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South Carolina Workforce

Development Symposium 2017Career Pathways: Business

Services Track

February 9, 2017 – 1:30-2:30 PM

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Welcome!

Gretchen Sullivan

Senior Consultant

Maher & Maher

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About Maher & Maher• Talent development and

change management

consultants

– Nexus of workforce development, economic development, and education

• Expertise:

– Strategic planning and facilitation

– Industry sector strategies and career pathways

– Systems assessment and redesign

– Technical assistance and training

• Primary practice areas:

– States, regional areas, and community colleges

– Federal government and NGOs

– Private sector

• 29 years in operation

• Self-certified small business

• Headquartered in NJ

– Office in Washington DC

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Our Agenda

• Introduction to Industry Sector-Driven Career Pathways

– Features, goals and benefits, key partners, development summary

• Pathways-Focused Business Services Planning and Delivery

– Industry partnerships and employer engagement, staffing and organization, use of data and business intelligence, employer-driven training design

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Career Pathways:

Introduction and Strategic Framework

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What are career pathways?

Integrated education, skills, and credential attainment sequences

that:

• Align to skill needs of targeted sectors and are employer-driven

• Articulate the full range of K-12, adult

education, and post-secondary education assets: No “dead

ends,” multiple on- and off-ramps

• Embed “stackable” industry-recognized credentials

• Make work a central context for learning

• Accelerate educational and career advancement through

assessment of prior learning, integrated “basic” education and

technical training, and other strategies

• Provide supports at transition points

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The Value of Pathways• Career pathways provide a

framework for building

comprehensive education and

training systems where all partners –

education, workforce development,

economic development, human

services, along with employers

(including industry partnerships) and

other stakeholders – come together

to design and deliver the full

spectrum of education and skills

training needed for careers in in-

demand industries.

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KentuckianaWorks

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Colorado

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Strategic Framework for Pathways Work

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Common vision…common goals

Educational Systems

Economic Development

Workforce System

Targeted Growth Sectors

The Talent Pipeline – Workforce as an asset for regional prosperity

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Industry Sector Partnership Model

1. Places business at

center

2. Work with industry as

partners

3. Aligned

community partners

4. Workforce

system

as central player,

convener

5. Regionally-focused

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Policy, Programs, and Investments Align to Sector Opportunities

Assessment

CaseManagement

K-12 VocTech Ed

Bridge Education

Post-Secondary

Training Education

K-12 Students & Other Youth

Dislocated Workers

Pre-apprentices / Apprentices

Veterans

Career-Changers

Upskillers

Others

Integrated, Sector-Driven

Career Development Solutions

Quantify Sector-Based

Demand

Aggregate

Supply

Talent Pools

Business and Information Technology Services

Health Care

Construction

Transportation,Logistics, and

Wholesale Trade

Diversified Manufacturing

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Questions? Comments?

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Career Pathways:

Features, Benefits, and Development

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Sector Strategies and Career Pathways:

A Mutually Beneficial Alliance

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Career Pathways: Who Benefits?

• Employers– Talent pipeline with the right

skills• In low unemployment,

employers need more people into the qualified labor pool

– Retention

– Succession/”backfilling”

• Job Seekers/Workers– Prepared with needed

competencies and credentials

– Opportunities for career advancement

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Career Pathways Have Two Key

Moving Parts• Employer-driven program development

– Employers (and data) drive design

• Education and workforce systems change

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Career Pathways at Their Best

• Align multiple programs to make it easier for all

individuals, including those who are underprepared,

to access, progress, and complete pathways to

industry-recognized credentials and family

supporting careers

• Include the following key features:

– Multiple entry and exit points

– Sequenced, modularized, and contextualized coursework

that aligns with stackable credentials and jobs

– Articulation of each educational level to the next, with

embedded attainment of industry-recognized credentials

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Career Pathways Offer:

• Alignment to “real-world” occupational

progressions and forecasted talent needs

• Employer-driven, work-based learning

• Flexible scheduling

• Opportunities for acceleration

• Extensive supports and counseling services,

including navigation that help participants

identify and access the most efficient routes to

credential attainment and careers (often through

career and course mapping)

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Integrated Pathways Models

• Do not make students wait until they finish Adult Basic Education or developmental education before entering a career/technical program– Students learn basic and vocational skills at the same time

(often in the same course)

– Feature work-based essential and technical skills development shaped by employers

• Examples:• Accelerating Opportunity

• I-BEST Program (Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges)

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How do you build career pathways?

