Skip to main content

Fixing What’s Broken

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 systems, programs, or services. We continue our day to day without trying or just give up. When we are broken workforce professionals, our final stand is to leave workforce development for another profession. Our other option is to work to find solutions.
 
I am a firm believer that true change comes from the top.  One way to foster this change is for policy makers to experience workforce development. Not just for two hours at an appearance for the press, but to spend a day or week. Come to the table and experience workforce development as a job seeking customer and also as a staff member. Forget bringing your child to work. Bring your elected official or your workforce development board member to the place where the direct service happens.
 
That may be easier said than done, but those of us that are on the front line, we have options to facilitate change from above. Speak with an elected official or policy maker about the work that you do. Not everyone can experience every job, but they can hear from those that they serve. What are the challenges that you face in the job that you do? How can systems be improved to make service more efficient? What does success look like for different people?
 
Even more important, you can improve your broken day to day experience. What change can you recommend to make improvements? What role can you take in fixing the problem? How will you be part of the solution? 
~Karen Cirincione
Twitter:@kcirincione

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How do you Birthday?

Another year in my life has passed. It’s time for another birthday. Each year as the day approaches, I take the time to reflect on my past year, my accomplishments, and my goals for the year. My birthday is like my personal New Years’ celebration with another opportunity to have the best year ever.   I am not afraid of a birthday. Age is just a number, but each year is what you make of it. Each year I have seen the sun rise, the rain fall, and the snow melt, I have been given a gift from the universe. Many people do not get to see another birthday. I owe myself the opportunity to set goals and feel proud as I work towards achieving them. Sometimes these goals have been born from unhappy feelings and bad situations, but growth brings wisdom.   In my working life, and especially as a workforce professional, I know some of my growth must be professionally. Having experience working with job seekers looking for jobs, I understand how crucial professional growth is...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Authentic You

Authenticity is not something we think or talk about every day. It is something we all need for ourselves and to truly connect and have meaningful interactions with others. Anyone on the #improve2019 journey is looking to either improve themselves or to be the guiding light for another person on the journey. Without authenticity, the fruits of labor are bitter. They are not satisfying, but meaningless. The fruits grow are wants in the world, but are not what we truly need.   Authenticity starts with the self. It means we are first to be honest with ourselves, good or bad. It means taking a hard look in the mirror and owning our faults. Are we trying too hard or not enough? Are we speaking and not acting? Do our actions match our intentions?   These are the questions we need to ask ourselves and to really ponder. After we have truly done the recognition and have taken the steps we need to improve, we can really look to helping others doing the same.   Auth...
Post a Comment
Read more

Great Questions=Great Answers! The Pieces to the Puzzle are revealed!

Newbies in workforce development sometimes ask me how to work with a customer or how do you know why someone cannot get a job.   The answer is really simple. Ask the right questions, and then listen for the answer.    It’s not a secret. You can’t just look at person or their job seeking documents and just know. You need the person to open his mouth and speak.   You need the narrative.   Why narrative? First, you will get the information to help you help the customer.   That is if you ask the right question.   Secondly, it helps you establish rapport and trust with your customer. Someone is not going to open up if he does not trust you. This is very important.   Remember digging a hole to China as a child.   Quickly you found out that you could not find China with one shovel full of dirt.   The digger must unearth many layers to get to China! A child will quickly find out that he can’t shovel his way to China, but may find neat ...
1 comment
Read more