WPE NAWDP2016 PPT -- Soft Skills Findings
- 1. Win-Win: Satisfy Employers & Generate Funds with Incumbent Worker Training Kirkland Murray & Elisabeth Sanders-Park
- 2. Quick Introduction of AAWDC • Central Maryland – Between Baltimore and Washington D.C. • 4 distinct regions – South County – rural – West County – government, IT, retail, hospitality – North County – manufacturing, transportation, healthcare – Annapolis – government, healthcare, retail, education Population 560,133 # of Households 203,775 Total Employment Est. 295,599 (w/NSA)
- 3. AAWDC Heard What Businesses Really Wanted • Business call program & business meetings all resulted in a demand for essential skills: – “Send us people ready to work” – “I need them to show up on time” – “They need to be able to take direction” • Businesses said if we sent them candidates with these skills, they would be willing to train the hard skills
- 4. Research Backed What We Heard • On average 1 in 3 skills on a job posting is an essential skill – Even in highly technical jobs these skills are 1 in every 4 skills requested • Writing, communication and organizational skills are scarce everywhere – in-demand across nearly every occupation • These skills are over-emphasized in recruitment process – suggesting there is an under-supply
- 5. Why is it so Difficult? • Not traditionally covered in training programs but still critical to performance • As our world changes – technical aspects are focused in school and at home, soft skills are forgotten • Soft skills are notoriously hard to define
- 6. AAWDC Wanted Clarity: We Asked Businesses Directly What They Want Here is What We Learned
- 7. Who Did We Survey? Workforce Service Providers from AAWDC & Partnering Agencies -- serving a wide array of job seekers (youth, SCSEP, TANF, WIA, Veterans, more) Other Service Providers Job Seekers & Career Changers -- a wide array seeking jobs at various levels in many industries Businesses o More & Less engaged with the workforce system o From across industries – hospitality, healthcare, manufacturing, engineering, IT o Who hire at various levels – entry, mid, high Who Did We Survey?
- 8. What Did We Ask? • What are the top 3-5+ soft skills AAWDC should teach? • How do the presence/lack of these soft skills impact your bottom-line? • What soft skills are particularly needed by… – Younger workers – Older workers – Displaced/re-employed/career changers – Veterans – TANF – Ex-offenders – Tech workers – People with disabilities – Immigrants
- 9. What Did We Ask? • What is your level of interest in having AAWDC provide soft skills training to current workers. • What would you like it to look like? What training or competencies would equip your management in supporting the application of the soft skills taught to workers? • Are these services worth paying for?
- 10. Defining Soft Skills Soft skills are all the non-technical skills required to do a job and to succeed in the workforce in general. The long list includes everything from… o maintaining mental health o to communicating your strengths in an interview o to managing conflict on the job o to organizing consistent child care o and more.
- 11. Defining Soft Skills Frequent employer complaints about soft skills include… o being late or absent o inability to communicate with co-workers & customers o lack of eye contact o improper use of cell phones o lack of common-sense problem solving o not dressing appropriately for the environment or job, and more o rudeness Soft skills are all the non-technical skills required to do a job and to succeed in the workforce in general.
- 12. Defining Soft Skills The AAWDC Soft Skills Program is designed to teach soft skills that directly improve a person’s ability to enter and succeed in today’s workforce. Soft skills are all the non-technical skills required to do a job and to succeed in the workforce in general.
- 13. Other Soft Skills The AAWDC Soft Skills Program focuses on skills directly related to workforce success. LIFE SKILLS AAWDC builds partnerships to help client address these non- workforce-related soft skills: o Housing o Domestic violence o Substance abuse o Mental health o Physical health o Transportation o Childcare o Reading o English – ESL, Grammar JOBS SEARCH & CAREER DEVELOPMENT SKILLS Many of these are already embedded at the core of AAWDC’s programs. o Researching the company o Marketing your qualifications o Personal branding o Interviewing & Good answers o Managing your career o Advancing your career o Electronic job search o Using the hidden market
- 14. Whiteboard Video Job Search & Career Management Life & Academic Job-Specific Technical Soft Skills What skills do people need to succeed in the workforce today?
