KCSpeaks

Each year at the holiday time, our newsfeed is filled with stories of people giving random acts of kindness to strangers. Many of these stories involve holiday generosity from strangers to homeless people, struggling families, and those with medical issues. One of the viral videos was of a woman from my state. She was driving in her town with her children, when she saw a homeless man shivering in the cold without a coat. The woman drove to the nearest store, purchased a coat, and then drove back to the man to surprise him. The video, filmed by her children with cell phones, showed her helping the man put on the new coat. Random acts of kindness all have one thing in common. They are all free of judgement. When a coat is given to a homeless person or toys to children in a disadvantaged family, there is not any judgment about why someone is homeless or cannot afford to purchase items for himself. This holiday lesson is not one to be lost on workforce development Often times we...

In the United States, we will soon be celebrating another Thanksgiving. Many people will be celebrating with a turkey dinner with delicious comfort food sides and pie for dessert. Before we eat our turkey and begin the holiday season, it is time to reflect on how people are like some of our favorite dishes we feast on.   Craving Gravy? Everyone knows someone who wants attention. Some people are in need of attention to remain motivated. This could manifest positively by striving towards goals and achievement. People who crave gravy may seek awards and display them proudly. It could also manifest negatively. Sometimes people are attributing their insecurities towards other people with negative comments. Some people may speak negatively about others in order to make themselves look better.   Doing the Mashed Potato? Like mashed potatoes, people can get smashed and mixed up. Everyone knows people in their personal and professional lives that are all mashed up...

Are you successful? Do you know people you consider successful? When people think of success they often list characteristics successful people have. Do the words “hard work,” “talent,” “smart,” or “creative” come to mind? Those traits are absolutely true of many of the most successful people in business and humanities. Based on these characteristics, if you know a person with these characteristics, you would assume he is successful, but that is not always the case.   Do we know people with the same characteristics, but struggle to find success? The reality is people are in the way of themselves. Many people become like statues and the older people get the more like a statue they become. People are set in their ways. Changing their ways is the ultimate challenge.     Workforce professionals are often trying to move statues. There are jobs seekers stuck in an unproductive manner and cannot move forward. Some job seekers become like Mount Rushmore, fixtures i...

People are pretty predictable creatures. People desire be liked by others and be appreciated. People generally do not like anything not favorable to themselves. As a result, companies selling necessary items have figured out ways to make items more pleasant and personalized. For example, average kitchen electrical items come in fashion colors to match personality. Normally bitter medicine is flavored to make it tastier.   As fictional character, Mary Poppins, would say, “a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down.”   The same logic is used when we need to deal with each other every day. Workforce development is a people business. It involves human capital. As result we are not immune from the need to sweeten the sour. Many of our clients and customers do not like to hear bad news. They do not want to hear change in perspective or actions are necessary. For example, a job seeker may have a vision of his next position that is not realistic of the labor market. An em...

The statement “knowledge is power” applies in workforce development as in any other industry. As a professional, you may have many situations in your daily business that require additional knowledge to proceed.       Most gaps in thought or understanding come from lack of information or critical details required for the best decision making process. For example, a job seeker may present only certain information when trying to receive employment services. As a workforce professional, the recommendations may not result in the desired employment opportunity. There are many times the information you are missing provides the key to the best recommendations. Gaps in information also exist on the larger programmatic level. For example, when implementing programs or services, not having all the details about funding requirements for programming could lead to a funding penalty.       Informational gaps cause confusion, wasted time, and ultimately frustr...

After any disaster, is there room for workforce development?   There is always room for workforce development. Our industry is all about people working. After any disaster, work begins.   First, the work will be emergency services. First responders, such as police and fire personnel, establish safety. People will need rescue and medical care. The hospitals will be at full capacity. Anyone considered a first responder or essential personnel will on duty.   Next, the work will involve basic needs. The general population will need food, clothing, and shelter. The work will involve helping people survive. Shelters will be full of displaced people. Many people will have only the clothing they are wearing and the items they can carry.   The disaster has destroyed their homes and possessions. The work will involve getting food and supplies to victims. Some work will be paid, but much will be completed by volunteers.   Once safety and order has be...

As workforce professionals, it is easy to feel frustrated. We desire to help people find success and feel as though our actions are meaningful in the lives of others. Often times we are troubled by the ineffectiveness of our systems in truly helping others.     How do we fix the broken? Broken starts at the top. The broken starts with people that create the systems and have not used them. This is not only true about workforce development, but also about any social service program.   I am talking about all levels of broken, from elected officials that create laws on the federal and state levels, workforce development boards that implement programs, and the direct service staff that may not be truly suited for their profession.   The systems of broken are everywhere. We only have two options as workforce development professionals that truly care. Be part of the problem or be part of the solution. When we are part of the problem, we ignore the broken sy...

I thought it was time to have a little fun with WIOA and write a fairy tale. My last fairy tale was published in June of 2014 and was before WIOA legislation. To read the first workforce development fairy tale, check out the archives. Once upon a time in a far off land called Weeoha, lived a community of residents. Many of these residents had jobs and careers, but some found themselves in need of services and assistance to get jobs. Some were reliant on the government for assistance with basic needs because they could not find jobs. Three of these residents, Jack Butcher, John Baker, and Josie Candlemaker, found themselves not satisfied with their lack of opportunity and decided to go on a pilgrimage to find the legendary Cup of Career Success.   According to urban legend, whomever drank from this cup was promised eternal employment and self-sufficient wages as long as they desired. Jack, John, and Josie set out on foot to find the legendary cup. Their first stop was to ...

