Making Work-Based Learning Work
CWA 2015 Spring Workforce Development Conference
Wednesday, May 13 – 10:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.
•Andrew Munoz, Executive Director, Orange County Workforce Investment Board
•David Shinder, Director of Operations/General Manager, ResCare Workforce Services
•Rocio Leon, Manager – Strategic Partnerships and Training, California Manufacturing Technology
Consulting
Work-Based Learning
“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”
Proverbs in English, Italian, French and Spanish, James Howell, 1659
Work-Based Learning
It’s funny you should ask…
“Why is work-based learning such a hot topic in
workforce development?”
Work-Based Learning
The Workforce Innovation and Investment
Act (WIOA) puts work-based learning front
and center.
Among the purposes of WIOA listed in the
statute is to offer work-based learning
opportunities with employers as training
paths to employment.
Work-Based Learning
By the way, what is work-based learning?
The European Training Foundation’s 2013 publication
“Work-Based Learning: Benefits and Obstacles” offers the
following for our consideration:
•There is no single definition of what work-based learning
entails beyond the notion that it implies two characteristics:
– learning in a work context; and
– learning through practice.
Work-Based Learning
In addition, a distinction is typically made between:
 learning for work (such as that embodied in a traditional
didactic program): and
 learning at work (e.g. training delivered by the company to
impart skills required by the company)
Work-Based Learning
Work-based training options under WIOA include:
 On-the-Job Training (OJT)
 Customized Training
 Transitional Jobs
 Strategies for Incumbent Worker Training
 Coordination with Registered Apprenticeship Programs
 Leveraging other non-WIA funds (e.g. California’s
Employment Training Panel)
Work-Based Learning
Through its WIOA Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM),
the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is proposing to
implement a number of improvements to the public
workforce system and its delivery of services to all
jobseekers, workers, and employers.
Among the improvements that DOL highlights in the
proposed rules is promoting work-based training by
authorizing local areas to pursue the following approaches
and strategies:
Provide Incumbent Worker Training
(IWT)
WIOA promotes:
 Using up to 20 percent of their combined total of adult and
dislocated worker allotments for incumbent worker
training. States may use their statewide activities funds
and Rapid Response funds for statewide incumbent
worker training activities.
 A broader definition of incumbent workers and the
purpose of IWT, such as increasing the competitiveness
of the employee or employer (vs. solely raising skills
levels for wage increases or lay-off aversion)
Increase the Reimbursement to Employers for
On-the-Job Training and Customized Training
While these traditional work-based models remain largely
unchanged from WIA, a Governor or Local Board may raise the
reimbursement rate for OJT contracts up to 75 percent of the wage
rate, documenting the following factors in approving this increase:
o Characteristics of the participants, including whether the OJT
contract is leading to employment for individuals with barriers to
employment.
o Size of the employer
o Quality of employer-provided training and advancement
opportunities
o Other factors, such as the number of employees participating,
wage and benefit levels of employees both before and after OJT
completion, and relation of training to the competitiveness of the
participant.
Adds Transitional Jobs as an Approved
Strategy
Key features include:
 Transitional jobs are time-limited work experiences that are
subsidized for individuals with barriers to employment who are
chronically unemployed or have an inconsistent work history.
 The goal is to establish a work history for the individual,
demonstrate work success, and develop skills that lead to
entry into unsubsidized employment.
 The difference between a transitional job and an OJT contract
is that in a transitional job there is no expectation that the
individual will continue his or her employment with the
business after the work experience is complete
Improve Linkages and Coordination
with Registered Apprenticeships
WIOA supports better integrating registered apprenticeship into
the workforce system. The NPRM indicates that:
 ITAs and contracts for services may be used to support
registered apprenticeship
 Supportive service and needs-related payments may be
provided to support the placement of a participant into a
registered apprenticeship program.
 Registered apprenticeship programs are automatically qualified
to be placed on the state ETPL, and may remain on the list so
long as the program remains registered
 An OJT contract may be made with a registered apprentice
program to support the OJT portion of the registered
apprenticeship program
Knock-knock!
When opportunity “comes a callin’,” are we ready to
respond to business and job seekers needs using workbased learning strategies?
