Current Environment
- Pre-pandemic (August 2019) there were 7.1 million job openings in the United States.
- Mid-pandemic (August 2021) there were 10.4 million job openings.
- Post-pandemic (April 2022) there are 11.4 million job openings.
- There are more jobs than people unemployed (5.9 million people unemployed).
- The economic environment has shifted due to the pandemic.
- Workforce development is key to improving the demands for workers of the current economic environment, but a change needs to happen.
Workforce Development
Workforce development is at the forefront of the current economic woes. As it should. The pandemic has turned the world upside down, and people have started to realize that there are more important things than working just to cover your bills and disregarding the other parts of their life. They also want a livable wage and to feel that they are appreciated. People have realized the value they have to employers, and it is no longer true that everyone can be replaced. Replacement is difficult when people are no longer willing to stay just for the paycheck. Another issue that has come to the forefront is the need for knowledge management and succession planning to make sure business continuity is in place when people are out or gone.
Smaller businesses will find themselves at odds with the current shifts that are happening. While many will not be able to compete with bigger companies for employees, based on salary and benefits, creativity must take precedence to provide ways to attract employees. Internship programs, flexible schedules, partnerships with colleges, all of these can be solutions.
How does it all relate? It boils down to organizations understanding their roles within a workforce development ecosystem and using that understanding to help each other move forward.
So, what is workforce development and how does it fit within the current environment? What can workforce development do to affect the economy? What are the benefits of an efficient workforce development ecosystem? How can it be done properly?
There are many definitions of workforce development. For example, from the view of social service organizations, or schools, workforce development is the system in place to connect people to employment, and to help move forward the growth of the community. For employers, workforce development is about focusing on their current or future needs (which includes employees, resources) and how to fill them.
They are both true definitions. Workforce development is about all three, the security and the future of an individual, affecting the general growth of a community and filling an employer’s needs. But I want to take this definition one step further. To think of workforce development as an ecosystem, where all these views coincide and work together to build a better system. As an ecosystem, workforce development has many parts that it is made up of and it only works when all these parts are in sync to help the community it serves. To work efficiently, the various parts within this ecosystem must work with each other, not around each other or only for themselves. This can only be accomplished if the parts of this ecosystem know who they are and how they can work cohesively with each other, playing to their strengths and strengthening their weaknesses.
Benefits of a High-Functioning Workforce Development Ecosystem
Let’s try an example. An employer asks a school career services staff to post a job. They speak with them, and after explaining the need, the career services staff realizes this is more than just posting the job on their job boards. They see an opportunity for training and build a pipeline and invite the continuing education staff to the meeting. Here, the continuing education staff also notices that the employer may qualify for tax credits or incumbent worker funding through the workforce board, to help fund the training or the new employees, so they bring the workforce board into play. Now we have three players at the table. But let’s go further. The workforce board knows that there are some agencies that will provide resources for the students after training (like uniforms, or help with childcare or transportation), and so they connect with this fourth player.
Between the four players, a program is created that is a direct pipeline for the company to fulfill a need, places individuals in jobs that gives them stability, addresses the needs of the community by placing individuals on jobs, which in turn will help the economy. And it all started with the employer asking to post a job at the school. It could have stopped there, if the career services staff did not know the role of the school within the ecosystem and the possibility of a partnership. When the organizations know their role, and the people within those organizations understand what each player’s role is, great things can happen.
This is just one example of how a workforce development ecosystem can work to the benefit of all the organizations within it. Where one member of the system sees the need and connects other players as appropriately. Let’s stop working in silos or seeing each other as competition. To move forward, we need to move as a unit.
What does a High-Functioning Workforce Development Ecosystem Looks Like?
A high-functioning ecosystem is where relationships/partnerships are built at the core of it. Where each part of the system knows what the other ones are doing, how they fit within it, and do not see each other as competition, but instead, work together to make sure the client (individual, employer, or the community) is served to the best of their abilities. A high-functioning system also involves a lot of communication, training, and knowledge management. Every member of the system needs to understand the role their organization plays within it. New members need to be onboarded with the appropriate information. Creativity and innovation must be allowed to flow freely.
Examples of a high-functioning ecosystem:
- The regional workforce board plays a key role, connecting employers, schools and other organizations together.
- Committees are created to allow these partners to engage in conversation, to discuss issues and how to address them. For example, a training organization will explain how students need help with childcare while being in school. Or an employer will provide the committee with information on their current needs.
- A sort of knowledge repository, or manual, is available for all members to search information on appropriate resources/contacts.
- Memorandums Of Understanding (MOUs) are put into place between organizations so the partnerships are outlined.
Creativity and Innovation as a Driving Force
The current environment we are living in, while it has brought to us challenges and loss, it also lends itself to change. It is now the right time to look at what we are doing and how we can change it for the better. It is the time to be creative. To try things we never tried before, and to allow new ideas to flourish and old ones to be reborn. Apprenticeships are one of them. They have been around forever. People are always talking about them. Other countries rely on apprenticeships heavily. And yet, we still have not moved forward enough that it is considered mainstream. In Germany, over 50% of the graduating workforce starts in an apprenticeship. Why can we look at these ideas, old and new, and see what works and how we can implement them? An employer-driven program is another alternate option, where the employer is a part of the training, but without the initial funding investment needed, braiding funding to make it work.
It is my personal belief that while we are facing constant change and we live in a fluid environment, where decisions are changing by the minute, we need to continuously make use of the resources available to us and allow creativity and innovation to lead our way. This way, we can persevere in times of turmoil.
Partnerships/relationships
For this workforce development ecosystem to be high functioning, there must be partnerships in place, roles must be defined, and ideas must be allowed to flow. Competition must be put on the side, and instead, partnerships must be formed so we can play to our strengths, while addressing the weaknesses that our respective organizations have. A school may not provide childcare, but a partnership with a community-based organization can resolve that program. An employer may not be able to provide the training their employees need to move to the next level, but a partnership with a school can solve that. It is all about looking to our partners to help us accomplish our goals.
Closing
Workforce Warrior is an education blog, created by a workforce development professional with 20+ years in all areas of workforce development and college programming, including admissions, advising, career services and program development. The goal of Workforce Warrior is to pass on the knowledge collected over the years to fellow workforce and college professionals.
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