- 15. Key Soft Skills Lacking WIA, Dislocated Workers, Entry-level & Lower skilled • Ability to change/adapt to new employment/career expectations • Ability to thrive in generationally diverse teams • Ability to match/market themselves to a new level of opportunity (especially professionals) • Ability to explain why they left former employers • The new job search • Ability to manage time as expected in today’s business culture
- 16. Key Soft Skills Lacking Older Workers • Attitude, including a sense of entitlement • Ability to work in generationally diverse work team • Willingness to start over or lower • Ability to change/adapt
- 17. Key Soft Skills Lacking TANF • Follow-through • Honesty • Time management • Presentation • Attitude • Dedication (to work) • Accepting constructive criticism • Verbal communication • Non-verbal communication • Coping skills Non-Workforce Soft Skills Needed • Living clean & sober • Getting & maintaining housing • Budgeting & financial literacy • Achieving & maintaining mental health • Choosing & cultivating healthy relationships, avoiding domestic violence • Choosing healthy sex partners, family planning, avoiding unsafe sex. • Parenting • Healthy living, feeding family healthy meals • English as a second language, English literacy • Managing personal transportation • Increasing good citizenship and personal & social responsibility
- 18. Key Soft Skills Lacking Youth • Understanding that there is a hierarchy and they are not at the top • Accepting that they will have and must listen to a supervisor • Understanding that it’s not their job to teach their supervisor • Understanding what they can and can’t control • How to function in a subordinate position • Realizing that they world does not revolve around them • Realizing that they employer is not ‘lucky’ to have them • How to appropriately manager their personal technology in the job search and on the job • How to work hard and smart
- 19. Key Soft Skills Lacking Ex-Offender • Not presenting in a defensive or defeatist manner • Adjusting to the culture outside the corrections system and on the job • Maintaining a positive attitude • Learning to tell they story including why they will succeed this time • Finding companies open to hiring ex-offenders who will maintain they confidentiality
- 20. Key Soft Skills Lacking Veterans • Making the culture change to the civilian work culture • Dealing with mental health issues or PTSD from combat • Understanding how to transfer their skills
- 21. Key Soft Skills Lacking Immigrants • Fitting into the US business culture • Understanding the unwritten rules of the workforce (value of time, respect, machisimo vs. sexual harassment, always speaking English at work.)
- 22. What Should be Taught? Competencies • Adapting to change • Managing your outlook • Working in multi-generational environments • Managing your time • Verbal communication • Non-verbal communication • Written communication • Workplace realities & expectations • Personal presentation • Understanding the employer’s perspective • Managing work & life • Fitting in on the job
- 23. What Else Should be Taught? Competencies Woven Throughout the Curriculum WHY? These important topics should be woven throughout the curriculum as a whole rather than taught in a single, focused module because: • The lessons are best learned in conjunction with other topics • The topic is more about how to think or behave for success that what to do • This topic alone would not be compelling (or well- attended) to job seekers
- 24. What Else Should be Taught? Competencies Woven Throughout the Curriculum WHAT? Student materials should include opportunities to process these lessons (and facilitation guides should allow application for each clientele). • Challenging a sense of entitlement • Promoting honesty & integrity • Appropriate usage of personal technology • Demonstrating a strong work ethic
- 25. Lessons on When & How to Teach It was determined that the following are important in order to maximize the impact of the soft skills curriculum: • Early integration • Educating referral sources & partners • Partnering across the continuum or care • The value of clarity re: job target, career direction • Staff training on the curriculum and key competencies
- 26. Staff Competencies To Maximize the Soft Skills Program 1. Demonstrating the AAWDC soft skills 2. Incentivizing soft skills acquisition 3. Understanding & infusing the employer’s perspective 4. Showing respect 5. Saying ‘the hard things’ 6. Helping client get ‘unstuck’ 7. Connecting clients needed resources 8. Accommodating the various learning/processing styles 9. Creating action plans, accountability, & forward movement
- 27. The Competencies Employers Want • Adapting to Change • Managing Your Outlook • Working in Multi-Generational Environments • Managing Your Time • Verbal Communication • Non-Verbal Communication • Written Communication • Workplace Realities & Expectations • Personal Presentation • Understanding the Employer’s Perspective • Managing Work & Life (Moving from Welfare to Work: JWA) • Fitting In On the Job
- 28. Our Result? • Looked for a solution to the skills gap • Decided to explore our own solution No Comprehensive Solution Was Found
- 29. Creating Our Solution • Put out an RFP to create training around essential skills – Needed to address all the competencies that businesses demanded • Worked with Elisabeth to create The Workplace Excellence Series
