e-Journal Story
Day 2

WIBs Working Across Boundaries

Questions surrounding how multiple workforce investment boards (WIBs) can collaborate effectively were answered by two states with active WIRED (Workforce Innovation in Economic Development) programs.

Joel Simon of the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) moderated the early morning question-and-answer session. Lillian Plummer of North Carolina's Greensboro/High Point/Guilford County Workforce Board, and Trent Howerton of the Workforce Partnership in Kansas offered their thoughts on addressing the challenges associated with creating regional workforce development programs.

The presenters agreed that while some level of regional collaboration existed prior to WIRED, the initiative gave organizations in their areas the push needed to bring together multiple WIBs under one banner. Both regions relied on WIRED funding to get their programs off the ground.

Both Plummer and Howerton agreed that there are common challenges to building collaborative networks.

North Carolina's workforce project in particular, said Plummer, works closely with multiple economic development corporations (EDCs). It has been critical that EDCs are able to get past traditional rivalries in order to succeed as a region. Allowing collaborating groups to maintain their individual identities is key to preventing any single group from feeling like it is losing out by sharing ideas and resources.

Plummer said that early meetings of regional organizations should always include WIB chairs in order to keep the big picture in mind. Both she and Howerton agreed that organizations need to continuously reiterate their goals in order to maintain focus. At both the board and workgroup level, the region's overall goals should remain at the forefront.

Logistical considerations also play a role in bringing together regional partners. As such, technology can play a role in developing effective and efficient means of communication. Making use of teleconferencing, chat rooms and other tools cut down on participant travel costs and increase the value of each interaction. Howerton narrowed the focus to the needs of private sector partners, saying that it is important to respect their time and financial concerns. For instance, it may not be reasonable to ask a business owner to attend a meeting for four to five hours during the middle of the workday.

When asked, both Howerton and Plummer responded that at this point, their respective workforce development initiatives do not reach deep into either the K-12 education system or the non-profit and foundation communities - information which audience members had hoped to gain further insight and direction.

Calculating the Costs of an Unprepared Workforce

Closing the gap between employers' workforce needs and the skills and knowledge first-time job holders bring to the workforce was the theme of this early-morning Wednesday session. Attendees gained insight into what employers seek from their employees to ensure competitiveness in the global economy.

Donna Klein, CEO for Corporate Voices for Working Families, presented research findings from a 2006 study. In it, employers assessed the preparedness of today's younger workforce based on a combination of basic and applied skills including reading comprehension, critical thinking, problem-solving and written communications. When asked if new entrants were ready for the workforce, the answer was an overall resounding "no." More than 40 percent of employers graded high school graduates as deficient versus adequate or excellent regarding preparedness for the workforce. The intensity of employers' views about deficiency decreased as first-time job holders acquired additional education through two-or-four-year colleges. Unfortunately, though, there were no skills areas where employers rated new workforce entrants as excellent in terms of workforce preparation.

For employers, the gaps are most glaring in applied or "soft" skills such as professionalism, information technology application, teamwork, oral and written communication, critical thinking and problem-solving. Skills in these areas, Klein said, will only increase in importance over the next five years.

In describing the implications for business, Klein informed the audience that the lack of preparation among first-time job holders is leading many larger businesses to hire more experienced workers instead of entry-level employees. Consequently, smaller employers with fewer resources are bearing the brunt of hiring unprepared workers. Employers willing to hire younger and less prepared workers are now spending more on training or on costs related to replacing unprepared workers who can't meet the demands of their jobs.

According to Klein, the fact that employers are finding that first-time job holders are unprepared to meet the demands of an increasingly competitive, knowledge-based global economy should be a wake-up call for workforce development and education professionals alike.

One organization collaborating with Corporate Voices is the American Society for Training and Development. The group's Michael Czarnowsky described its current work with Corporate Voices, the Conference Board and the Society for Human Resources Management to conduct a survey that's builds on the Corporate Voices 2006 research. The survey examines how much and where employers are actually spending to address the issue of an unprepared workforce. Specifically, the new ASTD study will examine workplace learning and performance initiatives that employers already have in place and the nature and costs of providing remedial training, job-specific training and career development opportunities. Results from the study are expected by the end of 2008.

