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OUR CAREER DEVELOPMENT REPORT CARD

REPORT CARD GOALS
  Our region intends to address the following goals through a collaborative planning process and maximizing the use of its resources.

  1. Determine workforce needs and what skills employers want their new employees to have and then develop common measures of workplace readiness and occupational assessment.
  2. Improve the technology infrastructure.
  3. Improve the quality of the existing workforce.
  4. Improve career exploration and decision making through a partnership of students, parents, teachers, businesses and industries.
  5. Develop common definitions of Career and Technical Education and Adult Education completers, graduates with adequate academic/continuing education skills and demonstrated improvement in literacy skills level among Adult Education completers.


Other opportunities to improve the effectiveness of the workforce:

  1. Improved commuting transportation.
  2. Increase the availability of adequate and affordable housing.
  3. Increase real world experiences for teachers.
  4. Increase the availability of affordable quality childcare.
  5. Increase up-to-date teacher training in the use of technology.

Goal One: Determine workforce needs and what skills employers want their new employees to have and then develop common measures of workplace readiness and occupational assessment.

Context: There is a multitude of anecdotal information that strongly suggests we have a labor shortage. The labor/supply analysis in our environmental scan clearly recognizes that even if there are enough workers to meet workforce needs there are serious doubts concerning their capabilities. The shortage of adequately prepared employees was the most common subject of discussion and concern expressed throughout five public forums held. A recent survey of major industrial and service sector employers confirms the seriousness of the problem. A recently completed employability skills plan developed in Newaygo county may provide a model for our consideration. This study identified employability skills outcomes for students, employability skill criteria for schools and teachers and employability skill considerations for the business community.


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Measures of Success:
  • A follow-up survey of major industrial and service sector employers will be conducted to determine if improvements in workforce readiness have occurred.
  • Some workforce readiness and occupational assessment measurements will be implemented in all schools and colleges in the region.
  • A follow-up survey will demonstrate that data collected from workforce readiness and occupation assessment measurements are being used to improve the performance of career and technical education completers.
Goal Two: Improve the technology infrastructure.

Context: Limited bandwidth and connectivity are principal challenges as we strive to increase access and use of technology. Most users are currently relying on T1 connections with upgrades to T3 service is in the offing in parts of the region. Digital Service Line (DSL) is not available in our region. Baseline data is being collected to determine public assess to technology. Measures of Success:
  • The ratio of personal computers to students in all 17 public schools will improve. In the process of collecting baseline data, we have received information from eight K-12 districts.
  • Public access to personal computers through libraries and Michigan Works! will increase. We have collected baseline data from Michigan Works! and 22 public libraries in our five county region and have determined that they collectively provide 162 personal computers with 138 internet connections.


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    • School DistrictStudents per Computer
    Grant2.3
    Pentwater2.7
    Hesperia3.0
    Mason County Eastern3.0
    Ludington5.7
    Newaygo6.0
    White Cloud6.0
    Free Soil6.4
    Location City County Public Access Computers
    Chase Township Library Chase Lake

