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Dysfunctional Measures of Success and Achievement


We live in a world where your success is judged by dollars in your account, high ranking and influencing positions that are held, and the toys you have. This is true for everyone from professional athletes to the business world.  When you stop keeping up with the Jones’ for two minutes and start to really think about success and achievement it puts it in a different perspective. Those of us who work in workforce development world are torn between success measured in contractual benchmarks and the success that doesn't fit the numbers.

Would you consider the following people successful?

§  Youth that graduated from high school and recently obtained his first part time job at a clothing store in the mall making minimum wage.

§  Single mother of three children under the age of five years old obtained a job that allowed her to leave TANF assistance, but still allows her to receive SNAP food assistance and Medicaid insurance.

§  Dislocated Worker and former business manager that used to earn over $100,000 annually obtained a job in the non-profit sector making $35,000 annually.


Based on everything that society has taught us- none of the people are successful. Based on many of the performance benchmarks that workforce development programs are held to – perhaps not, but often it is not what can’t be measured makes all these people successful.

§  The youth is the first in his family to graduate high school. He lives in a neighborhood where many of the young men quit school and join gangs.

§  The single mother comes from a family where both her mother and grandmother collected TANF assistance and never worked.

§  The former business manager has been unemployed for three years before re-employment.

These are the back stories that make these people successful. These are the stories that make benchmarks, contractual numbers, and statistical analysis garbage. Success is relative to the person achieving it.

How would you view the workforce development professionals that worked with these people? Would they be the heroes that helped people change their lives or the professionals that are not capable of meeting their performance benchmarks? Are they successful? Unfortunately because many performance measures are strict- the professionals are not seen as having achievement and success. After all, the dislocated worker is only making $35, 000 annually- not even close to the $100,000 salary he used to make; the single mother is not self-sufficient because she still relies on the government for food and medical assistance; and the youth is not enrolled in college and does not have plans to do so in the near future.

I am proposing that it’s time for funders at all levels take a look at the outcomes they are asking programs to achieve. I am proposing organizations take a look at the true outcomes their professionals are producing and start taking measures the government is not looking for so that they can go back and show the true success level of their programs. Maybe what we will find is that the programs designed for one thing are actually successful at something else. Maybe as result we can see the true benchmarks of success and achievement and we can re-define workforce development as we know it. Maybe as a result, we help redefine success and achievement in America, one success story at a time.

Pondering Points:

§  How do you define success and achievement in a job seeking customer? Do you consider a job seeker that does not meet the performance benchmarks successful?

§  How do you define success and achievement in a workforce development professional?


§  Do you have success stories of job seekers that achieved success, but did not meet the standard of success by your program?




I am interested in your thoughts on this subject. It appears that we are in a period where everything is up for debate, including the existence of government funding as we know it. As the shutdown continues, having healthy conversation and redefining our industry will be the key to survival. I welcome your comments on this subject. Feel free to post or email me at kcirincione@gmail.com. ~ Karen Cirincione

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