Georgia Work Ready Initiative

1. Georgia Work Ready Initiative Work Ready Overview Presented by: Debra Lyons Director Governor’s Office of Workforce Development Dec 12, 2007

2. Governor’s vision “We need a workforce development system that links workforce development and education together and aligns to the economic needs of the state, its regions and local communities” - Governor Sonny Perdue Feb. 20, 2006

3. Education State Workforce Investment Board Commission for a New Georgia Workforce Development Governor’s Office of Workforce Development Economic Development Workforce development infrastructure

4. Work Ready overview • Key program elements: • Work Ready Certificate • Work Ready job profiling • Certified Work Ready Communities • Work Ready Regions

5. Work Ready partners • Partnership is the foundation for success • Work Ready Community partners include: • State and local chambers of commerce • Georgia technical colleges • Economic development organizations • Local boards of education • Local Workforce Investment Boards (Career Centers) • Business and industry • Work Ready Region partners include: • Universities and colleges

6. Work Ready has a champion • Georgia Power has agreed to become business champion for Work Ready

7. Service delivery Georgia’s system of technical colleges support Work Ready via their economic development offices. The technical colleges administer assessments, provide gap training and offer job profiling services

8. How it works: Work Ready Certificate

9. The gold standard in skills testing

10. Georgia Work Ready Certificate • Three assessments • Applied mathematics • Reading for information • Locating information • Issue Certificate based on lowest level earned Certificate WorkKeys Scores Platinum 6s and above Gold 5s and above Silver 4s and above Bronze 3s and above

11. Work Habits • Work Habits assessment used to enhance self-knowledge in coaching and developing context • Identifying strength and weaknesses • Enhancing team effectiveness “Primer on Personality Tests and Work Keys Talent Assessment,” May 24, 2007 • Work Ready gap training may be used by Georgians to develop a self-improvement plan

12. Common language Job Seekers Business Education Work Ready Certificate can become a common language between business and education

13. How it works: Work Ready job profiling

14. Job profile data • Professional WR job profiles analyze jobs for WR skill levels needed • More than 400 occupations profiled on Work Ready Web site – www.gaworkready.org • Sample certificate levels: • Aircraft structure assemblers, precision – Gold • Home health aides – Bronze • Pharmacy technician – Gold • Truck driver – Silver • Companies throughout Georgia have profiled more than 360 jobs and may more are in the pipeline

15. Gap training – targets for instruction Reflects the skills required according to the job profile Reflects the job seeker’s certification level Gap analysis shows how the person performed relative to the “bar.” Training is available to close any gap.

16. Return on investment

17. Work Ready Certificate Level Silver Work Ready ROI to Georgia company • Tyco Healthcare in Macon • $250M revenue; 546 employees • Utilized WorkKeys assessment for production workers • ROI • 67% reduction in cost and time to hire qualified candidates • 200% improvement in training entry level employees • 30% improvement in production efficiency • 6% reduction in waste

18. How it works: Certified Work Ready Community

19. How communities earn certification • Specified percent of county residents successfully attain Work Ready Certification • 3 percent of existing workforce • 25 percent of available workforce • Public high school graduation rate increase • Determine how many additional students must graduate each year to achieve goal for community • Target at-risk students who, with intervention, will be able to graduate • Use high school graduation coaches to identify these students and support them • Demonstrate county-wide commitment to earning certification

20. Why Work Ready Communities? Goal: • Assist more than 94,000 Georgians to earn a Work Ready Certificate • Assist more than 1,600 Georgia youth to earn a high school diploma To Date: • 45 counties on track to reach HSGR goals • 14 have attained their HSGR goals

21. CWRC data CWRC data collected for every Georgia county

22. How it works: Work Ready Region

23. Developing the concept • Major contributors to Work Ready Regions concept: • State Workforce Investment Board strategic plan • U.S. DOL WIRED (Workforce Investment Regional Economic Development) grants • NGA policy academies developing regional workforce development solutions to increase competitiveness • GOWD worked with two regions – Chattahoochee River Valley and Innovation Crescent

24. Work Ready Regions overview • Multiple counties work together to develop regional talent pools aligned to existing regional strategic industry • Industry-driven solutions – partner with business and industry • Includes creating regional solutions to: • Improve regional high school graduation rates • Engage at-risk and out-of-school youth • Retrain dislocated workers • Increase college graduation rates in strategic industry majors • Improve science, technology, engineering and math education • Upgrade skills of existing regional strategic industry workforce

25. Work Ready Regions • Gov Perdue has made $500,000 competitive regional grants available to drive new thinking and develop “talented” regions • Regions will use State Workforce Investment Board Strategic Plan as guideline • To date received 15 WRR grant proposals. Anticipate awarding Jan 2008

26. Potential Work Ready Regions Actual regions will be determined by grant applicants based on common resources aligned to a common strategic industry

27. Work Ready Region scorecard • Increase skill level of available workforce • Number of Work Ready Certificates earned • Number of strategic industry-related Work Ready job profiles • Elimination of skills gap • Attain Certified Work Ready Community status • Increasing regional public high school graduation rate • Increase workforce pipeline aligned to strategic industry • Articulation agreements and number of students at each level • STEM initiatives aligned to strategic industry • Develop highly skilled existing workforce for regional strategic industry • Existing workforce increasing skill level with Work Ready Certificates and skills gap training • Existing workforce receiving specialized training

28. Work Ready Region ROI • Work Ready Regions will be known talent pools for their identified strategic industries • Ability for regions to compete to attract industry requiring existing higher-skilled labor pool • Work Ready workforce – ready to be trained to fill jobs • Regional seamless education pathway aligned to strategic industry • Region known for specialized training aligned to strategic industry • Improved quality of life • High school graduates earn approximately $260,000 more over a lifetime compared with those who do not complete high school

29. Work Ready Successes

30. Work Ready successes • More than 10,000 Work Ready Certificates attained • Over 4000 since Jan 30 • More than 360 Work Ready job profiles • More than 70 human resource managers from 52 companies and government agencies attended first Making Work Ready Work for Your Company seminar • 73 counties participating in Certified Work Ready Communities; more than 20 more have faxed in letters of intent • 23 Accelerated Certified Work Ready Communities making monthly progress • 15 Work Ready Region grant proposals received

31. www.GaWorkReady.org

32. Transformation strategy

33. Recommended reading list • Principle Centered Leadership, Stephen R. Covey • A Governor’s Guide to Creating a 21st Century Workforce, National Governor’s Association • Good to Great, Jim Collins (social sectors) • The Creative Class, Richard Florida • The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman