Workforce Development Brief - ASQasq.org/edu/2011/10/leadership/workforce-development-brief-2011-10.pdfWorkforce Development and Technology I began this series of articles by discussing

Workforce Development BriefThe October 2011 issue of the Workforce Development Brief continues to bring new information to members of the ASQ Education Division.

Guest editorial

Practice Makes Real Improvement

Career planning and development are a wasted effort if education and training investments aren’t tied directly to real-life application.

Workforce Development and Improvement

This fourth installment of a six-part series provides information on one of the five components of a framework for the field of workforce development: technology.

Checklists: The Antidote to Complexity Preventing Audit Exceptions in Federally-Funded Workforce Development Programs

Checklists are an important tool for ensuring requirements are met consistently, and they can make audits of your workforce development programs go much more smoothly.

Technology Training: Trends for the 21st Century

http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/3845

Young and Unemployed

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/14185334

Strong U.S. Needs More Engineers

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/strong-u-s-needs-1155439.html

Intrinsic Motivation Motivation and Work

The second installment of this series on motivation introduces motivated abilities and how they influence performance at work.

Engaging Employees in the Learning Organization

The Workforce Development Committee presents its first complimentary webinar. Instructions for accessing the program and a complete leader’s study guide are included.

Workforce Development Network

Learn more about the new Workforce Development Network website that fosters exchange of information and experiences.

Links to Other Articles of Interest

The Workforce Development Brief is provided for members of the Education Division three times per year. Articles generally should be 1,000-1,200 words in length and should be submitted to the editor, Deborah Hopen, at [email protected].

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/14185334

ASQ Education Division’s Workforce Development Brief

James J. Rooney

Guest Editorial

Practice Makes Real Improvement

Many workforce development professionals are involved in education and training. Many others focus on assisting workers with competency assess-ment and career planning and a variety of other services are performed by people engaged in this field.

Most organizations consider workforce devel-opment as a subset of human resources and believe it is a key strategy for improving individual and organizational performance. In the public sector, workforce development usually involves helping individuals improve their capabilities so they can become active members of the local workforce; in this case, workforce development is a strategy for community economic success.

Undoubtedly, a key approach for enhanc-ing individual proficiency is to provide learning opportunities. These may involve formal educa-tion, workplace classroom instruction, self-directed courses, web-based training, seminars/webinars, conferences, etc. That’s usually the first step in the development process—the step where the worker is exposed to new concepts, processes, and tools.

Ideally, the second step provides real-life situa-tions for workers to apply what they have learned, honing their understanding and skills. Sadly, there

are far too many occasions where the both the worker and organization’s investment in educa-tion/training are unrealized because opportunities to practice are not made available in a timely fash-ion (if ever).

Sometimes a vicious cycle occurs. A worker’s deficiencies or competencies required for future success are identified, an individual plan is devel-oped, and it includes specific education/training requirements. Funding is allotted to implement the plan, and the worker arranges for instruction in a format that fits his/her personal and business constraints. He/she goes off to learn, feeling the warm glow of support, believing the organiza-tion is providing a ladder to a bigger and better future—one where he/she can make an enhanced contribution, reach new heights of achievement, and increase job security.

The worker returns full of new ideas and ready to change the world. Within a few weeks, the newly acquired learning begins to fade away; it never gets set into the worker’s thinking and behaviors. The course-completion paperwork is added to the worker’s file, and a checkmark is placed next to the appropriate line of the career-development plan. During the next annual review

www.asq.org/edu/index.html 1

http://www.asq.org/edu/index.html


the worker is acknowledged for completing the recommended education/training. The next requirements are identified, and the cycle begins again.

But, and it’s a big but, nothing really has changed. No opportunity for application ever occurred because the devel-opment plan did not include steps for practice. The fledgling worker who was ready to test his/her wings not only wasn’t offered a structured path to transition from novice to master, but he/she also was blocked from applying new ideas by co-workers—managers, peers, and subordinates who all join in this conspiracy to maintain the status quo.

This pattern happens primarily for the following two reasons:

• Practice is risky! It can decrease effectiveness and efficiency. It can disrupt currently well-functioning processes. It can distract the worker from his/her “real” job. It can make other people feel uncomfortable—or even comparatively disqualified.

• Most development plans are based on fairly abstract and/or generalized analyses. Although they do identify real improvement opportunities, they do not determine when and where the worker will need to apply the learnings. They do not time the education/training directly to cir-cumstances that necessitate its application. If the worker attempts to test his/her learning under less-than-ideal cases, the process actually may cause disruptions, waste, and other setbacks that support the risk-averse perspective that already predominates most organizations.Does this mean that we should stop developmental plan-

ning? Of course, it doesn’t. On the other hand, we certainly should find a better way to create assignments that will foster practice. We should also insist that every worker who receives organizationally sponsored education/training demonstrate what he/she learns within an appropriate timeframe (and that timeframe needs to start within a week or two while it’s fresh). These two requirements should not be left to serendipity; they should be programmed into the development plan before it is discussed with the worker and implemented.

One other thing is equally important. Young birds don’t start out taking cross-country flights. They stay close to the nest, and they receive lots of coaching from their parents at first. Similarly, practice opportunities need to occur in well-planned safe harbors—situations where the risks are relatively low but the application potential is great. They usually should involve a series of increasingly complex situations, making it possible for the worker to perfect application. Finally, and most importantly, workers need support with coaching and mentor-ing from a person who has the expertise, positive approach, available time, and willingness to serve in that capacity.

