From “Herman Trend Alert,” by Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Occasionally, we highlight organizations on the leading edge of thought and action. The Human Capital Academy (HCA) provides effective community-based, demand-driven workforce development [approved by the United States Department of Labor (DOL) Employment and Training Administration] and their paradigm is worth sharing.
HCA’s program "TrainToWork" (TTW) matches the human capital needs of hiring employers (demand) with the available source of displaced and unemployed workers (supply). Following a specific methodology and using specially designed tools, the program involves re-skilling and re-employing recently displaced workers to fill critical employer job openings. The HCA currently serves employers in health care, telecommunications, financial services, hospitality, bio-tech, and manufacturing.
Though there are many similar programs, most are not nearly as effective as TTW and therefore, do not offer the same long-term return-on-training investment. All TrainToWork programs deliver a unique result: each seat in class equals a confirmed job.
The main differences are in process and content, including candidate recruitment, careful prescreening, in-depth assessment and thorough employment preparation. We are not overlooking their skills training; it is just that many competing organizations conduct skills training without nearly their levels of success.
TTW requires a cooperative effort between local academic institutions, hiring employers, downsizing employers and the workforce development system. It exceeds the DOL standards for return on training investment, because the enrollment level is matched to the hiring employer’s demand and commitment to hire all graduates. Plus, preliminary studies indicate that TTW is at least 40 percent more effective in hiring and training workers for the long-term than competing programs.
Creating a job-ready workforce needs to be "Job 1" for the U.S. and other developed countries of the world. HCA stands ready to license its techniques and programs to organizations in other countries. This innovative program is one excellent answer to the challenge of upskilling the millions of "obsolete" workers both here and abroad.
If the U.S. is to compete successfully on the world stage, it cannot afford to have a large population of displaced workers, especially while thousands of mission-critical jobs remain unfilled. For more about HCA or its programs, visit http://www.humancapitalacademy.com.
