply
problemsolving
processes
Focus
Area
If no direction or advice is
available, may attempt to
solve a problem using a
‘trial and error’ approach,
with a limited awareness
of the potential impact
of solutions
Follows clear, step by
step instructions or
procedures to address
a small set of identified,
routine problems directly
relevant to own role
A Novice in
identifying and
solving problems:
Where appropriate, seeks
feedback or advice before
implementing a solution
Applies formal problem
solving processes when
tackling an unfamiliar
problem, breaking
complex issues into
manageable parts and
identifying and evaluating
several options for action
Where standardised
procedures or assistance
is not available,
addresses unfamiliar
problems by applying
past solutions that may
appear to have some
relevance to the
current situation
A Capable
performer in
identifying and
solving problems:
Initiates standard
procedures when
responding to familiar
problems within
immediate context
An Advanced
Beginner in
identifying and
solving problems:
Begins to identify and
implement standard
solutions for an
increasing number
of routine problems
STAGES
Uses analytical processes
to decide on a course
of action, establishing
criteria for deciding
between options, and
seeking input and advice
from others before taking
action when necessary
When dealing with
complex issues, may use
intuition to identify the
general problem area,
switching to analytical
processes to clarify goals
and key issues, and
using lateral thinking
processes to generate
possible solutions
In familiar contexts,
responds intuitively
to problems requiring
immediate attention,
quickly drawing on
past experience to
devise solutions
A Proficient
performer in
identifying and
solving problems:
An Expert in
identifying and
solving problems:
May identify a need for further
information or seek advice
from relevant experts
May use formal analytical and
lateral thinking techniques
for identifying issues,
generating and evaluating
possible solutions
May invest time in defining the
real problem, using a variety of
techniques to challenge initial
perceptions of the situation,
identify key contributing
factors and critical issues
May intuitively hone in on the
problem area and identify
a small set of possible
appropriate solutions
Approaches problem solving in
diverse ways, recognising that
there is no formula and that
‘it all depends’
An example of the detailed descriptors - Identify and solve problems (Continued)
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10
Review
outcomes
Focus
Area
With guidance, may
identify some ways
in which a suggested
solution worked or
did not work, and
suggest actions that
could be taken in a
similar situation
A Novice in
identifying and
solving problems:
An Advanced
Beginner in
identifying and
solving problems:
May reflect on
outcomes and identify
what worked, or develop
an improved approach for
future situations
STAGES
With guidance,
begins to reflect on
the effectiveness of
a selected problem
solving process
Considers the
effectiveness of a solution
in terms of how well it
met stated goals, and
seeks to improve a future
response when a solution
does not achieve its
intended outcome
A Capable
performer in
identifying and
solving problems:
Reflects on the
appropriateness and
effectiveness of the
problem solving process
used and identifies some
key principles that may
be relevant in future
situations
Acknowledges where
a solution did not
achieve expected
outcomes and seeks a
range of perspectives
to understand why,
including a rethinking
of original goals
Uses formal and informal
processes to monitor
implementation of
solutions and reflect
on outcomes
A Proficient
performer in
identifying and
solving problems:
An Expert in
identifying and
solving problems:
Reflects on the application
of key principles in a
particular context, the
appropriateness and
effectiveness of different
sources of information and
problem solving processes
for that context, and the
potential implications
for future situations
Uses every situation as an
opportunity for extending
insights and understanding,
recognising that any solution
will have both intended and
unintended consequences
and that cause and effect
may not be closely or
obviously linked
An example of the detailed descriptors - Identify and solve problems (Continued)
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
You can find a copy of the complete Core Skills for Work Developmental Framework, and examples of other tools
and resources that have been developed based on the CSfW at www.innovation.gov.au/csfw
How was the CSfW developed?
The Australian Government funded the development of the CSfW across 2011 and 2012. More than
800 people had input into its development, including employers, unions, industry groups and a
broad cross-section of organisations from the school, vocational education and training, university
and employment services sectors – all of which have an interest in, and potential use for, the CSfW.
The development also drew upon recent research about employability and generic skills and their
development, as well as analysis of a range of current approaches to addressing employability and
generic skills in Australia and overseas.
The current version of the CSfW is intended to be reviewed after a number of years of use to check
whether it would benefit from adjustment or further development.
The CSfW follows on from the Mayer Key Competencies that were developed in the 1990s and the
Employability Skills Framework developed in 2002 by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (ACCI) and the Business Council of Australia (BCA) with funding from the Commonwealth
Government.
If you would like to find out more about how the CSfW relates to the 2002 Employability Skills, go to
www.innovation.gov.au/csfw
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