Supply-side Strategy? Demand-side Strategy? What’s the Integration Strategy?

Sector Strategies 101

Idaho Workforce Development CouncilNovember 2010Presented by Lindsey Woolsey, Corporation for a Skilled Workforce

A Sector Strategy

Today, over 25 States are designing or implementing sector strategies

Today Over 25 States are Designing or Implementing Sector Strategies

Let’s Get Started

Economies Are Regional – What do we mean by that?

CC photo credit: cmarshall726

Regions are Where the Rubber Hits the Road

Regions are: • Where economic and

workforce activity is localized

• Laboratories for innovation and transformation

“The labor market doesn’t know geographic boundaries, and neither do employers”

Growing Regional Economies: One Goal, Growing Regional Economies: One Goal, Different ApproachesDifferent Approaches

• Industry Clusters – Firms naturally cluster together, related by common suppliers, shared

markets, labor pools or infrastructure.• Business Networks/Associations

– Firms brought together because of a shared issue, often regulatory; can be single or multi-industry

• Career Clusters/Career Academies– Typically refers to the U.S. Dept of Education’s 16 Career Clusters for K-12

or Career/Tech education programs• Sector Initiatives/Industry Partnerships

– Partnerships of employers focused on workforce needs• Career Pathways

– Series of carefully charted education/training programs designed to prepare individuals for next level of education and employment

Sector Partnerships: Your Power tool for organizing worker and employer needs

CC photo credit: MNilgen

What is a Sector Partnership?

• Partnership of employers in an industry critical to a regional economy (use your data for this!)

• Driven by employers but coordinated by an intermediary (that could be local workforce offices)

• Focuses on the workforce needs of a critical industry, and on the training and jobs needs of workers in that regional economy (it’s a win-win!)

• Includes educators, training providers, economic development and other stakeholders (Because no one system can do this work alone!)

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Basic Sector Partnership Model

*Business Services

*Training Services

Regional SectorPartnership convened

by an Intermediary

Businesses & Industry Associations

*SupportServices

*Recruitment Services

Workers

State Strategy:Policies that Support

Regional Sector Partnerships

How is a Sector Partnership Different from Traditional Workforce, Education and Economic Development Approaches?

• Wholesale, not a retail strategy• Organized around industry needs, not around public

programs • Customized and therefore accurate solutions for industry

and its employers• High leverage possible with limited funding because of

high impact partnerships• It results in true systems change that benefit workers,

employers and public programs

Not another new project or initiative . . . it’s a newway of doing business.

What Kinds of Systems Change?

• Consider that the difference between a good sector training program and good sector partnership is systems change.

• In Industry: Long term changes to HR policies, how they do recruitment and advancement, if/how they work with other companies in their cluster

• In Education/Training Systems: how they ensure courses/credentials are labor market relevant, how they provide adequate supports and case mgmt for students/jobseekers, how they make training/education more accessible to working adults

• In Public Policy: how funding streams are made more flexible, how policies are aligned across agencies, how outcomes are captured to document success and influence funding

An Example: Power Generation Skill Panel, Washington State

“The Power Generation Skill Panel has effectively met the needs of employers, workers, and the training system through collaboration and focused work on critical issues. By meeting the demand driven skills needs of industry we are all more competitive.” --Bob Guenther, IBEW Local 77

•Convened by the Centralia Community College•Involves major power generation plants (coal, hydro, and wind), plus major public utilities around the state•Key partners are Labor, community colleges, workforce Boards, and industry experts•Products include articulated “skills standards” for key occupations, shared purchase of key curriculum, a revised apprenticeship program, and the creation of a hands-on training facility at an un-used nuclear powerPlant (Satsop Nuclear Facilities)

Another Example: Richmond Buildshttp://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/DocumentView.aspx?DID=4642

• Convened by Richmond Works (CA) (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.• Places 90% annually of its 100+

graduates in green construction jobs paying $18+/hour.

One more example: Innovative Technology Action Group, Pennsylvania – www.itagpa.org

• Public-private partnership of IT and communications companies with workforce development, economic development and education

• Convened by Chester County Economic Development Organization that serves Southeastern Pennsylvania

• Shared knowledge across companies, incumbent worker training, career ladder and training needs assessments, youth outreach

• 2009-2010: 347 companies engaged, 139 active participation, $500K cash and in-kind matches

What Conveners Do

• Engage employers and other key stakeholders• Coordinate information and resources• Coordinate in-depth analysis of the industry

and challenges it faces• Facilitate development and implementation of

effective responses to challenges

What Conveners Do Not Do

• A convener does not chart the course of the sector partnership

– This is the responsibility of employers in the target industry – “business driven”

– The intermediary is responsible for mobilizing the partners and providing a forum for action

The “Big Tent”

CC photo credit: Brian Finifter

“The Big Tent”

• Sector Strategies provide a focus so that policies, programs, resources and strategies can be leveraged and aligned.

• Employers and Workers get what they need.

Demand-Side Strategies Supply-Side Strategies

•Economic Development agencies•Small Business Development•Business Services in many places!

•Workforce Boards•Workforce Departments•Community/technical colleges•Career technical programs•Adult education

•One-stops•Community college programs•Career Technical programs•Private training programs•Community based organizations•Career pathway programs•Apprenticeships

How do workers and businesses know where to go for what?

Who is involved?

• Employers and Employer Associations

• Workforce Development• Community Colleges• Other education and training

organizations• Organized Labor• Economic Development• Social Services• Community Based

Organizations

Across geographic jurisdictions (e.g. multiple counties)

Across public entities (e.g. education and economic development)

Across types of organizations (e.g. public, private, non-profit, philanthropic, education)

Across levels of education (“cradle to grave”)

WIIFM – What’s In It For Me?

• Employers – shared cost, a place to solve major talent issues, a single table at which to work with public entities

• Educators – venue for faster understanding of changing industry needs; play out of educational career pathways

• Workforce Developers – strategic focusing of time and resources for high leverage with key industries while meeting worker needs

• Economic Developers – place for focused work with key industries on talent questions; can be major tool in retention and growth strategies

What Do Sector Initiatives Tackle?

• Definition and resolution of key human capital issues facing the industry, including:– Short and long-term hiring challenges

– Work reorganization

– Institutional and regulatory obstacles

– Retention issues

– Incumbent worker skill development

– Entry level skills development and advancement

But How Do Sector Partnerships Really know What to Tackle?

1. They Use Data

2. They talk to Employers

3 Good Data Rules

1. Data analysis isn’t something you do every quarter; it’s what you do everyday.

2. Look down, look up, look around, repeat.

3. Get out of the office.

• Employers are not a homogenous group• Diverse outreach/engagement – big, small, supply chains• Conveners must be aware of what employers worry

about, and must synthesize common needs: – All Employers – Economy, cost, regulations, global competition,

competition for skilled labor– Small Employers – Limited or no HR capacity and/or multi-

functional positions; Limited or no profit margins, resources for training, entry into new markets and/or supply chains

– Big Employers – Scale of workforce needs, layered management and HR, corporate or local office, supply chain management

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Employer Outreach Considerations

Finally, do we know this model works?Results for EmployersEvaluations from MA: • Turnover: 41% reduction• Rework: 19% reduction• Customer complaints: 23%

reduction• Companies that said

partnerships with other companies were valuable: 100%

Evaluations from PA: • 84% of employers surveyed

from Industry Partnerships reported significant increases in productivity

Results for Workers

Evaluations from MA: • Earn more per hour• Decreases in poverty (from 64%

to 35%)• Participants gained new jobs

within targeted sectors• 83% of participants agreed that

the training prepared them well for work in the targeted sector

• 78% said the program had improved their chances of getting a good job

A Recent Random Assignment Study: • Workers earned 18% more over a

24 month period; • More likely to work, worked

more consistently, worked in jobs with higher wages and with better benefits

Role of State Policy

• Cultivating Systems and Industry Champions• Mapping and highlighting existing sector

partnerships• Capacity Building and Training• Data Analysis• Evaluation and Telling the Story of Sector• Funding start-up where needed

Any Questions?