WorkforceCamp: An Introduction to Workforce Policy, Strategy and Implementation

 Welcome & Overview of WorkforceCamp  For questions

 Speak up   Index cards  Twitter backchannel #wfcamp09

 Folders contents on wiki http://workforcecamp.wikispaces.com/

 Pair up   Introduce yourselves to each other   Introduce your partner to the group – name,

affiliation & location, three “tags”

UNDERSTANDING HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL CONTEXT: BOB JONES, MARION PINES

BIG PICTURE ISSUES: POLICY & STRATEGY

  Did you know (3.0)   Laid off

Thinking about our nation, your state or your community:

  What kept you awake last night? Last year?

  What is emerging that will keep you awake in the future?

UNPRECEDENTED? OR “HERE WE GO AGAIN”?

 Strategy & Purpose: “what” & “why”, not “how”   “Big Deal” Issues  Seeks to change behavior:

  Individuals  Companies  What we do communally through government and

in our communities

  Issues about:  Employment  Skills and knowledge of workers  Worker transitions  Worker/learner supports

  Territory spans many silos:  Workforce boards  Community Colleges and other post-secondary  Adult education/basic skills development  Economic development  Human services skills & employment

 Multiple levels:  Federal  State  Regional/local

  Formal Levers include:   Legislation   Regulation   Directives   Organizational structures   Funding   Performance

requirements   Incentives

  Informal Levers include:   Building guiding coalitions   Advocacy   Engaging people in the

issue   Incentives

POLICY = “WHAT” & “WHY” PROGRAM = “HOW”

  Aimed at broader change   More readily integrative   Systemic, lasting change;

often affects multiple programs

  Created to solve a specific problem

  Tend to form silos, create turf   Focus on delivery of service/

solution to specific

BREAK (10 MINS)

Agricultural Policy

TradePolicy Health Policy

DefensePolicy

  Logic Model & Theory of Change

  Adaptive Strategy & Social Impact

*BasedonGeoffMulgan’sAdap3veStrategyModelar3culatedinTheArtofPublicStrategy(OxfordUniversityPress,2009).

Mission:Prosperity(goodjobs,thrivingcommuni3es)Strategy:Increasecommunity(regional)agilityandresilience

3.OutcomesPartners• Alignment(priori3es,strategies,resources,investments)• Morecollabora3veac3vityacrossdiversepartnerships

Public• Measurablechangesinawareness,opinion,percep3on,aOtudes• Self‐organizedindividualshelpthemselvesandeachother• Moremeaningfulengagement

2.Environment“Wickedproblem”spacesincommuni3es

1.  PurposeFacilitatehealthycommunitynetworksfocusedoninnova3onandtransi3on(workers,firmscommuni3es)

4.Ac9ons• Partnershipbuilding:Asset/resourcemapping,socialnetworking,convening• Informa3on:datagathering,environmentalscan• Strategy:Ini3a3vedevelopment&implementa3on• Engagement:facilita3on,events,communica3on,promo3on

5.Learn• Evalua3on• Documenta3on• Retrospec3ve• Feedbackloop• Survey

Impact• Increasedagility,resilience• Changeinwaysofdoingbusiness• Increasedconfidenceincommunity• Improvedeco‐systemawareness• Increaseinpeer‐to‐peerlearning,bartering/brokering

  Get into groups of 5-6   Select a “problem” from

environmental scan   Develop a modified

theory of change   Define and give context

to problem (cause)   Identify what action(s)

you will take to address it   Define outcome(s)   Report back

Exploration & Simulation

  Sector Partnerships: Regional public-private workforce partnerships in critical industries

  Career Pathways: How people advance from one job to another based on skills and experience

  Entrepreneurship: How we help people make jobs (not just find them)

  Community engagement: How we influence attitudes and behaviors in firms, communities, and among people

Education and

Training Providers

Workforce Intermediary

Businesses & Industry Associations

Work Support

Providers Workers

State

Labor, Economic

Developers

Private Funders

  Convened by Richmond Works (Local Workforce Investment Board)

  Unprecedented level of collaboration with employers, Adult Education, public and private training programs, unions, city economic development, and the city housing authority.

