Proactive Technologies Report – September, 2018

The US Workforce Competitive Advantage Has Declined For Decades – Not for Lack of Resources, Effort or Base Talent, But For Strategy

by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.

The United States has, by objective measures, not done a “world-class” job of developing the new workers it needs. True, it is difficult to develop accurate core skill courses meant to reflect the jobs of today and the future when by the time these programs are ready and students ready to graduate, entire industries have already moved these jobs elsewhere offshore. But institutions have not done a good job of preparing for the future that is most likely, not the one they want to create, either.

Educational policies of the 1980’s and 1990’s eliminated “vocational” training in high schools to focus on college preparation, assuming everyone was suited and planning for college. College-educated officials went with what they knew and understood. But they could not agree on strategy, complicating matters further, which lead to a perpetual debate on how best to prepare students for college. This yielded versions of standardized tests and a massive test preparation industry.

click here to expand

The Skills Gap Solution; Employers Still Reluctant to Commit to Role Only They Can Fill

by Staff

Education cannot, and should not be asked to, close the “skills gap” on their own. Employers have been concerned about the “skills gap” since the 1980’s, and the nature and location of the job has continued to change…at an accelerating rate. Employers have convinced themselves to wait for education to close the gap. In the meantime, tremendous resources continue to be expended, but the gap continues to grow.

Educational institutions are not suited, staffed, funded and equipped to train workers for every job, for every employer, nor should they be. Educational institutions do their best work when they build the labor supply with strong, relevant basic and core skills (including STEM), and industry-general skills. Whether those efforts are worthwhile and the resources well-spent depend on two important things: 1) does an employer see value in hiring a graduate, and 2) is there a method in place to ensure those skills are integrated into mastery of the job-tasks the employer needs performed; the value that will influence the employer to retain them.

click here to expand

Assessing Employees With Past Drug Addictions for Work Tricky

by Stacey Lett, Director of Operations – Eastern U.S. – Proactive Technologies, Inc.

A prevalent challenge faced by many employers is what to do with job applicants with a record of past drug use. Current drug use detected during screening is fairly cut and dry, but candidates that are going through, or went through, treatment and have maintained a clean life-style since need more care to avoid running afoul of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

The Americans with Disabilities Act protects employees and job applicants from discrimination based on past drug addiction in most cases.  In a article for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) website by Roy Maurer, “The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects employees and job applicants from discrimination based on past drug addiction. These individuals qualify as having a disability if they successfully completed a supervised drug rehabilitation program or are currently participating in such a program and are no longer using prohibited drugs.”

click here to expand

Estimating the Costs Associated With Skipping Employer-Based Structured On-The-Job Training

by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.

It should go without saying that if the employer has no deliberate strategy to train workers for the tasks they were hired to perform, the employer will probably never realize the maximum output possible from a worker. Multiple workers operating under-capacity can create exorbitant, and unnecessary, costs to the employer – bleeding from profits and often leading to sweeping and irreparable reactions from management as they try to “fix” all but the obvious.

The effect of worker capacity on any business strategy is the least understood of factors, but one as important as innovation, process improvement and zero defect strategies. After all, fundamental to each of these strategies is the worker’s ability to competently carry the intended actions to maximize those efforts efficiently.

click here to expand

Read the full August, 2018 Proactive Technologies Report newsletter, including linked industry articles and online presentation schedules.

Posted in News

Upcoming Live Online Presentations

< 2025 >
May
MoTuWeThFrSaSu
   1234
56
  • 7:00 am-7:45 am
    2025-05-06

    Click Here to Schedule

    (Mountain Time) This briefing explains the philosophy behind, and development/implementation of, structured on-the-job training; how any employer can benefit from the PROTECH© system of human resource development in more than just the training area. This model provides the lacking support employers, who want to be able to easily and cost-effectively create the workers they require right now, need. Program supports ISO/AS/IATF compliance requirements for “knowledge(expertise)” capture, and process-based training and record keeping.  Approx 45 minutes.

