Preliminary Planning
Step One: Bring Stakeholders Together
To Build Community Ownership
Step Two: Implement Community
Wide Investment Strategies to Maximize Resources
Step Three: Implement Industry-Specific
Micro Strategies
Step Four: Build Macro Strategies
to Address Community Conditions
Step Five: Apply Appropriate
Best Practices to Meet Local Needs
The search for what works in workforce development is continuous. Whether
borrowed from others or locally born, identifying, developing and implementing
well coordinated workforce development strategies is the key to success.
Several steps toward a stronger workforce development system have been
identified.
Step One: Bring Stakeholders
Together:
At the Greater Austin@Work Summit (June 1999), Austin took a
first critical step towards building a more successful workforce development
system. Currently, there are a multitude of programs and initiatives but
they are too disconnected and disjointed to be as effective as possible.
In June, the Capital Area Workforce Development
Board, the City of Austin,
Travis County and
the Greater Austin Chamber of
Commerce joined together to host the Greater Austin@Work workforce
development summit. This conference brought together, for the first time,
local employers, educators, training and social service providers, government
policymakers and others to discuss and develop solutions to Central Texas’
workforce development problems. The most significant aspect of this meeting
was the fact that all stakeholders in the system were at the table together.
Additionally, the conference work groups were organized by industry cluster
so that solutions that were developed were designed for a specific industry.
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Step Two: Community
Wide Strategies
The Greater Austin@Work Summit (June 1999) was an important step toward
a comprehensive community strategy for workforce development. This summit
brought together local government, education, workforce development, training,
and large and small employers from multiple industry clusters to begin
developing strategies in a community planning process. This process has
reemphasized the importance of a community wide, and even regional strategies.
The first critical step toward building community wide strategies is
to complete a comprehensive resource and asset map. In order to maximize
the resources available, this map would identify the following:
- source of funds (federal, state, local)
- restrictions on uses (TANF only, work first only, etc.)
- unrestricted funds available
- amount of funds targeting specific programs/uses/populations
- leveraging opportunities (federal match for local dollars, etc.)
Concurrently, stakeholders need to collaborate to develop a comprehensive
plan for workforce development in Central Texas. This plan would identify
all of the service needs, populations, strategies, etc. The goal of the
plan is to identify each component of the system and what stakeholder is
responsible for that component. Using the resource map, funds can be matched
to components. This would allow for strategic application of resources.
Planning would revolve around identified industry clusters, as well
as the foundation of supportive services necessary to an effective workforce
development system (child care, transportation, etc.). Though the asset
mapping needed to put industry specific strategies into practice has not
been completed, the work of this assessment in identifying current investments
and promising efforts is a starting point. Initial planning and strategies
around industry specific needs did come out of the summit.
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Step Three: Industry
Specific Strategies
The most important result of the conference were the micro and macro
workforce development solutions developed by the various industry specific
breakout sessions. The micro strategies are industry specific actions for
resolving workforce development issues. The number one solutions identified
during the Greater Austin@Work Summit
are as follows:s
| INDUSTRY |
MICRO STRATEGY |
| Construction |
Training |
| Healthcare/Biomed |
Promote/create an "attitude shift" from competition to collaboration
regarding workforce development among employers |
| Hospitality |
Subsidize privately operated shuttles to be used solely for the purpose
of providing transportation for the greater Austin area workforce |
| Consumer & Professional Services |
Create internal opportunities for lateral and vertical career growth |
| Automotive |
Create a clearinghouse of all resources - individual employment opportunities,
training, etc., maximize web site opportunities |
| Telecommunications/Call Centers |
Implement a PR campaign to market industry opportunities to educational
institutions and transitional workforce, utilizing items such as job fairs,
tours, etc. |
| Semiconductor |
Develop a marketing plan to sell industry to students, parents and educators
(to motivate learning in math and science) |
| Computers & Peripherals |
Offer internships and encourage employees to spend time in local schools |
| Software & Multimedia |
Develop centralized web site to provide comprehensive information about
industry and opportunities |
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Step Four: Community
Strategies
Each industry group also identified a list of macro strategies. These
strategies are intended to help resolve the workforce development issues
facing Central Texas. The number one solutions from each group at the Greater
Austin@Work Summit are as follows:
| INDUSTRY |
MACRO STRATEGIES |
| Construction |
Identify underlying or needed skills to communicate to parents, educators
and employees. |
| Healthcare & Biomed |
Use a systemic approach to addressing workplace issues (use a comprehensive
model) |
| Hospitality |
Improve the greater Austin area support services to be more affordable
and accessible in order to attract more employees, including an expansion
of transportation for employees, as well as affordable and subsidized child
care housing and education |
| Consumer and Professional Services |
Develop a regional centralized information source in reference to workforce
related issues |
| Automotive |
Provide 5,000 summer internships to area high school students to heighten
awareness of the region’s high-growth careers and the skills required |
| Telecommunications/Call Centers |
Create a regional initiative to increase the marketing of career awareness,
core competencies, training and job opportunities in the emerging and transitional
workforce through:
Industry/community based collaborations
Career pathways
Internships
Job shadowing
Mentoring and tutoring
Special vocational programs |
| Semiconductor |
Develop a marketing plan to sell Austin through multimedia |
| Computers and peripherals |
Implement timely education reform - where industries’ needs will be
addressed - via an employer-led alliance that will develop the pipeline
of the emerging and shifting workforce |
| Software and Multimedia |
Create an organization to coordinate workforce initiatives between intermediary
organizations |
The results of the Summit provide an excellent guide for developing
a smart system that meets the needs of individuals and employers.
