When was the last time you were asked what kind of grades you got in school? I was asked for my undergrad grades exactly once – when I was applying for graduate school. The grades I earned in graduate school have been exactly… never. Not that the learning wasn’t important, but in truth, what happened in the classroom was important only insomuch as it offered a framework to understand what was happening in the real world. I’ve never been asked about a class taken, but we’ve all been called upon countless times to take what we have learned and apply that learning to new situations, to solve problems and create opportunities in the real world.
And while the nature of those problems and opportunities have always been in a state of evolution, it seems that that pace of changes continues to accelerate. And as workforce system practitioners, it is our job to keep pace with that change and empower participants in our programs and in the broader communities to continually develop and refine the skills needed to do so.
As the need to ratchet up our skills game increases, we are fortunate to be living in a time when we have more and better tools at our disposal. Gone are the days of manually pouring over job descriptions, trying to divine the meaning and the context behind what seem like so many generalities/platitudes, getting even a few companies in our communities to let us know what they are looking for in terms that we can understand and act on. No longer are we shackled to data that comes out once a year.
By leveraging real-time labor market data, we can track the evolution of skills needs almost instantaneously. We can aggregate across thousands of employers, orient around validated skills standards; see differences in skills needs between industries, employer types, geographies; identify in-demand credentials that validate skills; empower participants to verify and communicate their skills more efficiently and with greater levels of trust than ever before.
As skills data becomes more accessible, and its uses become more varied - what then is the role that workforce systems are uniquely positioned to play in managing and using these data?
As honest brokers and neutral intermediaries, workforce systems can help individuals make sense of the data before them, and to sort through the flood of data to zero in on that, which is most reliable, applicable, and current. What biases come with the data?
At a more granular level, helping job seekers and career changers to understand which skills are necessary and important but are mere table stakes, versus those that can differentiate them from other candidates? Which credentials are recognized and valued by employers, and which are vendor-driven but unlikely to differentiate them in the labor market?
Our analytic capabilities are vast and get stronger every day. But it is in the human realm where workforce systems and our community partners may offer the most distinct value. As we gather and analyze these data, leveraging our human capabilities to amplify its applied value may be what makes the difference. Armed with skills data, awareness of our local and regional economies, and access to the humans who turn to us for support and guidance, we are uniquely positioned to help job seekers and career changers to see the true value of their skills. What seems regular to them may be more special than they realized. And when they see where else their skills have value, new pathways open up for them. A deeper sense of one’s skills can give workers greater confidence. Workforce systems are uniquely positioned to help workers give voice to their skills in new ways, and see how those skills can be applied beyond the boundaries of their current role.
Similarly, with our view of the skills behind the workers across industries and across our economies, we can see where skills (and the people who have them) may be being underutilized and undervalued. We can cure blindspots, enabling employers to see talent pools that they have failed to recognize. And with deeper understanding of skills, we can have more targeted, productive conversations with employers.
As we seek to improve training programs, we can leverage skills data to refine and optimize program content – ensuring that what is taught is what matters most. And a more granular, modularized approach to skills can help training providers zero in on the gaps, reduce redundancy (who wants to sit in a class to learn what they already know?), and offer those people and their skills to the labor market more efficiently.
And we can aggregate this intelligence at the regional level, allowing us to more clearly communicate what skills we can offer to prospective employers – even those who will be new to the community – who choose locations for expansion, retention, and relocation as much for their access to skills as any other rationale.
As jobs and industries and economies reconstitute and reinvent themselves, it is the skills of our workforce that will allow communities to prosper or be left behind. And by taking a skills-first approach, workforce investment systems can ensure that workers, employers, industries, labor markets have the skills to thrive.