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Employer Roles in Career Pathways

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Pathways Models Built by Sector

Partnerships• Workforce Alliance (South Central Kansas)

– Blueprint for Regional Economic Growth

– Regional Manufacturing Council on Career and

Technical Education (RMCTE)

– Preparation for Advanced Career Employment

System (PACES)

– Accelerating Opportunity Kansas

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Pathways Models Built by Sector

Partnerships

• Workforce Development Board of South Central

Wisconsin

– Built out pathways fully integrated with region’s sector work

– Invests training resources only in “driver industries and

sectors”

– Reorganized staffing for Career Centers, particularly

around sector-focused WorkSmart Sector Academies and

through services delivered by specialized navigators who

provide counseling, supports, and other services needed

to assist with retention, completion, credential attainment,

and positive program outcomes

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How are you working with employer

partners to develop pathways?

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Career Pathways

In Business Services Planning and

Delivery

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Career Pathways & Sector Strategies

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Fill job orders

Training provided across

occupations, skill levels (often

employer/industry-paid)

Place job candidates

Focus expanded to worker retention,

advancement issues within company/

industry (i.e. career pathways)

Education/training/services

loosely informed by employer

needs through survey or one-off

engagement

Education/training at scale designed

in partnership with employers

One-to-one relationship One-to-many (sector strategies)

Sectors and Pathways = New Way of

Doing Business Engagement

Transformational relationshipTransactional relationship

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Overview: Key Elements

• Unified regional business services organization

and solutions

• Industry partnerships and employer engagement

• Use of LMI/data and business intelligence

• Employers drive education/training design and

delivery

• Connection to job seeker service

planning/delivery

• Measuring impact/results from employers’

perspectives and continuous improvement

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Key Ideas & Strategies

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Unified Regional Business Services

• Regional, multi-partner vs. local and single agency

• Organization, staffing, and expertise by focus sector

• Prioritization of mapping and filling priority pathways

in focus industries

• Pathways-relevant business solutions beyond labor

exchange (worker retention and advancement,

work-based learning, etc.)

• Coordinated customer relationship management and

brokering approach/system

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Industry Partnerships and

Employer Engagement• Building sector-based employer partnerships

– Critical pathways in each industry

– Aggregating and developing solutions for

workforce challenges across multiple companies

– Focus on deepening and sustaining relationships

• Coordinated employer outreach and

engagement

– Eliminating multiple “door-knocks”

– Customer relationship management

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Use of LMI/Data and Business

Intelligence• Business services staff fully versed in industry

LMI and workforce needs

• LMI is customizable and focused on target

sectors, and of value to businesses seeking

larger trend data

• LMI used to identify and validate typical

occupational progressions within and across

pathways by industry

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Employers Drive Education and

Training Design and Delivery• Sector partners engaged to identify key pathways

and discuss priorities for skill development and training modalities

• Work-based learning models are prioritized (Registered Apprenticeship, OJT, customized training, etc.)

• Training is compressed, open entry/exit to meet companies’ onboarding and pipeline needs

• Investments are prioritized to industry-endorsed training models and credentials

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Connection to Job Seeker Service

Planning and Delivery • Intentional linkages between business services

staff and job seeker/worker services staff

• Information-sharing and capacity-building:

– LMI/business intelligence

– Industry trends

– Occupational projections

– Pathways opportunities

– Skills, credentials, and experience in demand

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Measuring Impacts and Results

and Continuous Improvement• What results do employers want to see? Ask.

– Better candidate screening and suitability, reduced turnover, skill and credential acquisition, bottom-line results

• Long-view talent pipeline planning and management

– Short-, medium-, and long-term

• What works and what doesn’t

– Be prepared to “stop, start, continue, and adapt”

– Agility is critical

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Pathways from the Employer Customer’s

Perspective

• Employers’ talent needs, challenges, and obstacles drive solutions

• Partner training, education, andresources aligned and coordinated around customized solutions

• Duplication is eliminated and investments are streamlined

• “Hassle” is reduced/eliminated

• Industry-knowledgeable staff

• Seamless and defined career pathways to drive their talent pipelines

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On-the-Ground Examples

• Northern KY Workforce Investment Board

– Business Services Team

– Sector-based orientations

• Ohio’s Business Resource Network

– Central PoC for each employer determined through

the broad “network”

– Interview process to determine needs

– Generation of a brokered “solutions package”

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Table Discussions and Report-Out:

Your ideas and next steps?

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Career Pathways Resources

• USDOL/ETA’s Career Pathways Toolkit

• Funding Career Pathways: A Federal Funding

Toolkit for State and Local/Regional Career

Pathway Partnerships

• Framework for Measuring Career Pathways

Innovation

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Thank You!

Gretchen Sullivan

Senior Consultant

Maher & Maher

203.859.5428

gsullivan@mahernet.com