    5
    Idlewild Public Library Idlewild Lake

    4
    Luther Public Library Luther Lake

    1
    Pathfinder Community Library Baldwin Lake

    2
    Michigan Works! Service Center Baldwin Lake

    2
    Total for Lake County    

    14
    Mason County District Library Ludington Mason

    10
    Mason County District Library Scottville Mason

    4
    Michigan Works! Service Center Ludington Mason

    8
    Total for Mason County    

    22
    Barryton Public Library Barryton Mecosta

    6
    Big Rapids Community Library Big Rapids Mecosta

    10
    Morton Township Library Mecosta Mecosta

    12
    Walton Erickson Library Morley Mecosta

    5
    Wheatland Township Library Remus Mecosta

    3
    Michigan Works! Service Center Big Rapids Mecosta

    6
    Total for Mecosta    

    42
    Crotton Public Library Newaygo Newaygo

    2
    Fremont District Library Fremont Newaygo

    26
    Grant Public Library Grant Newaygo

    2
    Hesperia Public Library Hesperia Newaygo

    6
    Newaygo Library Newaygo Newaygo

    12
    White Cloud Library White Cloud Newaygo

    7
    Michigan Works! Service Center Fremont Newaygo

    10
    Total for Newaygo County    

    65
    Evart Public Library Evart Osceola

    1
    LeRoy Community Library LeRoy Osceola

    1
    M. Alice Memorial Library Marion Osceola

    2
    Reed City Public Library Reed City Osceola

    5
    Tustin Community Library Tustin Osceola

    4
    Michigan Works! Service Center Reed City Osceola

    6
    Total for Osceola County    

    19
    TOTAL    

    162


  • The number of e-mail accounts will increase. The number of active customer accounts held by Internet Service Providers in our five county region would appear to be a useful indicator of the proliferation of Internet connectivity in the homes of our citizens. While some data was collected, the overall effort to develop a comprehensive picture was deemed unsatisfactory for several reasons: 1) Local ISPs are not the only providers in any particular geographical area; 2) The ISPs contacted were not equally precise in reporting their number of active customer accounts; 3) Some ISPs had a policy against disclosing the number of accounts because of the competitive field they are in. Although initially stymied, we are going to try again to collect the data through a renewed sales pitch that represents a win-win result and a guarantee of confidentiality.



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Goal Three: Improve the quality of the incumbent workforce.

Context: Nearly 27% of the region's population 25 and older do not have a high school diploma. Assuming that level of educational attainment is mirrored in the workforce, there is a critical need to equip workers with basic learning skills and increased self-esteem if we believe that our region and Michigan can best compete in the production of goods requiring a highly skilled workforce. Our survey of major industrial and commercial enterprises clearly demonstrates that a portion of the current workforce is not as productive or proficient as employer's desire. We surveyed our larger employers in the region and were pleased to receive 29 responses or 58% of those contacted. The survey results are reported below.

  1. Do you have unfilled jobs at your company?
    Yes: 22  No: 7

  2. 2. Why are these jobs unfilled?
    1. Insufficient number of candidates: 16
    2. Candidates lack the required skills: 15
    3. Ongoing turnover: 2
    4. Not willing to work required shifts: 1
    5. Nation-wide shortage of nurses: 1
    6. Lack of any continuity in candidate's employment history: 1
    7. Failing drug screening test: 1
    8. Criminal background: 1
    9. Slowdown in business: 1

  3. What percentage of your current workforce do you consider marginal, that is, in a different labor market you would not employ these individuals?  0 %: 4 employers
     5 %: 6 employers
     10 %: 6 employers
     15 %: 1 employer
     20 %: 4 employers
     25 %: 3 employers
     40 %: 1 employer

  4. What are their primary deficiencies?
    1. They are not use to working, so they are not very productive - 10
    2. They are not use to working, so they quit after a short period of time - 13
    3. They are not punctual and have excessive absences - 23
    4. They lack the required technical or job skills - 5
    5. They lack basic learning skills: ability to communicate and to compute basic mathematical exercises - 4
    6. Very poor work ethic - 2
    7. They find this isn't the type of work they want - 1
    8. Don't like the work schedule - 1


  5. Do you track employee turnover?
      Yes: 22 No: 6

    If yes, is it higher than past years?
    Yes: 18   No: 8



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  6. Are you spending more on employee orientation and training during the first six months than you have in the past years?
    Yes: 18   No: 8

  7. 7. Do you have any new ideas for attracting and retaining employees?
    • "We are developing our organization into a 'learning organization' focusing on treating our associates as our most important asset."
    • "We use temporary agencies, i.e. Manpower, so that we can evaluate new people for 90 days before bringing them on as our employees. This was made necessary when several employee discharges within our 90 day probation period were denied by an administrative law judge. Really, Michigan is not an employer friendly state thanks to the power of big unions. In the past 10 years I've seen this improve considerably but we're not there yet."
    • "No ideas but with so many jobs out there it is hard to discipline anyone and have them stay. They can go out and get another job tomorrow so why work too hard today. We have had a lot of success hiring older associates, even retired associates."
    • "Housing in Ludington is high for the wage rates. Additional middle income housing is needed."
    • "For nurses there needs to be a national effort for career planning. We are hiring foreign nurses and paying room and board in addition to wages, we are so desperate."
    • "We are profiling exemplary employees and attempt to hire to those profiles. Internal referral bonuses. We would like to figure out how to go out and find 'pools' of available employees and bring them to our area (could be out of county; out of state or out of country)."
    • "Greater need to balance work/quality of life."
    • "We have a tendency to train for what I consider too short a time. If we were to increase training time we would decrease frustration and fear of failure."
    • "New training methods, flex schedules."


