Tips for Workforce Developers – Partnerships That Matter…and Last

by Dr. Dave Just, formally Dean of Corporate & Continuing Education at Community Colleges in MA, OH, PA and SC. Currently President of K&D Consulting

Having partnered with Proactive Technologies, Inc. on workforce development projects for the past 20 years, it gave me a chance to innovate and learn what works, what efforts are most appreciated by the employer, trainee and employee, and which projects utilized resources most efficiently and effectively. There are numerous resources available from many sources that can impact a trainee with varying effectiveness, but the secret is selecting those that are appropriate for the project outcome the employer expects.

As Dean of Corporate and Continuing Education at community and technical colleges in Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania and South Carolina, at the start of each assignment I had to first learn what resources our school had available for the sectors we were targeting, and how current and relevant the courses, materials and instructors were for the specific skills employers were seeking. To be honest, in some areas our products and services were weaker than expected, so the determination needed to be made whether we had the resources and will to upgrade what we had or develop what we needed. We also had to consider if it would be more economical to strategically partner with outside providers who always had the current technical expertise and already created solutions we could incorporate into our offerings.

Too often there was internal resistance and a lack of understanding of how important being relevant was to workforce development. Many institutions grew complacent to change or were discouraged by shrinking budgets or misaligned priorities from innovation. Always feeling a sense of urgency to overcome the ubiquitous “skills gap” that cast a shadow on all education and workforce development efforts, there are some important steps that I developed for myself to help me better assess each employer’s need and provide solutions client employers appreciated. This is the reason most employers we worked with kept us engaged year after year. We earned, and maintained, their respect and gave them confidence in our solutions, which ensured our continued role in their business model. This provided a continued revenue stream for the school to continue, improve and expand those efforts.

1) Listen carefully to the employer’s description of the need – not every employer has a clear grasp of their need, but if you listen to their frustration in the context of your experience gained from concerns of other employers facing similar symptoms, you can help the employer discover the root cause. Then a solution that makes sense can be developed;

2) Formulate your proposed solution based on facts – there is always the temptation to propose a solution that markets a product or service the school already has in place, even when its relationship to the problem or challenge is suspect. Resist that temptation. A single sale of a weak product or service will not lead to follow-up sales. Once the initial opportunity to prove one’s value is squandered, everything else you propose might be dismissed – even if appropriate.

3) Recognize that most solutions are not complicated, but we often make them so – There is no shortage of schools that think the solution to everything is a multi-million dollar technology center. “If you build it, they will come” only worked in movies. The problem with this approach is that technology has a short shelf-life, and by the time the building is up and the equipment bought and installed, the employers have all moved on to newer technology. In short order, the facility looks behind industry needs and the sound of crickets fills the beautiful center. Another waste of time is equipment donated by a local employer. It may be a tax write-off for the employer, but there is a reason they are willing to part with it…they have moved on to newer and better technology. Why not create a project around the employer’s current equipment and processes, and upgrade the training in sync with them? Money saved and relevancy maximized.

4) Know when the school’s product or services just do not warrant mention – Why risk your, and the school’s, reputation suggesting a solution that seems to the prospective client employer to be, on its surface, terribly irrelevant? Remember, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” Do not be afraid to seek partners with better technology and solutions when necessary to help the employer meet the project’s goals. When the employer recognizes you are not a “snake oil salesman,” you begin to appear credible, and they will be more inclined to turn to you for help.

5) Recognize that although the school is an “institution of higher learning,” it is usually behind the technology and process level of a profit-focused organization – just know that your products and services have little or no impact on the actual work the employer needs performed, and that the best you can provide is a solid core skill foundation upon which the trainee can build. Every employer’s work is unique, and schools have no business pretending to be able to impact task-specific skills when they can easily partner with an organization like Proactive Technologies to build structured on-the-job training programs to the employer’s exact specifications, and provide implementation and documentation support. When the worker’s “job mastery” is assured, only then should some of your products and services that drive performance higher be introduced. Any sooner resembles a “cart before a horse.”

6) Focus the school’s efforts on what they do best – after taking inventory of the school’s products and services, and the quality and relevancy of each, build your catalog listing those you feel have a place and that the school provides at a high quality level. Next, build a list of outside private and public training providers with the best products and services for your industries’ and region’s needs. Develop mutually beneficial relationships with these providers and protect those relationships as long as both partners benefit and the employer is satisfied.

I discussed in greater detail the approach we took for maintenance positions in a Proactive Technologies Report article entitled “Grow Your Own Multi-Craft Maintenance Technicians – Using a “Systems Approach” to Training“. In it, I describe the “systems approach” we take to Maintenance, and any job classification for that matter, that has worked so effectively.

This approach helps develop workforce development projects that employers and trainees (whether pre-hire, new-hire or incumbent) appreciate and in which they see the value. It is their advocacy and support that makes it possible to fully implement the solution, and as that solution becomes more correct and valuable to the organization the employer will want to continue and expand the project. Many of our projects started with a structured on-the-job training program for one job classification, one need and expanded to all hourly job classifications. Then to the salary job classifications. With each expansion came the need for more related technical instruction and other products and services in the school’s inventory. Some of these hybrid model projects that my schools worked on with Proactive Technologies are included their News and Publications page of their website, including the many solutions for particularly manufacturing job classifications such as Maintenance-Mechatronics, Tool & Die, Tool & Gage, NC Machining, Quality Control, Chemical Operations, Mold and Die Repair and many others. Many of these programs were registered as apprenticeships.

Identifying the root problem or challenge and developing the best, most honest solution has the biggest payout for all stakeholders. For schools and workforce development groups that are searching for quality solutions and a chance to prove their credibility, this approach is worth a serious look.

Contact a Proactive Technologies representative for more information on its worker development approach and its partnership opportunities for educational institutions and training providers.