  • 9:00 am-9:45 am
    2025-05-06

    Click Here to Schedule

    (Mountain Time) The philosophy behind, and development/implementation of, structured on-the-job training; how any employer can benefit from the PROTECH© system of managed human resource development in more that just the training area; building related technical instruction/structured on-the-job training partnerships for employers across all industries one-by-one. How this can become a cost-effective, cost-efficient and highly credible workforce development strategy – easy scale up by just plugging each new employer into the system. When partnering with economic development agencies, and public and private career and technical colleges and universities for the related technical instruction, this provides the most productive use of available grant funds and gives employers-employees/trainees and the project partners the biggest win for all. This model provides the support sorely needed by employers who want to partner in the development of the workforce but too often feel the efforts will not improve the workforce they need. Approx. 45 minutes

  • 1:00 pm-1:45 pm
    2025-05-06

    Click Here to Schedule

    (Mountain Time) The philosophy behind, and development/implementation of, structured on-the-job training; how any employer can benefit from the PROTECH© system of managed human resource development in more than just the training area; building related technical instruction/structured on-the-job training partnerships for employers across all industries and how it can become an cost-effective, cost-efficient and highly credible apprenticeship. Program supports ISO/AS/IATF compliance requirements for “knowledge(expertise)” capture, and process-based training and record keeping. When partnering with economic development agencies, public and private career and technical colleges and universities, this provides the most productive use of available grant funds and gives employers-employees/trainees and the project partners the biggest win for all. This model provides the lacking support needed to employers who want to easily and cost-effectively host an apprenticeship.  Approx. 45 minutes

78
  • 7:00 am-7:45 am
    2025-05-08

    Click Here to Schedule

    The Crash of 2008 and the Covid-19 Pandemic have caused disruptions to not just businesses, but the entire economy. Changes in company ownership can change in business strategy and training project support. During these disruptions, several Proactive Technologies projects were set-up for employers and ready to implement, or implementation started but paused temporarily, some indefinitely, as internal project knowledge and advocacy dissipated. Employee and management contacts were either laid-off, reassigned or retired. The significant value of what was established remains and Proactive Technologies saved each company’s data set up that point. Here is a chance to discover what was established, where we left off and what it would take to restart the program. The philosophy behind, and development/implementation of, structured on-the-job training; the many benefits from the PROTECH® © system of managed human resource development in more than just the training area; examples of projects with manufacturing and manufacturing support companies (aerospace, Tier-1 and 2 automobile suppliers, chemical companies, facilities maintenance companies, rubber/polymer manufacturers); compliance support provided by the system for ISO/AS/IATF and Nadcap quality programs as well as OSHA safety requirements; and how many structured on-the-job training programs were, or can be, unregistered apprenticeships or registered as apprenticeships.

  • 9:00 am-9:45 am
    2025-05-08

    Click Here to Schedule

    (Mountain Time) The philosophy behind, and development/implementation of, structured on-the-job training; how any employer can benefit from the PROTECH® © system of managed human resource development in more that just the training area; building related technical instruction/structured on-the-job training programs and supporting them for employers across all industries. ISO/AS/IATF, Nadacp and similar quality programs have a requirement that: standardize work processes guide quality, auditable task performance; training matches the process; training is documented for each worker; and a system is in place to ensure all are up to date and in sync. This program supports ISO/AS/IATF and Nadcap compliance requirements for “knowledge(expertise)” capture. In addition to hiring, structured on-the-job training and performance evaluation instruments, PROTECH produces reports such as Technical Document (best practice for each task), Qualification/ Certification Checklists and more. One-revision updates all materials! Efforts like Lean, Kaisen, continuous improvement strategies all can render a lesser model obsolete and non-compliant in a few months. This model provides the lacking support needed to employers who want to easily and cost-effectively establish and maintain compliance. Approx. 45 minutes

  • 1:00 pm-1:45 pm
    2025-05-08

    Click Here to Schedule

    (Mountain Time) The philosophy behind, and development/implementation of, structured on-the-job training; how any employer can benefit from the PROTECH© system of managed human resource development in more that just the training area; building related technical instruction/structured on-the-job training programs and supporting them for employers across all industries. This approach uses the “accelerated transfer of expertise™” to quickly and completely train each incumbent worker to full job mastery. When change settles and growth returns, new-hires can be quickly developed to full job mastery to support expansion and cross-training of each worker conducted and controlled. Program supports ISO/AS/IATF and Nadcap compliance requirements for “knowledge(expertise)” capture, and process-based training and record keeping. Approx. 45 minutes