Measures of Success:
  • A follow-up survey of major industrial and commercial employers in our region will demonstrate improved performance of entry level employees
  • All intermediate schools and colleges in the region will implement Work Keys or another similar method of measuring skill level proficiency in their training programs if they are engaged in providing this service.


Goal Four: Improve career exploration and decision making through a partnership of students, parents, teachers, businesses and industries.

Context: Although 88% of all students in the region complete an Educational Development Plan sometime during their high school education, there are still substantial opportunities to improve the career exploration and decision making experience and process. We are greatly concerned by the results of a study completed by Ferris State University. The results summarized and reported in our Environmental Scan are sobering. "Ninety-one percent of parents said their children needed to have a degree from a four-year college or university to begin a career, with 74% saying that while job training programs were important for children who need them, their children have the potential to achieve more."

Subsequently FSU has released the results of a survey of Michigan educators, which shows that "Fifty-six percent agreed that vocational training programs carry with them a sense of embarrassment, compared to 41% of parents."

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During public forums, several persons observed that there is a considerable disparity between high school graduates who "go off to college" and those who complete a baccalaureate degree and questioned what happens to the rest? The results of the Summer 2000 School-to-Work Educators' Academy sponsored by all three intermediate school districts and Ferris State University emphasizes the importance of strengthening our region's career exploration and decision making program. Selected responses are presented below.

Counselor Perspective Strongly Agree
* My Academy experience helped me think about career options available to students in today's workforce 100%
* I learned about workplace competencies needed in today's workforce 100%
* The Academy experience will influence the way I counsel students 100%
Business and Industry Perspective
* Do you think it is important for educators' to learn in the workplace? 		100%
Teachers Perspective
* I gained new knowledge and skills regarding employability skill requirements (responsibility, initiative, cooperation, etc.) needed in the workplace during my Academy experience.		 100%


A survey of 66 employers from throughout the region conducted in March 1998 provides further evidence of their priorities and perceptions for K-12 and intermediate school programs. The five most highly regarded are listed here in rank order.
1. Preparing students for a career 82.3%
2. Preparing students for further education 100%
82.0%
3. Offering career awareness, exploration, and preparation activities for students 54.0%
4. Developing integrated academic and technical curricula 53.2%
5. Offering comprehensive career counseling 52.3%


Measures of Success
  • There will be an increase in the number and breadth of career exploration programs among all schools and colleges in the region. There will also be evidence of strong partnerships in each program.
  • The stakeholders, students, parents, teachers, businesses and industries will be surveyed to determine their level of satisfaction with the career exploration/decision making process.

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Goal Five: Develop common definitions of Career and Technical Education and Adult Education completers, graduates with adequate academic/continuing education skills and demonstrated improvement in literacy skills level among Adult Education completers.

Context: Staff and consultants representing the Michigan Department of Career Development repeatedly advised Environmental Scan Teams to "do the best you can" in gathering available data. That process quickly revealed some shortcomings. For legitimate reasons, we were not available to collect and report adult education data in a timely manner. We were reminded that school districts use a variety of definitions of completers and other measures of success. The awareness of 20,965 persons 25 and older living in our region that did not have a high school diploma in 1990 has gotten our attention. The number of unfilled jobs and the deficiencies of those in entry level positions in our region also reinforces the challenge for action.

Measures of Success:
  • There will be a marked improvement in the collection of adult education data.
  • Common definitions of Career and Technical Education and Adult Education completers and graduates with adequate academic/continuing education skills will be adopted throughout the region.
  • Common measures that demonstrate improvement in literacy skills level among Adult Education completers will be adopted throughout the region.



Michigan Works! West Central