Arkansas Career Readiness Certification

1
ArkansasCareer ReadinessCertification
Southeastern WorkKeys Conference January 24,
2008
Building Arkansas Workforce One worker
at a time!
Steve Lease Director of Workforce
Training Arkansas Association of Two-Year Colleges
Joel Simon Senior Consultant Council for Adult
and Experiential Learning
2
Overview
1. Arkansas workforce needs
2. Governors Workforce Cabinet
3. 7 State Agencies - CRC Steering Committee
4. Statewide Roll-Out Events
5. A National Perspective
6. Defining Success
7. Employer Engagement
7. Statewide Initiative, Regional Action
3
Industry Situation

• Current Future ProblemLocating,
  Selecting Hiring new
  employees is difficult and expensive!
• Declining numbers of available workers
• Needs are for higher skilled workers
• Entry level applicants have lower basic skills
• Technical skills seem to be non-existent

4
Industry Situation

• Assistance Needed
• Matching new employee skills with job
  requirements
• Reduce Turnover rate and cost
• Reduce Training costs

5
Governors Workforce Cabinet

• Established to address these issues
• Higher Skills needed by future workforce
• Coordination of State Agencies and Partners
• Focus efforts needed to keep Arkansas Competitive
  in a World Market

6
Governors Direction

• Education Economic Development

Arkansas can be globally competitive
7
Economic Development

• The Key is A Trained Workforce
• Retaining existing jobs
• Growing existing companies

8
Arkansas CRC
Steering Committee Key Partners

• Arkansas Department of Workforce Services
• Arkansas Workforce Investment Board
• Arkansas Economic Development Commission
• Arkansas Association of Two-Year Colleges
• Arkansas Department of Education
• Arkansas Department of Higher Education
• Arkansas Department of Workforce Education
• 10 Regional CRC Teams (On-Site Implementation)

9
Why Use A Career Readiness Certification?

• In order to stay competitive
• In Arkansas
• In the U.S.
• In the World
• We must transition from jobs with
• Low Skill-Low Wages ? High Skill-High Wages

10
WorkKeys System
1
Job Profiling Determines the level of skill
necessary to learn a job
2
Skill Assessments Measures an individuals skill
level
3
Education/ Training Efficiently closes skill gaps
11
Key to Successful Implementation

• Statewide acceptance by Business Industry

12
Implementation(January 2008)

• Arkansas Department of Workforce Services/One
  Stop Centers
• Initial point of contact for applicants/clients
• Point of contact for employers seeking employees
  
• KeyTrain pre-assessment locations
• Arkansas Job Link System

13
Implementation

• Arkansas Two-Year Colleges
• ACT WorkKeys assessment sites
• Skill gap training conducted
• Additional skills training available

14
Implementation

• Adult Education Centers
• Skill Gap training via KeyTrain
• Selected sites for ACT WorkKeys assessments

15
Roll-Out Plans

• January 2008 kickoff Little Rock
• Statewide rollout meetings at 10 sites
• Follow up meetings to address specifics
• On-going improvement of system

16
CRC Forum Sites(Based on the 10 local WIA
Regions)
17
What is CAEL?

• CAEL is the Council for Adult and Experiential
  Learning
• A 501(c)3 non-profit, international organization
  with 30 years of experience
• Headquartered in Chicago, IL with offices in
  Philadelphia, PA Denver, CO New York, NY and
  Norwalk, CT
• A national workforce intermediary dedicated
• to removing barriers to adult learning

18
Three Spheres of Influence

Workplace Learning and Development
Employers and Unions
Higher Education
Public Policy
CAEL
Government and Community
Colleges and Universities
19
(No Transcript)
20
Facilitating the Arkansas CRC Steering Committee

• - Operational Elements
• Delivery Processes
• Data Needs
• - Learning from your Neighbors
• - Setting Clear Goals
• - Employer Engagement
• Defining Expectations, Mechanisms
• Communicating them
• - Creating a Reusable Roll-Out Template

21
Context How have others approached the issue?
22
We Want Employers to VALUE THE CRCWe want
employers to USE THE CRC
But what does that mean? When do you know youve
accomplished it?
23
Employer Engagement Cycle
- Promotion - Awareness - Smaller, targeted
presentations - Personal Visits - Close the deal
24
Regional Planning
- Establish Regional Delivery Process - Define
Multi-Agency Regional Planning Teams - Team
Training - Roll-Out Events - State-Level
Communications Team
25
Reusable Event Template

• - Standard Pre-event tasks
• - Regional multi-agency teams
• - Key Messages
• - User Perspectives
• - Delivered by the right voice
• - Celebration of Achievement
• - Call to Action
• What the Employer must do
• What the outreach and delivery infrastructure
  must do
• - Are the regions ready?

26
Questions? Ideas?

• Steve Lease
• Director of Workforce Training
• Arkansas Association of Two-Year Colleges
• Steve.aatyc_at_cox-internet.com
• 479-424-0071
• Joel Simon
• Senior Consultant
• Council for Adult and Experiential Learning
• jsimon_at_cael.org
• 312-499-2678