91011
1213
  • 7:00 am-7:45 am
    2025-05-13

    Click Here to Schedule

    (Mountain Time) The philosophy behind, and development/implementation of, structured on-the-job training; the many benefits the employer can realize from the PROTECH© system of managed human resource development in more than just the training area; examples of projects across all industries, including manufacturing and manufacturing support companies. Program supports ISO/AS/IATF and Nadcap compliance requirements for “knowledge(expertise)” capture, and process-based training and record keeping. When combined with related technical instruction, this approach has been easily registered as an apprenticeship-focusing the structured on-the-job training on exactly what are the required tasks of the job. Registered or not, this approach is the most effective way to train workers to full capacity in the shortest amount of time –cutting internal costs of training while increasing worker capacity, productivity, work quality and quantity, and compliance.  Approx 45 minutes.

  • 9:00 am-9:45 am
    2025-05-13

    Click Here to Schedule

    (Mountain Time) The philosophy behind, and development/implementation of, structured on-the-job training; how any employer can benefit from the PROTECH© system of managed human resource development in more than just the training area; building related technical instruction/structured on-the-job training partnerships for employers in across all industries. When partnering with economic development agencies, public and private career and technical colleges and universities, this provides the most productive use of available grant funds and gives employers-employees/trainees and the project partners the biggest win for all. Program supports ISO/AS/IATF compliance requirements for “knowledge(expertise)” capture, and process-based training and record keeping. This model provides the lacking support needed to employers who want to easily and cost-effectively host an apprenticeship.  Approx 45 minutes.

  • 1:00 pm-1:45 pm
    2025-05-13

    Click Here to Schedule

    (Mountain Time) The philosophy behind, and development/implementation of, structured on-the-job training; how any employer can benefit from the PROTECH© system of managed human resource development in more that just the training area; building related technical instruction/structured on-the-job training partnerships for employers across all industries one-by-one. How this can become a cost-effective, cost-efficient and highly credible workforce development strategy – easy scale up by just plugging each new employer into the system. When partnering with economic development agencies, and public and private career and technical colleges and universities for the related technical instruction, this provides the most productive use of available grant funds and gives employers-employees/trainees and the project partners the biggest win for all. This model provides the support sorely needed by employers who want to partner in the development of the workforce but too often feel the efforts will not improve the workforce they need. Approx. 45 minutes

1415
  • 7:00 am-7:45 am
    2025-05-15

    Click Here to Schedule

    (Mountain Time) The philosophy behind, and development/implementation of, structured on-the-job training; how any employer can benefit from the PROTECH© system of managed human resource development in more than just the training area; building related technical instruction/structured on-the-job training partnerships for employers in across all industries. When partnering with economic development agencies, public and private career and technical colleges and universities, this provides the most productive use of available grant funds and gives employers-employees/trainees and the project partners the biggest win for all. This model provides the lacking support needed to employers who want to easily and cost-effectively host an apprenticeship.  Approx 45 minutes.

  • 9:00 am-9:45 am
    2025-05-15

    Click Here to Schedule

    (Mountain Time) This briefing explains the philosophy behind, and development/implementation of, structured on-the-job training; how any employer can benefit from the PROTECH© system of human resource development in more than just the training area. This model provides the lacking support employers, who want to be able to easily and cost-effectively create the workers they require right now, need. Program supports ISO/AS/IATF compliance requirements for “knowledge(expertise)” capture, and process-based training and record keeping.  Approx 45 minutes.

  • 1:00 pm-1:45 pm
    2025-05-15

    Click Here to Schedule

    (Mountain Time) The philosophy behind, and development/implementation of, structured on-the-job training; how any employer can benefit from the PROTECH© system of managed human resource development in more than just the training area; building related technical instruction/structured on-the-job training partnerships for employers across all industries and how it can become an cost-effective, cost-efficient and highly credible apprenticeship. Program supports ISO/AS/IATF compliance requirements for “knowledge(expertise)” capture, and process-based training and record keeping. When partnering with economic development agencies, public and private career and technical colleges and universities, this provides the most productive use of available grant funds and gives employers-employees/trainees and the project partners the biggest win for all. This model provides the lacking support needed to employers who want to easily and cost-effectively host an apprenticeship.  Approx. 45 minutes

161718
19202122232425
262728293031 

Sign up!