To close out the session, Czarnowsky asked attendees to confer with their tablemates on how the information presented during the session would impact their agencies. Most respondents reported that while employers will have to provide training on some level, the key to resolving the disconnect involves tying the education that workforce entrants receive to the needs of employers. Meeting attendees agreed, however, that accomplishing this goal involves a change in education policy, which is a separate discussion that clearly involves bringing educators and state elected officials into the conversation.

The Global Search for Talent: A Dialogue on Public-Private Partnerships

This session, moderated by the Employment and Training Administration's Doug Small explored how other countries are working with business and educational institutions to develop sector-based talent development strategies to enhance their competitiveness and improve the employability of their workers.

Speakers Peter Larose, of Canada's Human Resources and Social Development department, and Mike Woods, Education Counselor with the Embassy of New Zealand, discussed international approaches to building sector-based skills development strategies and how to identify training tools created collaboratively by government, industry, and education. Both Larose and Woods emphasized the importance of engaging industries in targeting specific, in-demand skill sets.

The session opened with a comparative look at how the workforce system engages employers to assist in creating training curriculum. One ongoing theme during the session explored how to train and engage disconnected populations including high school dropouts, aging workers, and prisoners re-entering their communities. Woods described New Zealand's 38 Industry Training Organizations (ITOs.) These are designed to place trained workers with employers. A large number of small companies are involved in ITOs and help to set worker training standards. Each ITO creates one curriculum per industry beginning with youth apprenticeship and with an emphasis on competency-based training. New Zealand, with its small workforce and economy, a rising high school dropout rate, and a high unemployment rate suffers from a shortage of skilled workers.

Woods offered three tactics for combating higher than normal high school dropout rates:

1.Schools must tie curriculum to industry qualifications. New Zealand's Gateway program accomplishes this by offering students dual enrollment in school and apprenticeship programs.
2. Educators should link training to job opportunities for students. Industry councils work with school boards to influence curriculum and enjoy high placement rates. 3. Employers and schools need to move away from "time served" training to competency-based training.

Larose equated Woods' approach to skills-based curriculum to Canada's Schools + Initiative. This program encourages students to consider their high school education as leading to a job with the same weight they would put on their college studies. The Canadian initiative started in response to complaints that schools were not producing the necessary skill sets essential to employers. The government collaborated with industries to help integrate work and skills requirements into school curriculum. Today, the Canadian government looks to employers and gives them a great deal of discretion in developing the curricula to build up the specific skills they require.

The Best of the Prisoner Re-entry Initiative

This session gave attendees valuable insight into how workforce development professionals can build connections among the Departments of Correction, the public workforce system, faith-based and community organizations, and other strategic partners to integrate ex-offenders back into the workforce through the President's Prisoner Re-entry Initiative (PRI), a program created in 2004 designed to provide employment, training and supportive services to ex-offenders returning to the community.

The Employment and Training Administration's Evan Rosenberg painted a profile of the program and its participants. PRI currently serves nearly 13,000 non-violent ex-offenders through 30 grants in 20 states. The majority of enrollees (57 percent) were incarcerated for drug-related crime, and more than 80 percent are either on parole or probation. More than 50 percent have some history of alcohol and/or drug abuse. The majority of program enrollees range in age from 35 to 44 and tend to be less educated than either the general population or the general offender population. While most are male, women make up nearly one-quarter of enrollees.

Given the challenges faced by ex-offenders, the PRI has had significant success. Program participants have a 15 percent recidivism rate versus 44 percent for other non-violent ex-offenders. Rosenberg reported that more than two-thirds of program participants have jobs, and that 66 percent of those remain employed at least nine months after completing their program.

After Rosenberg's presentation, PRI grantee Jerald Brantley of Spectrum Resources, an Iowa-based non-profit, shared his experiences with implementing PRI.

Brantley described his approach as helping ex-offenders along a "critical path" to self-sufficiency by working with community organizations and partners to provide the support services ex-offenders need to accomplish their goals. As a result, PRI participants are allowed to focus on finding employment and rely on Brantley's program to handle needs such as housing, clothing and medical services. According to Brantley, 90 percent of his PRI clients never go back to prison and become "complete whole citizens who are employed and pay their own bills." One of Brantley's clients, Ray Joyner, provided perhaps the most compelling presentation of the day.

