Because the 21st century workplace is increasingly complex and technical, businesses need an increasingly skilled workforce. As noted in our recent research, “The Ill-Prepared U.S. Workforce,” employers have taken on the challenge of workforce readiness training as workers enter their employment without the necessary skills and competencies to be fully productive. However, many of the employers participating in the research reported limited success with their training initiatives and little knowledge of the cost of these endeavors.
At the same time, it is widely acknowledged that the completion of at least one year of education and/or training beyond high school has become the minimum necessary for workers to successfully enter the workforce. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is focused on increasing postsecondary completion rates because, whether it is a certificate, an associate degree, or a bachelor’s degree, a postsecondary credential is the best path to success, particularly for low-income young adults.
Partnering with the Gates Foundation to bring the business perspective to the postsecondary completion agenda puts Corporate Voices for Working Families at the nexus of an issue critical to our corporate partners—ensuring a skilled talent pool for a competitive future. This page will contain information and updates on the work being accomplished in partnership with the Gates Foundation on behalf of our corporate partners.
Learn and Earn Micro-Business Cases
Corporate Voices recently published four new micro-business cases with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation under its Postsecondary Completion Initiative. Corporate Voices is committed to identifying and spotlighting businesses that make significant contributions to postsecondary completion through progressive talent development practices that increase access to career opportunities through education and training. Click on one of the links below to view its respective case study.
Learn and Earn Business Leadership Team Conference Call, June 24, 2010
The Learn and Earn Business Leadership Team June conference meeting provided the opportunity for group members to give input and additional information on the “business micro-cases” being written on the promising business practices we are identifying of employer-led models of talent development that support young people in postsecondary completion.
As we research promising practices, we are identifying consistent characteristics that might be adopted by other employers. Thereby, we can encourage the growth and scaling of these outstanding practices, which will serve both working learners and employers in their talent development practices.
Within our early findings, best practices have been enumerated into the following categories:
Business Imperatives
Program Types
Educational Partners
Corporate Culture
Data/Metrics
A lively and informative conversation ensued around the specific questions posed to the Business Leadership Team. For a list of the questions that were discussed, please click here. To listen to the complete, one hour, conference meeting click here.
Learn and Earn West Coast/ Gates Foundation Meeting, June 10, 2010
Corporate Voices for Working Families held a west coast convening for new invitees to the Learn and Earn Business Leadership Team on Thursday, June 10th at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, Washington. Leaders from Expeditors, Boeing, and Wells Fargo each presented promising learn and earn practices of talent development models that support low income young adults in attaining postsecondary education and credentials with labor market value. Expeditors told of the genesis of their “Opportunity Knocks” initiative; Boeing gave an overview of their multiple strategies for combating looming skills shortages and the “Learning Together” tuition assistance program; and Wells Fargo explained the success their wholesale banking division is having with in their partnership with Year Up. The group also heard from Seattle Community College student and working learner, Muhamed Manhsour, who shared the ways in which the “Opportunity Knocks” program at Expeditors has helped him overcome multiple challenges.
Discussion of other corporate “Learn and Earn” talent development practices followed the presentations with much peer-to-peer interaction around the components of successful practices as well as the challenges and barriers. The meeting was attended by corporate leaders from Boeing, Costco, Expeditors, Microsoft, PEMCO, Perkins Coie, Starbucks and Wells Fargo as well as representatives of the Gates Foundation, the Forum for Youth Investment, Year Up, and the Albers School of Business at Seattle University. To view a one-pager about the June 10th meeting, click here.
Learn and Earn Business Leadership Team Conference Call, April 29, 2010
As part of our commitment to convene regularly to share promising practices in employer-led, talent development models that support the attainment of postsecondary credentials among entry-level workers, the Learn and Earn Business Leadership Team held a conference meeting on April 29. Dorothy Martin, Verizon Wireless, and Charlene Peters, ITCAP, presented an overview of the partnership they formed to meet the Verizon Wireless need for technically certified workers and to expand the bilingual capabilities of their current workforce. They detail the steps taken in partnership with Pima Community College to meet the business’s needs while assuring accreditation of the training/education on behalf of the working learners. The presentation is interspersed with and followed by questions from the Learn and Earn Business Leadership Team. To listen to the one-hour meeting here.
Corporate Voices Launches Learn and Earn Business Leadership Team
Corporate Voices for Working Families launched its newly formed Learn and Earn Business Leadership Team on February 24 in Washington, D.C. Leaders from twenty companies came together to share promising practices in employer-led, talent development models that help entry-level workers attain post-secondary credentials with value in the labor market, particularly for young adults 16 to 26.