What has our Workforce Development Working Group been up to? Take a look at the recent working group report, and check out the video below, where Project Manager Whitney White answers five questions on the working group.
[The following is a transcript of the video]
What is the goal of the Workforce Development Working Group?
The goal of the Workforce Development Working Group is to identify barriers to employment and work with all stakeholders to make those barriers manageable for job seekers.
What are the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of the working group?
The two KPIs that we’re focused on are the labor force participation rate for working age adults, and also the percentage of households above the Survival Budget Threshold.
What is the Innovation Cycle?
The Innovation Cycle is a human-centered design thinking framework, used to identify a problem, learn the people and context, explore concepts, prototype solutions, and eventually take one of those solutions to scale. It’s a nine-step process that Talent 2025 uses in all of our working groups to help guide the process.
Where is the group on the Innovation Cycle?
The Workforce Development Working Group has identified three key barriers preventing people from entering the labor force and retaining employment. Those barriers are childcare, transportation, and uncovering skills. We’ve collected data and done research to understand the user and their unique needs. We recently kicked off the explore concepts phase of the innovation cycle through a series of facilitator-led deep dive sessions.
What will the working group be doing next?
Over the coming months, the next steps for the working group will be to assess the outcomes of our recent deep dives, identify a program that works that can be piloted, and also to share the results with our stakeholders.