"Who would have known that I would go from a jail cell, to a college degree to speaking with you today?" said Joyner.

Joyner, who spent more than four years in jail, made the decision to turn his life around using the three D's: dedication, determination and discipline. Once released, he enrolled in Brantley's PRI-funded program to get back on his feet. Joyner praised the program for its direction and support. Today, he is employed full-time and on his way to earning a bachelor's degree at night.

Plenary II: Business Engagement and Leadership

The conference's second major plenary led off with the next round of Recognition of Excellence Awards. HIRED of Minnesota's M-Powered metalworking program received top honors in the "Leveraging the Power of Partnerships" category. The Arkansas Delta Training and Education Consortium took home the top prize in the "Building a Regionally Focused Workforce Strategy" category.

Jim "Mr. Energy" Smith, Jr. returned to literally send everyone running on a speed-networking activity. He asked each person to pair up with three different conference strangers for 90 seconds each to share what they had learned so far at the conference and how they would apply it to their work back home. With microphone in hand, Workforce Innovations Chairman Sanders was then dispatched to run among audience volunteers who would quickly relay their experiences to the ballroom crowd. The message that stood out: collaboration is a key to future success. One volunteer said the sheer volume of information she received during the conference made revisiting the material mandatory upon returning home. Smith said that the main point is to take advantage of the learning at this and other conferences.

A barely winded Sanders then invited Gus Whalen, CEO of the Warren Featherbone Company, onstage to tell his company's story of overcoming obstacles and adapting with the changing business climate. Leadership, said Whalen, is the key to rebounding from economic shocks.. The 125-year-old company began its life manufacturing women's corsets using turkey featherbones. When the market disappeared overnight, they retooled and started making diapers. Knocked out of that market by advances in plastics and the appearance of Pampers, Featherbone moved into making children's clothing. Pinched again by competition, the company two years ago switched gears once more. This time Whalen and his company decided to diversify their business interests and have offered up their manufacturing plants for use as training facilities.

Some of the same themes - enduring economic shocks and persevering through challenges -- were found in the next presentation as well. Frank Glaviano Sr., Vice President of Production for Shell's Americas Region, told the crowd why Shell decided to stay in New Orleans following the hurricanes of 2005. Katrina created "three disasters at the same time" for Shell. Offshore assets were damaged; Shell's New Orleans office (the Crescent City's tallest building) was without power, putting 1,000 people out of work; and many employees' homes were flooded, with some under eight feet of water.

Glaviano said Shell had a choice to make: stay in New Orleans, or move operations to Houston. Working under the principles that, "We can't fix the business without fixing the employees," and that Shell was going to return to its Louisiana home and become involved in rebuilding the city, the company decided to stay. It is important, Glaviano said, to try and turn a disaster into something positive.

In terms of workforce development, Glaviano said the energy industry faces a hostile environment when trying to recruit young people. He stressed that the industry is not just the dirty, old-time business of the past. To reach out to young people, Shell has set up internship programs through high-schools and colleges. The company holds a one-week drilling and operations camp to introduce college engineering students to the industry. It also has a four-month internship program where students work 14-day shifts each month and are introduced to different aspects of the business. Shell hires 50 percent of all interns, and retains 90 percent of those hired. Shell also actively hires exiting military personnel. Military personnel, according to Glaviano are sought by the company for their technical knowledge, work ethic, and ability to work well under pressure.

Lessons from Generation I WIRED regions

A near-capacity crowd turned out as two WIRED regions shared their experiences and offered insights about the initiative on Wednesday afternoon. Many in attendance were representing second and third generation WIRED regions.

The moderator defined sustainability as the continuation of goals to achieve outcomes, looking beyond where the next batch of funding is going to come from, identifying your resources, and planning for your next project before current funding dries up.

Judy Turner of the California Space Authority spoke of her experience with California's 13-county Innovation Corridor.

Turner recommended that fellow WIRED grantees act quickly to institutionalize their organizations, and engage in aggressive marketing and outreach efforts to promote a regional brand. Marketing efforts can be supported by documenting outcomes as proof of how well your programs and initiatives are performing. Look at what others have done, she urged. Network, and figure out how you can implement shared ideas in your region. Perhaps most importantly, stick to the plan, that is, work the proposal you submitted.