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Step Five: Best Practices
There are best practices outside of our community could also be applied
to support a successful, community wide workforce plan. Some examples include:
- The White House at Work Conference reported that former welfare recipients
who are employed are more likely to get promoted if they receive support
through a mentor.
- Programs successful in moving individuals from welfare to work have
the following characteristics:
- Focus on employment related goals
- Hands on work experience
- Collaboration with community based organizations
- Incorporate early intervention and personal attention in addressing
problems
- Commitment to continuous staff development
In the planning and development stages of the Greater Austin@Work Summit,
a number of industry specific best practices were identified. These include
both local and national examples ranging from construction and automotive,
hospitality and health, to semiconductors, software and multimedia.
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Industry Specific Best Practices
| Construction Industry |
| Construction Gateway – local |
Gateway was created to provide basic skills training and employment in
the construction industry to unemployed and under-employed adults. Program
also draws from the Criminal Offenders Re-Entry (CORE) program. |
| Automotive Industry |
| Automotive Industry Steering Committee – local |
Automotive Technology programs – coordinated industry sponsorship
of outreach, curriculum, teachers, tools and equipment, as well as placement
assistance. Currently offered at Johnston, Reagan, Round Rock and Georgetown
High Schools. |
| Hospitality |
| Crime Prevention Institute Job Fair – local |
Crime Prevention Institute Inc., has coordinated job fairs with the Austin
Hotel Motel Association to match employers to employees |
| Texas High Schools for Hospitality – local |
Matching high school hospitality management classes paired with hotel partners
so that students can learn about the industry, not only in the classroom,
but through hands-on experience. |
| Health |
|
| Project LINC (Ladders in Nursing Careers) – Texas |
178 Project LINC participants throughout the state are pursuing associate
or bachelor degrees with the financial support and assistance of their
hospital employers. Participants agree to continue working with their employer
for 2 to 4 years after obtaining their degree. |
| Health Industry Steering Committee - local |
Health Industry Steering Committee is a group of employers, educators and
community leaders who are working together to ensure that our community
has the education and training in place to prepare people for jobs in the
healthcare industry |
| Bio-Link Consortium |
Consortium of six colleges to develop new curricula and programs to meet
needs of emerging biotechnology industry – ACC biotechnology program
will enroll its first class in the Fall of 1999. |
| High Tech |
|
| Applied Information Management Institute – Omaha, NE |
AIM’s formal mission is to promote and support business growth related
to Information Technology by strengthening the area’s technology infrastructure. |
| Keystone International: Realistic Job Preview – local |
Job applicants are placed in a simulated work environment at Keystone for
multiple days to learn and perform industry specific job duties before
being assessed to qualify for employment with a company in that particular
industry. This paradigm is applicable in any industry that wants to staff
itself with entry-level, direct hire personnel. |
| Advanced Technology Curriculum – Seattle, WA |
North Seattle Community College is developing curriculum in connection
with local high schools, Intel of Oregon, and the University of Washington
to prepare students to transition from high school, to higher education,
to growth industry. |
| ACE Program – Accelerated Careers in Electronics – local |
Electronics career pathway that allows students a seamless transfer of
credits and training from high school to ACC and Southwest Texas State
University, in partnership with major semiconductor employers. |
Additional information on these and other best practice case studies
are available from the Greater
Austin Chamber of Commerce and the Capital Area Training Foundation.
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