Work-Based Learning
Readiness to meet business and job seeker needs using
work-based learning requires, at a minimum, the workforce
system and its agents:
1. Understand and communicate its benefits to customers
2. Be prepared to implement training
3. Be capable of ensuring a high quality learning experience
Benefits to Businesses
Companies providing work-based learning often
express the following as principal benefits they
experience:
 Better fit between employees trained in-house
and the company’s work practices
 Higher productivity
 Opportunity to address skills gaps
 Increased staff retention and work satisfaction
 Image/recruitment impact
Benefits to Trainees
Job seekers in work-based learning benefit by
having the opportunity to:
Gain an understanding of employer expectations
Develop strong employability skills and good work
habits
Acquire skills connected to specific job functions;
and
Identify career pathways opportunities – both with
the company and beyond
Preparedness in Implementing
Work-Based Training
• Methods are in place to inform customers about workbased training
• Staff understand how to transform descriptions of tasks
and responsibilities in learning objectives that become
training plans
• Processes and resources are in place to establish
structured work-based training programs (e.g.
contracts/agreements, training plan, methods of
reimbursement)
• Oversight and evaluation systems exist to substantiate
skill acquisitions and completion of training objectives
Deliver Quality Training
Quality in work-based learning programs can be measured in terms
of:
•Clear program goals
•Clear roles and responsibilities for trainers, worksite supervisors
and support personnel
•Assessments to identify existing skills
•Training plans that specify learning goals tailored to the individual
learner
•Reasonable training length reflecting both the complexity of the job
and skills of the trainee
•Specified methods of instruction
•Established evaluation processes
•Clear expectations and feedback to assess progress toward
achieving learning/skills acquisition goals
Did you ever hear the one about…?
Opportunities and challenges using WIA-WIOA on-thejob training to meet customers’ needs in recovering
labor market.
OJT Programs
“Studies over the past 3 decades have found that in the
United States formal OJT programs have positive
employment and earnings outcomes”
U.S. DOL WIOA Notice of NPRM, April 16, 2015
OJT Programs
Implementing effective OJT programs is not rocket science. But is
does require:
•Knowledge
•A strategy
•A clear philosophy underlying your
approach.
Following are some recommendations
for making work-based learning work
as part of your system.
Recommendation 1 – Train Business Services and Career Center
Staff
OJT is not the Boogie Man.
Some training will get your staff over that hurdle.
Provide training that covers:
•The purpose and structure of OJT
•Marketing OJT and inform customer of its features and benefits
•Develop training plans
•Prepare and execute agreements
•Providing monitoring, oversight and follow-up
Recommendation 2 Develop a Strategy Informing Business and Job Seekers about OJT
Where OJT is used infrequently, it is generally a “Plan B”
approach; an afterthought used in cases where direct job
search efforts fail and traditional training is not a viable
option.
•Information on OJT should permeate all early and on-going
communications with both businesses and job seekers.
•Job seekers should be oriented to the option at their first
visit.
•When we talk to businesses about services, OJT should be
central to this discussion.
Recommendation 3 – Know How to Sell
It
Sell the benefits - not the process
• Overcome objections to “paperwork” and “government
programs” by concentrating the message on all we do to
develop and implement the OJT
• Businesses need only concern themselves with:
– Identifying the skills required
– Training
– Evaluating
– Invoicing
Recommendation 4 – Link to Sector
Focus.
Hey! Here’s a concept – make OJT and work-based learning
part of your Sector Strategy.
As the workforce system becomes increasingly focused on
specific sectors offering the greatest likelihood to create
economic opportunity and jobs, OJT, customized training,
apprenticeship programs, and incumbent worker training
should become part of the strategy, where they make sense.
Recommendation 5 –
Know How to Develop a Training Plan
• The “training plan” is the centerpiece of the OJT agreement.
• Participant assessment is critical to identifying skill levels.
• The development of the Training Plan begins with a task analysis.
Based on the identification of tasks and the skills required to
perform them, learning objectives are established. These are the
principal building blocks of the Training Plan.
• Each OJT is customized to prepare job seekers to meet the specific
job skills requirements of the businesses that hire them.
• Training length reflects the skills to be imparted. It is neither
random nor arbitrary.
• OJT content is determined by the following equation:
Skills required for the job – Skills of the participant = Training content.
Recommendation 6 –
Effectively Package the OJT
• A good contract/agreement template goes a long way.
• While there are program, financial and legal requirements
to be met, a shorter agreement goes a long way in
increasing employer satisfaction.
• It is critical to ensure that a review of the entire contract
and training package occurs with every business
participating in OJT.
