Latest Posts in Training
It’s no secret that companies in all employment sectors are facing challenging workforce shortages and gaps. What many companies don’t know is that apprenticeships offer a viable solution for recruiting, training and retaining world-class talent. Apprenticeships are an earn-as-you-learn, flexible workforce development tool and training strategy that can be customized to meet the needs of any business.
Manufacturers are facing a dire employee shortage. While nearly every industry is being affected by the rapid retirement of the Baby Boomer generation and the reduced rate of Generation X and millennials entering the manufacturing workforce, the greatest risk the industry faces is failing to adapt. Some of the reasons for lack of adaption include: the low employment rate, skills gaps, and the inability to attract qualified workers.
How are career ladders and lattices different? How are they the same? And which one is best for your organization’s talent management strategy? Although they’re both tools that organizations use to guide employees on a path of career progression, they differ in many ways! In this article, I will review how they’re different, what they have in common and which one might be the best choice for your organizational needs.
Broadly speaking, current federal workforce policy aims to bridge the needs of employers and jobseekers through training and other support measures. Is this happening and how successful is it? At a time when close to 65% of our country’s open positions require some form of higher education or post-secondary credential, it is crucial for education and workforce development partners to work together to meet the needs of employers and jobseekers.
Training and staff development are investments, but how can we be sure we are getting the most out of the time and money we spend on training? According to the Harvard Business Review, last year the average employee received about $1,000 in training. For a 500-person company, that ends up being half a million dollars! With that type of investment, It’s important to be sure the training programs are truly effective. So, how can you measure effectiveness?
While just about every industry feels the burden of the mass exodus of boomers from the workforce, the manufacturing industry faces the greatest risk of failing to adapt. In this article, we’ll offer a snapshot of the current and projected state of the manufacturing industry, and even more important, we will outline four implementable strategies manufacturing companies can use to overcome the skill gaps facing the industry.
Experiencing a stressful day or week at the office is no picnic. If you’re like me, you wish there were better coping mechanisms during those inevitably busy times at work. Ironically, I had been coming across the word “mindful” on many occasions, so I took it as a sign to do some research on the topic to find out if it could possibly be used as a stress-reducing tool. What I found was very conclusive evidence that mindfulness is a powerful technique to use for stress reduction and overall wellness.
This past summer, my wife and I went white water rafting on the Nantahala River in Bryson City, North Carolina (which I would strongly recommend, by the way). As the guide explained the safety instructions, the group was told that if you have an “out-of-raft-experience,” it is important to “Be an Active Participant in Your Own Rescue.” In other words, if you fall out of the raft, don’t just give up and hope for the best. The guide then proceeded to walk us through step-by-step directions about what we could do to “Be an Active Participant in Our Own Rescue.”
When it comes to knowledge management (KM), not everyone agrees on its definition or value. Some people believe that KM is a stand-alone program or project, but that is incorrect. Knowledge management refers to the explicit and tacit information life-cycle that runs throughout the entire organization continually.