On the news there is a lot of chatter about reducing or eliminating social programs due to the costs of running these programs. Workforce development can be seen by some people as a social program due to the free services to people that many programs offer. For a moment, I would like to imagine a world without workforce development programs to showcase the importance of our industry.     Before workforce development was ever thought of as a social program, it was imagined to be a form of economic development. In the world without workforce development, there would not be as many new businesses and ultimately not as many jobs for individuals. Workforce development provides services to business to help them grow. It may be information on taxes, business planning services, or assistance with hiring and training employees. Sometimes the assistance is financial. A business may be able to grow and develop due to utilization of specific funds such as, On the Job Training, Cu...

This Father’s Day, I wanted to take time to reflect on the importance of fathers from the perspective of workforce development.   Like mothers, our fathers are so important to our identity as career professionals. My father is a member of the baby boomer generation. He is also a Veteran, having served in the Air Force. After leaving the military, he married my mother and worked a career in sales until he retired. My father had multiple jobs, but worked in the same industry for his entire career. My father knew many people and had an excellent reputation as a worker. When the time came for a new job, he was able to rely upon his network to assist him. My father taught me the value of a professional network and a good reputation.   My two grandfathers were hard workers. My mother’s father worked two jobs to support his family. He was hard working, but knew the value of rest and relaxation. Each summer, he would take two weeks and take his family on vacation to the beach i...

Many people are afraid of sales. When people hear sales, negative images of less than honest fellows offering amazing deals on old cars comes to mind.   Many people get involved with helping professions because they do not feel selling is a strength for them. Unfortunately there are aspects of sales in in many professions, including workforce development and industry professionals should develop their skills in this area.   In workforce development, sales is embedded into many layers of the system. At the top of the level, sales techniques are used in the politics of the workforce system. When Congress is authorizing money for programs, there is “wheeling and dealing” going on in creating bills and passing laws.   Going down the workforce food chain, sales exists in selling products and services to workforce boards, service providers, and ultimately by those providing direct service to job seekers and business. This post speaks to those on the front line of workfor...

There are many writings and theories about work and the future of work.   This is a topic of conversation in many circles because technology has become smarter and faster leading to the automation of things that have not been automated before. Some of these thinkers believe that there will be a workless future for humans as robots will do everything.   As much as many of these theories sound like a science fiction story, they are important conversation for those of us in the workforce development business. We are all about people and how they work. Thinking about human evolution and the development of societies and culture, one imagines that our more primitive ancestors learned new tasks by “accidentally” trying to do something and discovering if the task was productive or not. These experiments were work.   I always believe that people will work. The jobs that people do will change, but people will work. One reason is that people have evolved to do someth...

The world is so serious right now. Between world events, political turmoil, and the stress of everyday life, people are serious. Workforce development is not any different. Many programs are concerned about their future funding. While that stress is programmatic, individual workforce professionals are feeling the pressures of working with people multiple barriers, meeting performance goals, and the constant pressure of providing service to others. By Friday, everyone in workforce development is tired. Individual professionals need to relax and laugh. We do funny things in workforce development. Why not laugh about them?   ·         How many workforce professionals work in an office where the front doors are kept unlocked, but the restrooms need a key to get in?   ·         How many workforce professionals work in a program that insists that every last detail is entered in the data managem...

Workforce development professionals believe that determining the motivation of a job seeking customer will assist with goal achievement. In the heads of professionals, this translates to the reason a person will become employed. A person will get a job because of the internal satisfaction associated with work or the tangible items that can be purchased with money earned from work.   Unfortunately, the above is a fairy tale for many.   There is something missing from the theory and it is the imaginary elephant in the room that is not discussed.   The missing link is that not all job seeking customers of a workforce program actually want to work. The word “work” is harsh sounding word. Our brains have images and feelings associated with the word “work” and the majority are negative.   The opposite of work is play. Our brains have positive images and feelings associated with the word “play.”   The images are associated with fun, entertainment, and ...

What is the problem with problems? The issue is that there are different kinds of problems. Right now I am thinking about how problems can be categorized into “real” problems and “fake” problems.   Real problems are the kind of problems that cause change.   The world is full of real problems such as war, disease, famine, economic, ecological, and political. As a result of these problems, people will determine a course of action to make changes that will try to affect the outcome.   On the other side of the problem curve, are fake problems. Fake problems are the kind that distract us from our daily lives and real problems. The media loves to latch on to a fake problem such as determining if a dress is green or gold, hot toy shortages at the holidays, and celebrities with fashion emergencies.   In the land of workforce development, we have real problems and fake problems. Many of the job seekers in the workforce system face real issues surroundin...

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) is now alive in full swing as states across the country are implementing their state plans. WIOA is different than its predecessor, Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and those charged with making policy are figuring out the similarities and differences. Regardless of the name of the legislation, or the specific programming, there is one thing that will always remain constant. It is the debate between quality and quantity in workforce programs.     Many people interpret WIOA and the broad scope of populations mentioned in the legislation to understand that WIOA is a program for everyone. As such, many programs are looking to provide WIOA funded service to as many people as possible and meet program benchmarks with the theory that the more people in the program, the greater the likelihood of meeting the benchmarks.   In the other camp, team quality believes that with limited resources, it will be impossible to pr...