Recommendation 7 – Apply Logic to
Project/Employer Selection
•
•
•
•
Focus on the local area’s priority sectors
The job lends itself to WBL
Business seems capable of providing training
Business has not been excluded.
Recommendation 8 – Do the heavy
lifting
• To maintain satisfaction among businesses participating in
OJT, it is essential that we prepare all documents
(including training plans) and remain at the ready to assist
with training evaluations, invoices and all other questions
and concerns.
OJT Programs
It doesn’t happen overnight…
Three short years ago, the Orange County OneStop system produced a limited number of OJTs
annually. Last year over 100 OJT agreements were
executed, with an even greater number anticipated
by the end of the current program year.
Central to this achievement, has been training and
staff familiarity in selling, developing, executing,
monitoring and overseeing OJT training.
Work-Based Learning
And if you thought that was fun(ny)…
Using State ETP funds Build a Better Workforce …
and Get Help Paying For It
Employment Training Panel
ETP has historically been California’s LARGEST source for
funding incumbent workforce training
ETP’s Mission
• ETP provides financial assistance to California businesses
to support customized worker training to:
• Attract and retain businesses that contribute to a healthy
California economy;
• Provide workers with secure jobs that pay good wages and
have opportunities for advancement;
• Assist employers to successfully compete in the global
economy; and
• Promote the benefits and ongoing investment of training
among employers.
ETP History
Since its inception in 1982 ETP has:
•Provided Over $1.3 Billion in Training Funds
•Trained Over 800,000 California Workers
•Served Over 80,000 California businesses
Open for Business!
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•
•
$64.7M Projected FY 2015-16 Budget
$90M available for new contracts
New Hire Training
Incumbent Worker Training
Who Can Contract With ETP
• A Single Employer – a private, for-profit employer
• A Group of Employers – including Trade/Professional
Associations, Joint Apprenticeship Training Committees
• Chambers of Commerce and Economic Development
Corporations
• A Training Agency – including Community Colleges,
Universities, University foundations, Regional
Occupational Programs, Private Schools and Agencies
• A Workforce Investment Board (WIB) or Workforce
Investment Act (WIA) Grant Recipient or Administrative
Entity
ETP Parameters
• Every ETP Program must:
– identify the training priorities/topics
– specify the target trainees
– specify the target training hours
• 8-260 hours for new hires
• 8-200 for incumbent workers
– identify the training provider(s)
– 90-day employment retention *
ETP Funding Priorities
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Incumbent worker training for Priority Industries
Job Creation
Small Business
Apprenticeship
Alternative & Renewable Fuels & Vehicle
Technology
• Drought Relief
• Healthcare
• Veterans
Special Employment Training (SET)
• Designed to improve skills and employment security of
frontline workers in projects that do not meet standard
eligibility requirements, but are a priority for workforce
training.
• Entrepreneurial skills training: for small business owners
employing at least one, but not more than nine full-time
employees;
• High Unemployment Areas (HUA): regions where the
unemployment rate is significantly higher than the State
average;
• Barriers to full-time stable employment
• Seasonal industries
Special Employment Training (SET)
ETP Eligible Training
Manufacturing Skills
Blue Print Reading & Shop Math
Geometric, Dimensioning & Tolerances
Soldering/Welding
CNC Programming & Shop Floor Skills
Surface Mount Technology
Commercial Skills
Construction
Equipment Operations
Field Operations
Computer Skills
Office Automation
Enterprise Resource Planning
Management and Team Skills
Management/Supervisory Skills
Team Building & Communication
Project Management
Change Management
Continuous Improvement
Production & Inventory Control
Lean Manufacturing
Quality Systems
Growth Strategies
Export management
New product/new market development
Special Employment Training (SET)
CMTC has been partnering with ETP for 18 years. We can
assist your team in:
•Setting a vision and goals
•Ensuring Integration with existing projects
•Assisting with planning and setting benchmarks
•Leveraging the maximum benefit from state funding
Special Employment Training (SET)
CMTC has been partnering with ETP for 18 years. We can
assist your team in:
•Setting a vision and goals
•Ensuring Integration with existing projects
•Assisting with planning and setting benchmarks
•Leveraging the maximum benefit from state funding
Questions
Questions
Don’t call us…
Email us!
For copies of this presentation, follow-up
questions or comic relief, send us a message
at:
Contact Information
Andrew Munoz
Email: [email protected]
David Shinder
Email: [email protected]
Rocio Leon
Email: [email protected]