The University of Michigan's Paul Hunt said his Mid-Michigan region faced one challenge in particular: It was an "artificial region," or a coalition of counties that prior to WIRED, did not have a shared interest in cooperation and collaboration. As such, certain aspects of Mid-Michigan's WIRED proposal did not appeal to all counties involved. Hunt said that developing the Route I-69 Corridor was one such issue. I-69 does not run through all the region's counties, and it has been a challenge to convince some communities that developing the corridor is to their benefit.

Convincing partners of the necessity and benefit of a certain course of action also goes to the role of trust building in regional collaboration. Both speakers addressed this issue. Collaboration requires all involved to know what role they will play, as well as the roles others will fill. Returning to an earlier point, Hunt and Turner concurred that sticking to the agreed-upon plan is a key to building trust, and in turn, to successful regional economic development.

What It Takes to Develop the Next Generation of American Workers

A Wednesday session on developing the next generation of American workers was moderated by Toni Wilson from the Employment and Training Administration's Office of Workforce Investment. She and fellow panelists discussed strategies to create an employee pipeline using industry groups and programs to close the gap between school and employment.

The Academy for Educational Development, represented by Lisa Johnson, runs programs that train mentors serving youth. On the ground, Johnson & Johnson, Inc. and SkillsUSA have successfully operated programs that provide supportive services while guiding youth to learn technical skills, gain experience in high growth, high demand jobs, and make connections with businesses hiring workers.

Johnson & Johnson's Bridge to Employment program uses mentors to help students focus on healthcare and science professions. This international program is currently active in the United States, Colombia, Scotland and Ireland. It uses strategic partnerships to affect the lives of young people in cities with a presence of 400 or more company employees. Students benefit from mentoring as early as the ninth grade, and their mentors see them through employment and beyond.

Johnson & Johnson's Michael Bzdak said that the workforce crisis is here but there is still a need for skilled workers in good careers, such as in IT, robotics, and healthcare.

SkillsUSA's Timothy Lawrence said his organization teams up with employers and influences training curricula to give students the necessary skills to succeed. By partnering with students, instructors and industry, SkillsUSA serves millions of students and has created a network of more than 1,200 business partners.

Community Foundations: Investors and Collaborators in Talent Development

Workforce development professionals seeking to leverage resources and form community-based partnerships may be overlooking an important resource: community foundations. This was the theme of a late-afternoon session about opportunities for collaboration with community foundations that are increasingly addressing workforce development issues.

Moderator Maria Flynn with Massachusetts-based Jobs for the Future kicked off the session. She told attendees that the more than 700 community foundations in the United States invested approximately $3.6 billion in 2006, with the overall goal of improving the quality of life in regions across the country. Additionally, she gave a brief overview of the National Fund for Workforce Solutions. This Jobs for the Future partner organization is raising $50 million to strengthen and expand high-impact workforce development initiatives.

Following Flynn's opening remarks, panelists Kathy Merchant, CEO of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, and Kelly Lucas, president of the Community Foundation of Greater South Wood County (Wisconsin) told the audience that community foundations and workforce development organizations are natural partners. Their shared interest in creating workforce and economic development opportunities in local communities is a tie that binds. "Workforce development should be a high priority and a critical element of a community's health and vitality," said Merchant.

According to the panelists, periods of economic downturn give workforce development groups and community foundations more of a reason to leverage resources and align efforts to educate and prepare the workforce. Panelist Connie Loden, executive director of the Heart of Wisconsin Business and Economic Alliance, described her group's partnership with Lucas' Foundation. Designed to spur development following the loss of South Wood's paper industry, the partnership helped South Wood County create a business friendly culture and laid the foundation for sustained economic growth and development.

Despite ample opportunities for collaboration between the workforce development and foundation communities, Merchant acknowledged that many foundations still need education about workforce development. "Community foundations don't understand workforce development," said Merchant. "They don't get what you do." Merchant encouraged workforce development professionals to approach community foundations directly and educate them on the role workforce development plays in creating a prosperous community.