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Program Administrator/Human Resources
Resources for program administrators and human resources personnel
seeking to help either potential or incumbent workers upgrade needed
skills
How do we market a workplace education program to employers? What about the cost/benefit ratio?
What kinds of assessments are appropriate and useful in workforce education?
What are the
challenges to collaboration among agencies such as education, labor,
and economic development?
Check these resources for answers to your questions!
How do I set
up an effective workplace education program?
Developing
and Evaluating Workplace Literacy Programs: A Handbook for Practitioners
and trainers
This resource is a handbook for starting a workplace literacy program.
Methods for developing a program are outlined including establishing
a planning group, analyzing the need for education, locating funding
sources, and gaining the support of management and employees. Aspects
of program development covered include conducting a literacy task analysis,
designing relevant curriculum using materials from learners’ jobs,
recruiting learners to a program, and both formative and summative evaluation.
New
Ways of Learning in the Workplace
Given the increased age, variety of experiences, and diverse lifestyles
and cultures of the working population, it is understandable that adult
education practices must move beyond the traditional model of teachers
as purveyors of knowledge and learners as passive recipients. This ERIC
Digest addresses some of the new ways to learn at work, such as action
learning, situated learning, and incidental learning.
Adult
Education at Work
This 148 page handbook provides a step-by-step model for Adult Basic
Education program administrators to use in developing an effective workplace
education program. It includes information on surveying ABE programs
and communities and marketing these programs to employers and communities.
Two articles found on the Workforce Online commercial site are instructive. You must register in order to access articles but registration is free. Workplace Literacy Best Practices lists and develops seven characteristics of an effective workplace literacy program as reported by the National Alliance of Business and the National Workforce Assistance Collaborative. Basic Skills Training 101 discusses how a company would develop a successful workplace literacy program to help employees improve the skills needed to retain their jobs, advance their careers and increase company productivity.
Importance
of Culture: Four Models for Workplace Basic Skills
Four models that provide a starting point for planning workplace basic
skills programs are described and discussed. This paper emphasizes the
importance of respecting the unique culture and characteristics reflected
in each workplace when providing workplace training and services.
New
Perspectives on Mentoring
This ERIC Digest looks at new forms of and perspectives on mentoring
as staff development in the workplace and the kinds of learning that
result from mentoring relationships.
How
do we market a workplace education program to employers? What about
the cost/benefit ratio?
Profiting
from Learning: Do Firms’ Investments in Education and Training
Pay Off?
Training data collected by ASTD from one year compared to publicly-reported
financial performance the following year for 575 U. S.-based firms showed
a significant positive relationship between training investments and
total stockholder return.
Return
On Investment in Training
This ERIC publication examines myths and misconceptions about who pays
and who reaps the return on investment (ROI) in training.
Turning
Skills Into Profit: Economic Benefits of Workplace Education Programs
Workplace education programs (WEPs) have consistently been shown to
improve the bottom line for companies. This research report, based on
interviews of over 100 employers, employees, and union representatives,
enumerates and explores the skills gained by employees and the benefits
gained by companies through workplace education programs. Publication
is free from this site but you must register to obtain a copy.
Two articles found on the Workforce Online commercial site are instructive. You must register in order to access articles but registration is free. Behavioral Training: The ABCs of Workplace Literacy discusses the benefits of a workplace training program, illustrating that the program raises employee self-esteem and ultimately helps make them better, more productive workers. Training Proves Its Worth is a discussion of companies’ needs for ongoing training and how to continue that training in the wake of budget shortfalls. It aims to prove that the benefits to business of training are well worth the costs.
Does
Training Pay? Evidence from Australian Enterprises
An in-depth case study of three firms shows that the enterprise returns
to training can be exceptionally high, especially for training that
is highly specific, rapidly accomplished, and related to the introduction
of new technology or working patterns. Such training pays a good return
on investment for a firm, even if labor turnover is high.
The
Economic Benefits of Improving Literacy Skills in the Workplace
Reports findings from a Conference Board of Canada study that shows
employers enhance their businesses' performance when employee literacy
skills improve.
Employer Involvement in Workforce Development
This web page provides links to multiple publications and resources
on business involvement in workforce development, including many that
speak to the question of the benefits of workplace education programs
to employers.
Back to top of page
What
kinds of assessments are appropriate and useful in workforce education?
ScorecardforSkills.com
is a new Web site and tool, developed by The Conference Board with
funding from OVAE. This site can help your adult education programs
and their employer partners measure--and demonstrate--the relationship
between workplace education investments and measures of organizational
performance. ScorecardforSkills.com
includes analytical tools that provide action-oriented information
to owners and employers about workplace education programs. Included
are information and advice to:
- Improve workplace education evaluation;
- Understand the Balanced Scorecard; and
- Create their own Balanced Scorecard.
Testing
and Accountability in Adult Literacy Education
This 1999 Thomas G. Sticht report provides information on the design
and evaluation of workplace literacy programs to improve workforce
readiness, and an overview of concepts about the nature, uses and
abuses of standardized tests in program evaluation and accountability.
It discusses concepts and issues and provides bibliographic resources
for those who want to learn more about how to design, develop, and
evaluate literacy programs in the workplace and other contexts.
Task
Analysis Strategies and Practices
This ERIC Practice Application Brief compares current practices and
examples of worker-oriented, job-oriented, and cognitive task analyses,
highlighting their strengths and weaknesses and detailing how they can
be used in diverse settings to promote knowledge and skill development.
Literacy
Skills Analysis for Job Training
This paper provides a summary of large-scale U.S. studies relating to
skills and literacy as an introduction to the discussion of literacy
skills analysis for job training. Policy implications and recommendations
regarding literacy skills analysis are made.
Second National WIB Survey Report
Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs), created by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, are councils of business and community leaders charged with the broad governance and oversight of employment-oriented education and training programs in states, cities, and counties. This survey explored WIB operations, strategic planning efforts, continuous improvement activities, and training needs, and addresses the accomplishments and the concerns about WIB progress.
One-Stop
Career Centers
This 1998 ERIC Digest provides background on the one-stop employment
and training system, describes the experiences of early one-stop career
centers, and raises issues related to the continued development of the
one-stop system.
High
Road Partnerships Report
The Working for America Institute provides fourteen case studies of
partnerships among unions, employers, community groups, foundations,
and government working together to create and retain good jobs, enable
employers to compete based on innovation and value, and build strong
communities with working-family-friendly economic development.
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