December 18, 2013 NURTURING RELATIONSHIPS WITH EMPLOYERS OVERCOMING PUSHBACK IN THE MARKETPLACE

THROUGH THE EYES OF MANUFACTURING Precision Machined Products Association (PMPA) Brecksville, OH Miles Free, Director of Technology and Industry Research 2

WHAT EMPLOYERS WANT  Skilled workers now  A good return on their investments  To run their business profitably and efficiently

IMMEDIACY OF NEED  Employers can’t wait  Can we afford to hire replacement workers?  What will it cost to recruit and train them?  What is the cost of training inaction?

 What if you don’t train them and they stay? RESISTANCE: “IF I TRAIN THEM THEY MIGHT LEAVE”

INVESTING IN THE EMPLOYEE IS GOOD FOR THE BOTTOM LINE  Sharing the ROI benefits with a certified employee  Investing in their professional development will benefit the business  A certified workforce says something about safety and quality standards of the business

RESISTANCE: “WE PREFER CUSTOMIZED TRAINING”  Really? How is that working out?  Is it helping you recruit and identify new employees?  How much of your time and effort to arrange, develop, and deliver?  Skills certification takes a lot of the time out of delivering skills

CERTIFICATION IS PRIMING THE PUMP  Just-in-time production and delivery requires just-in-time training  New approaches must be tried  Right Skills Now accelerated training

 Employer: Hiring unskilled workers leads to expense in training; potential destruction of equipment, loss of customers, injuries  High cost, no reward  Unemployed: No assurance of employment for all my effort in this changing field  Schools: We have to meet accreditation and state requirements; what if we can’t place students  Society: Payments for Unemployment; loss to society by no action  Manufacturing industry: Loss of manufacturing competitiveness as a society  Skills Certification System: Underutilization of valuable resources OVERCOMING RISK WITH SKILLS CERTIFICATION

MORE INFORMATION / SUPPORT  Career info:  Industry info:  Right Skills Now: ills-Certification/Right-Skills-Now/Right- Skills-Now.aspx ills-Certification/Right-Skills-Now/Right- Skills-Now.aspx  Miles Free: Director Industry Research and Technology PMPA

THROUGH THE EYES OF A COLLEGE College of the Sequoias Visalia, CA Louann Waldner Deputy Sector Navigator, Central Valley Advanced Manufacturing & Randy Emery Instructor, Industry & Technology 11

COLLEGE OF THE SEQUOIAS

IS THERE A MARKET FOR CERTIFICATION?  Employers may not be asking for it by name  They want a solution to the skills gap problem

EMPLOYERS’ LACK OF AWARENESS  Employers are asking for higher-quality employees  Employers are unaware of their role in the process or are in denial  Employers haven’t all embraced the message  Front runners are seeing a return-on-their investment

WHAT’S THEIR RETURN ON INVESTMENT?  Shorter learning curves  Predictable competencies  No HR or training departments  Best practice: incumbent workers pilot certifications

PUSHBACK AT THE COLLEGE  Resistance to change  Lack of awareness/ misunderstanding need  Requirement of our grant

WHO PAID FOR THIS?  Pilot program as part of our TAACCCT grant  Many costs were picked up by the grant  Sustainability

CHANGE IS COMING AT THE STATE LEVEL  CACT Programs in the state  State-mandated connection to certification  Doing What Matters 

WORDS OF ADVICE  Push-backs are the road map for change  Serve as problem solver for the employer  Be persistent and creative  Effect change gradually  Think about sustainability

Brent Weil The Manufacturing Institute Mindy Feldbaum The Collaboratory LLC Dr. Audrey Theis, Technical Advisor President, Key Links Inc Ben Kushner, Program Advisor The Manufacturing Institute 20 CONTACTS