Tuesday, July 14, 2009
[IWS] New! THE ILL-PREPARED U.S. WORKFORCE: EXPLORING THE CHALLENGES OF EMPLOYER-PROVIDED WORKFORCE READINESS TRAINING [14 July 2009]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Corporate Voices for Working Families
Conference Board
American Society for Training and Development (ASTD)
Society for Human Resource Development (SHRM)
RESEARCH REPORT
THE ILL-PREPARED U.S. WORKFORCE: EXPLORING THE CHALLENGES OF EMPLOYER-PROVIDED WORKFORCE READINESS TRAINING [14 July 2009]
http://www.cvworkingfamilies.org/system/files/Ill_preparedWorkforce_RR.pdf
[full-text, 24 pages]
Press Release 14 July 2009
New Report Shows Employers Struggle with Ill-Prepared Workforce, as White House Highlights Future of Workforce Skills
http://www.cvworkingfamilies.org/node/247
(Washington July 14, 2009) – As the Obama administration shines a light on the training and skills workers will need for the jobs of tomorrow, a new report shows that U.S. employers continue to struggle with an ill-prepared workforce, finding new hires lack crucial basic and applied skills.
For the most part, employer-sponsored readiness training is not successfully correcting these deficiencies, according to the report, The Ill-Prepared U.S. Workforce: Exploring the Challenges of Employer-Provided Workforce Readiness Training, produced by Corporate Voices for Working Families, the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD), The Conference Board, and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
"The results of this study demonstrate how critical it is for companies to be more strategic and focused on efforts such as providing internships and working in partnership with community colleges on workforce readiness initiatives to prepare new entrants before they enter the workplace," says Donna Klein, Executive Chair, Corporate Voices for Working Families, which partnered with The Conference Board, the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD), and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) on the report and its underlying survey of U.S. employers.
"It is a losing strategy for employers to try to fill the workforce readiness gap on the job. They need to be involved much sooner to prepare new employees to succeed," Klein said.
The report published today, The Ill-Prepared U.S. Workforce: Exploring the Challenges of Employer-Provided Workforce Readiness Training, draws from a survey of 217 employers about their training of newly hired graduates of high school and two- and four-year colleges. The survey, conducted during 2008, included employers in manufacturing; financial services; non-financial services; and education, government, and other non-profits.
Almost half of respondents said they have to provide readiness training for new hires – and the majority rate their programs as only "moderately" or "somewhat successful."
"U.S. business is increasingly outspoken about the competitiveness threat posed by an ill-prepared workforce – but employers must do a better job of quantifying this threat and communicating it to key stakeholders," says Mary Wright, Program Director, Workforce Readiness Initiative, The Conference Board.
"It doesn't make any difference if you're operating a business in Mumbai, Beijing or New York – the number one challenge facing every organization is finding and growing skilled talent," said SHRM CEO and President Laurence O'Neil. "HR professionals are helping bridge the gap, finding ways to give employees the skills they need to add value and to be more valued. This isn't just an HR challenge, but a bottom-line global business problem."
"In any economy, having a knowledgeable, skilled workforce is critical for organizations to grow and be successful," said Tony Bingham, ASTD President and CEO. "As the skills gap widens among new entrants to the workforce, it's clear that all stakeholders – employers, education, and the public workforce system – must collaborate to effectively prepare workers to be successful on the job."
The report, which includes five case studies of successful workforce readiness programs run by Bank of America and Year Up, CVS Caremark and TJX Companies, Harper Industries, Northrop Grumman, and YUM! Brands, finds that:
• Many companies say new hires lack crucial critical-thinking and creativity skills – but don't offer related training.
• Employers' inability to detail their spending on remedial programs makes it impossible to assess the true costs of an ill-prepared workforce to their own – or the economy's – bottom line.
• Employers with successful workforce readiness training incorporate:
o A culture committed to training and thorough job-readiness screening.
o Strategic partnerships with local colleges, and a focus on integrating training with job-specific skills and career development.
o Constantly re-evaluation to align training with company needs.
• Employers should:
o Track the cost and quality of training programs.
o Help focus philanthropic dollars and public-policy discussions on the need to link K-12, technical-school and college education to the workforce readiness skills that employers need.
The Ill-Prepared U.S. Workforce: Exploring the Challenges of Employer-Provided Workforce Readiness Training is available on the Web sites of each of the participating organizations: Corporate Voices for Working Families ( www.cvworkingfamilies.org), The American Society for Training and Development (www.astd.org), The Conference Board ( www.conference-board.org), and the Society for Human Resource Management (www.shrm.org).
