Building Area Workforce Development Consortia

Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.

Trying to accurately determine the workforce development needs of local or regional employers can be difficult. Information supplied by the employer can be limited, out-of-date or even wrong. Development workforce development strategies with such sketchy information can jeopardize the success of any project and waste enormous amounts of workforce development funds and resources.

A good example of this is the value of a typical employer’s Job Description  in developing a plan. The name of the job classification has very little value in understanding the nature of the work and, therefore, how to build an effective job-training system. For example, “Maintenance.” Twenty to thirty years ago the requirements of Maintenance were fairly standard. In most cases Maintenance was a multi-craft position consisting of Facilities, Electrical, Mechanical Maintenance, Plumbing, HVAC and anything else that was to be done. Today, one Maintenance position might consist only of Preventative Maintenance tasks, with all other formally Maintenance tasks being locally out-sourced to contracted vendors. Some Maintenance positions consist of Preventative Maintenance and Light Maintenance of robotic systems as seen with automobile manufacturing plants and their suppliers. Very few Maintenance positions require complex machine rebuilding and repair, the employers relying whenever possible on warranties and supplier technicians for that type of service.

The other extreme one might notice is flashy, invented names such as “Advanced Assembly Technician.” A thorough job/task analysis may reveal a more humbling definition of the classification. Without a thorough job/task analysis the target outcome may be blurry and the collective efforts to train workers might fail despite the enormous effort.

When defining the components of an effective core skill development program, a detailed job/task analysis provides a wealth of data to zero in on those entry-level core skills that are important to job training success. The Job Description Report alone, developed from the data of course, provides the overall tasks a successful employee will need to master as well as the pre-requisite core skills, abilities and other requirements. This data is important in building job-relevance of all of the individual training components that lead to repeatable success.If solid, content-valid job data is available for designing effective core skill development programs that meet specifically an employer’s job requirements, having that level of job data for many local or regional employers can facilitate strong workforce development strategies for those employers. The Job Profile Comparison Report provides the analysis to find commonality of core skills providing the basis for core skill, entry level training programs. This focuses the effort, shortens the learning time and cuts costs.

Proactive Technologies Inc. has partnered with public institutions such as The Ohio State University Marion – Alber Enterprise Center to build hybrid workforce development solutions. Since 1994, Proactive Technologies has used this approach to create for the employer a structured on-the-job training (“SOJT”) system to ensure every employee – incumbents and new-hires – are driven to the same high level of job mastery. This ensures the employer not only witnesses each employee’s increasing value and return on worker investment, but participates closely in the SOJT delivery process, as well. Since structured and controlled, this systematic approach facilitates setting effective “pay-for-value” wage level programs, support of LEAN manufacturing efforts and quality programs such as ISO/IATF/AS – further encouraging the employer’s long-term commitment to the originally intended training program.

Concurrently with the structured on-the-job training component, the Alber Center uses the data collected from the job/task analysis to design with the employer a robust related technical instruction program that ensures each worker has the right foundation upon which to continue with the SOJT. Registered or not, this is an apprenticeship structure in the spirit of the definition. Similar hybrid projects have been established in other parts of country, with jobs in various industry sectors. Proactive Technologies has partnered with community colleges, career centers, 4-year colleges and universities as well as for-profit training providers to bring together for the employer this hybrid model and its support.

Even the U. S. Department of Labor’s National Skill Standard “pyramids” for various occupations, including manufacturing, intentionally leave the top of the pyramid of skill development off. This implies that when a worker or potential worker completes the foundation skills development through educational programs in schools and career centers, the job-based, task-based training ensures core skills have been mastered and can be applied in the performance of work for which the individual was hired.

That SOJT capstone is, and always has been, the responsibility of the employer but usually an afterthought as employers struggle to extract efficiencies in all of the other areas of their business model. Yet, this is the one area where enormous costs can bet cut and unexplored efficiencies discovered, such as: 1) the cost of unused worker capacity; 2) the cost of training in a haphazard, ad-hoc manner – usually inconsistent by OJT trainer and shift – that leads to very little return; 3) the cost of scrap and rework due to improper training; and 4) the cost of ineffective, non-aligned training delivery that lacks an outcome or measure of value. Training has to be deliberate and exact to be effective; from core skill development to task-based mastery of the job. Not many people would fly in a plane if the pilot had completed theory learning and had some time in a simulator but no actual structured training time in a cockpit.

Creating local or regional workforce development programs – one employer, one-job classification at a time – can build partnerships that last decades and provide a foundation upon which to reach out to other employers, workers and training providers. For more information on the process, click here.