- 30. Our Solution – The Workplace Excellence Series Adapting to Change Managing Your Outlook Multi-Generational Managing Your Time Verbal Communication Non-Verbal Communication Written Communication Work Realities & Expectations Think Like the Employer Personal Presentation Fitting In On the Job Managing Work & Life ADAPTability RESPECTability DEPENDability WRITEability WORKability TRANSITIONability PRESENTability SUITability COMMUNICATIONability Our Solutions – The Workplace Excellence Series
- 31. Utilizing Our Solution & Fee for Service Within our Initiatives & Training • Incorporated into every occupational training • Taught within boot camps & workshops for initiatives Fee for Service • Business services team promotes the training as incumbent worker training & upskilling • Partnered with our Community College to promote the series to businesses
- 32. AAWDC’s Fee for Service Menu • The Workplace Excellence Series • Ticket to Work • Pearson VUE GED Testing Center • Space rental
- 33. Contact Us Kirkland J. Murray kmurry@aawdc.org Elisabeth Sanders-Park elisabeth@worknetsolutions.com
Editor's Notes
- #3: We are a diverse region – cover almost everything with workforce Single county workforce area In the Baltimore-Washington corridor – sandwiched between two large cities We have a lower unemployment rate than the state and nation – more hard to serve clients are walking through our doors Because of our diverse County - 13 initiatives that cover everything from entry level retail workers to highly advanced IT professionals. However, across all of those, they need soft skills
- #4: We heard it over and over – soft skills are needed Whether the business was using the term soft skills or listing specific skills – we started to see a pattern Examples from industry specific NSA/Government IT contractors – they need brilliant technical people but they can’t communicate to the client (government) Engineers – Cianbro – prioritizing & communication are key for their engineers – lot of conflicting things engineers deal with, need to be able to prioritize Warehouse/Distribution – they need people there on time or deliveries don’t go out on time Healthcare – they are going to be evaluated on customer satisfaction – need for essential skills even stronger now
- #5: From Burning Glass – The Human Factor: The Hard Time Employers Have Finding Soft Skills The analysis looked at 25 million job postings over one year – across all industries, occupations, and levels Top in-demand skills were: communication, organization, writing, customer service The fact that employers are willing to dedicate so much room in their job postings to these skills show that they are highly values and under-supplied The demand and gap of these skills varies for each occupation but gap and demand exists across all Ex. Time management has the largest skill gap in Sales This is one of the reasons businesses are moving toward behavioral interviews instead of just looking at people’s skills
- #6: Soft skills are the overlooked set of skills that are needed People assume everyone has the soft skills – when in fact they are rarely taught As our world evolves into technology focused – technical aspect become focus In school and at home – soft skills are over looked Soft skills is a loose term that means something different to each person It’s hard to train something that is not clearly defined
- #7: Kirk Transition Over to Elisabeth
- #29: After hearing form businesses what essential skills were we looked for a curriculum that met those competencies that we heard form businesses We couldn’t find one Since we wanted to present the best client possible – we decided to create out own solution
- #30: We released an RFP for someone to create a solutions Came back and worked with Elisabeth to create the Workplace Excellence Series
- #31: We took the 12 competencies that businesses said were necessary during our research phase and created a training curriculum around them 10 modules in total – some of the competencies were combined The modules allowed us to be flexible – fit the needs of the target audience We use the comments on each target population from the roundtables to help guide which modules we teach
- #32: Within our initiatives AAWDC incorporates the training into everything to ensure our clients are completely prepared ANYONE going into occupational training (cohort training) across all initiatives receives training Not only do we use the curriculum for all of our clients form TANF to CyberWorks/Dislocated Workers – we then realized this could be a fee for service for use to work with our existing businesses IKEA – reminder to tell story Fee for Service Our business services team promoted the series as a training option to businesses in our region looking to upskill Anne Arundel Community College is a partner in the County promoting using the series with businesses – AACC does training & also trains businesses to use the series in their businesses Businesses use the series Upskilling certain employees – job promotions, keeping the job, improving performance Onboarding – businesses incorporate soft skills training in their onboarding to ensure employee success from the start We also had the opportunity to sell the series to other workforce organizations to use with their clients
- #33: Fit nicely into our ever expanding fee for service menu