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Corporate Voices for Working Families
Conference Board
American Society for Training and Development (ASTD)
Society for Human Resource Development (SHRM)
RESEARCH REPORT
THE ILL-PREPARED U.S. WORKFORCE: EXPLORING THE CHALLENGES OF EMPLOYER-PROVIDED WORKFORCE READINESS TRAINING [14 July 2009]
http://www.cvworkingfamilies.org/system/files/Ill_preparedWorkforce_RR.pdf
[full-text, 24 pages]
Press Release 14 July 2009
New Report Shows Employers Struggle with Ill-Prepared Workforce, as White House Highlights Future of Workforce Skills
http://www.cvworkingfamilies.org/node/247
(Washington July 14, 2009) – As the Obama administration shines a light on the training and skills workers will need for the jobs of tomorrow, a new report shows that U.S. employers continue to struggle with an ill-prepared workforce, finding new hires lack crucial basic and applied skills.
For the most part, employer-sponsored readiness training is not successfully correcting these deficiencies, according to the report, The Ill-Prepared U.S. Workforce: Exploring the Challenges of Employer-Provided Workforce Readiness Training, produced by Corporate Voices for Working Families, the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD), The Conference Board, and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
"The results of this study demonstrate how critical it is for companies to be more strategic and focused on efforts such as providing internships and working in partnership with community colleges on workforce readiness initiatives to prepare new entrants before they enter the workplace," says Donna Klein, Executive Chair, Corporate Voices for Working Families, which partnered with The Conference Board, the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD), and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) on the report and its underlying survey of U.S. employers.
"It is a losing strategy for employers to try to fill the workforce readiness gap on the job. They need to be involved much sooner to prepare new employees to succeed," Klein said.
The report published today, The Ill-Prepared U.S. Workforce: Exploring the Challenges of Employer-Provided Workforce Readiness Training, draws from a survey of 217 employers about their training of newly hired graduates of high school and two- and four-year colleges. The survey, conducted during 2008, included employers in manufacturing; financial services; non-financial services; and education, government, and other non-profits.
Almost half of respondents said they have to provide readiness training for new hires – and the majority rate their programs as only "moderately" or "somewhat successful."
"U.S. business is increasingly outspoken about the competitiveness threat posed by an ill-prepared workforce – but employers must do a better job of quantifying this threat and communicating it to key stakeholders," says Mary Wright, Program Director, Workforce Readiness Initiative, The Conference Board.
"It doesn't make any difference if you're operating a business in Mumbai, Beijing or New York – the number one challenge facing every organization is finding and growing skilled talent," said SHRM CEO and President Laurence O'Neil. "HR professionals are helping bridge the gap, finding ways to give employees the skills they need to add value and to be more valued. This isn't just an HR challenge, but a bottom-line global business problem."
"In any economy, having a knowledgeable, skilled workforce is critical for organizations to grow and be successful," said Tony Bingham, ASTD President and CEO. "As the skills gap widens among new entrants to the workforce, it's clear that all stakeholders – employers, education, and the public workforce system – must collaborate to effectively prepare workers to be successful on the job."
The report, which includes five case studies of successful workforce readiness programs run by Bank of America and Year Up, CVS Caremark and TJX Companies, Harper Industries, Northrop Grumman, and YUM! Brands, finds that:
• Many companies say new hires lack crucial critical-thinking and creativity skills – but don't offer related training.
• Employers' inability to detail their spending on remedial programs makes it impossible to assess the true costs of an ill-prepared workforce to their own – or the economy's – bottom line.
• Employers with successful workforce readiness training incorporate:
o A culture committed to training and thorough job-readiness screening.
o Strategic partnerships with local colleges, and a focus on integrating training with job-specific skills and career development.
o Constantly re-evaluation to align training with company needs.
• Employers should:
o Track the cost and quality of training programs.
o Help focus philanthropic dollars and public-policy discussions on the need to link K-12, technical-school and college education to the workforce readiness skills that employers need.
The Ill-Prepared U.S. Workforce: Exploring the Challenges of Employer-Provided Workforce Readiness Training is available on the Web sites of each of the participating organizations: Corporate Voices for Working Families ( www.cvworkingfamilies.org), The American Society for Training and Development (www.astd.org), The Conference Board ( www.conference-board.org), and the Society for Human Resource Management (www.shrm.org).
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
****************************************
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 7:40 AM