  Richmond Works staff worked closely with employers to understand skills needs across positions in the construction and solar installation sector.

  Public private partners provide in-kind and financial support.

  Strong career pathway focus.   Targets at-risk youth in Richmond, CA.   Since its launch in April 2007, the

partnership has placed 90% of its 130 graduates in green construction jobs paying $18+/hour.

  Involves identifying a set of occupations within an industry, the relevant skills needed for each, and the steps (including coursework, certificates, degrees) needed to obtain employment and advance in each.

  Career “lattices” or “crosswalks” are a related concept, indicating sets of skills that are transferrable across industries or related sub-sectors.

  Often at the center of a sector partnership’s activities, if employers in the partnership identify this is as a missing piece to filling their workforce gaps.

  Many community colleges use employer or industry advisory boards to help them create career pathway curriculum in target industries.

Jobs & Opportunity

Innovation Community value

Entre- & intra-

preneurs

Lifestyle businesses

High growth firms

  A region with mixed urban, suburban and rural areas, maybe 50 square miles; roughly a population of 150,000 people. Pockets of poverty, mostly solid working class neighborhoods, increasingly diverse, but aging population.

  The area encompasses two local workforce areas, 3 community colleges, a University, a handful of Chambers of Commerce, a few school districts;

  Regional economy made up traditionally of small- to mid-size manufacturing but that sector has been shrinking;

  Relatively strong organized Labor presence;   High proportion of private construction contractors with little to no work in the

down economy, including insulation workers, welders, pipefitters, electricians, roofers and builders;

  The region also is home to a large software company advertising to the public about recent sustainable business practice efforts.

  Data shows emerging growth in “green manufacturers” – e.g. 2 solar panel manufacturers; a wind turbine manufacturer; a recycled carpet company; a few window supply companies trying to shift to energy efficient products;

  One of the solar manufacturers approached a local workforce board with this question: “My company employers 12 people, but to grow quickly I need a dozen more entry- to mid-level workers who know their way around the basic technology that I use to design and produce my specialized solar panels. What can you do?”

  Imagine this is an emerging opportunity in your region. A convener has been given a small ($20K) grant to start a sector partnership in green manufacturing.

  You are all invited to be members of this new sector partnership. You will play different roles – these are described on your role cards.

  One of you (in each group) has been assigned the role of “convener” or “intermediary.” It’s your job to get this group talking coherently about relevant workforce needs, and possible joint efforts for sector growth. Get ready to facilitate.

  Take 2 minutes to get into your role – really think about the interests and motivations of that person. Become that person. Get into it!

YOUR TASKS FOR THE NEXT 45 MINUTES CONSIDER THESE QUESTIONS:

Start by introducing yourselves in your “role.” Then get to: 1.  Why we’re all here today; 2.  Some identification of

common needs; 3.  At least one idea for

common action.

  What is potentially different about this partnership from existing workforce or training efforts?

  How will you identify common, persistent workforce challenges across employers in this sector?

  What types of activities do you envision meeting the workforce needs of employers at the table?

  How will you know it is meeting their needs? How will this partnership engage additional employers?

  What funding streams might be tapped to support convening the partnership and mid- to long-term activities of the partnership?

  Who is not at the table that should be?

  Did you get distracted by trying to define “green jobs”?

  What did “conveners” notice about the process?

  What were the biggest barriers to consensus?

  What ideas emerged?   What would be next for this

partnership?

  Flickr friends:   blumpy   Tirajisu   krossbow   demi-brooke   voxefx   Mike Schinkel   olikristinn   newzgirl   bettybraun

  Video friends:   Dariopimentel (& Karl

Fisch & Co)   reb5574