If your career planning/development processes don’t close the loop with required, guided practice, now is the time to change them. This is the way to ensure workers and the organi-zation both gain tangible results from investments in education and training.

JAMES J. ROONEY is director of the department of energy programs at ABS Consulting, Public Sector Division. Rooney is an ASQ fellow and is the chair of ASQ’s board of directors. He holds the following ASQ certifications: biomedical auditor, hazard analysis and critical control point auditor, manager of quality/organizational excellence, quality auditor, quality engineer, quality improvement associate, quality process analyst, quality technician, reliability engineer, and Six Sigma Green Belt. His e-mail address is [email protected].

Workforce Development Brief Vol. 1, No. 22


Workforce Development and Technology

I began this series of articles by discussing the differing ways workforce development is defined and the factors that affect it. In that initial article, I referred to Jacobs and Hawley’s 2009 study, “The Emergence of ‘Workforce Development’: Definition, Conceptual Boundaries, and Implications,”1 that identified these key aspects:

• Globalization

• Technology

• New economy

• Political change

• Demographic shiftsIn the next two issues, I shared thoughts on the

effects of globalization and demographic shifts on the workforce development profession and its practices. In this issue, I will focus on technology. Two circum-stances make this an important topic at this time.

• In July, the Education Division sponsored its conference, “Advancing the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Agenda in Education, the Workplace, and Society” in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin-Stout. The conference included presentations from K-12 and higher education faculty and administrators, as well as workforce development practitioners. The conference was highly successful, indicating the importance of these four areas on the field of education—from children through adults.

• ASQ conducts a study of the future every three years, and the 2011 results recently were released. The purpose of those studies, which first were launched in 1996 and have occurred every three years since then, is to prepare us for a wide range of futures that may happen, not to predict a specific future that will (or even might) occur. The ASQ futures studies always have involved identifying key factors that are likely to have a significant influence on the future and development of a range of hypothetical scenarios that might happen. The 2011 study, “Emergence,”2 enlisted the input of over 140 leaders from 33 countries across the globe, and it is laced with linkages to technology—its increasing pace of develop-ment, its influences on the world around us, and how it is likely to be part of every solution implemented to attain a sustainable future. Of course, all of us involved with workforce

development now live in trenches where tech-nology is a constant factor. On the one hand, frequently we are involved with assisting workers in learning how to use technology to perform their jobs. Some tasks require the use of simple technology, and others require much more com-plex expertise. Although development of new technology is largely the role of college graduates with significant training, technical school and community college graduates often handle the

Thomas G. Berstene




maintenance of these systems. Even workers who haven’t gradu-ated from high school interact with technology on a daily basis at work and in their personal lives.

Beyond that, however, the methods we use to train the workforce are becoming progressively dependent on technology. Traditional classroom training still is used in the workplace, but it certainly is being supplemented—or even replaced—with computer- and web-based training. As the economy has tight-ened and the focus on workforce training is scrutinized even more than usual, approaches that avoid travel, lengthy absences from regular job duties, and can be accessed on a “come-as-you-go” basis will become increasingly popular.

Dealing with these developments can be a challenge for workforce development professionals. Taking Microsoft® PowerPoint® slides used in the classroom and posting them on an Internet site doesn’t foster learning. Although technology can ease the exchange of information, it cannot replace sound instructional design, facilitative delivery, coaching, and men-toring—the hallmarks of effective workforce education and training. Furthermore, it cannot create opportunities for hands-on practice under the guidance of experienced workers.

Here are a few things to consider when thinking about technology’s influence on the field of workforce development.

• Howmuchformaleducationand/ortraininghaveyouhadininstructionaldesignanddelivery?The truth is that many workplace trainings are subject-matter experts who have little or no real knowledge or skills related to teaching other adults. Given that the Vulcan mind-meld is available only in the voyages of the starship Enterprise, it takes a lot more to transfer what you know to another person and to do so effectively and efficiently to ensure that person is equally qualified. That’s right; if the instructional process works correctly, the learner becomes as competent as the teacher. That’s a high standard. You know exceptional performers who were unable to pass on their knowledge and skills; they exemplify the difference between subject-matter experts and highly proficient workforce development professionals.

• Howmuchformaleducationand/ortraininghaveyouhadinusingtechnologyforinstructiondesignanddelivery? Think about a person who you would warmly call a technology geek. Would you want that person to teach you account-ing? On the other hand, think about someone who can’t program his/her cell phone. Would you want that person to develop a web-based training program in which you would have to engage for eight to 10 hours? Your answers to these questions are probably, “no.” For some unfathom-able reason, however, organizations expect people to jump into the educator/training role with no prior development of their knowledge and skills. By the way, it’s worth noting that one well-known e-learning expert compared serving as a webinar instructor to being a cross between a subject-matter expert, a technology expert, and a talk-show host.

• Evenifyouhavehadlotsofformaleducationandtraining,doyoufeelabletohandleallthreeofthoserolesequallywell? This

is the crux of the instructional design and delivery chal-lenge, but the solution is somewhat apparent—even though it involves a different process than most of us typically use. Technologically-based training programs require both collaborative development and delivery. The instructional design process requires a cross section of team members, and the delivery process does, too.

• Howmuchtimedoyouhavetoproducethetraining? Yes, time is an important ingredient in using technology in workforce development. Traditional training takes upwards of 10 hours of design and development time for each hour of standup instruction. Introducing technology triples that right from the start. To be effective, carefully plan the technology needs and integrate it into the training design so it becomes seamless in the learning process and not a fancy distraction.Ultimately, this signals a new role for workforce develop-

ment professionals engaged in education and training—project management. Bringing together subject-matter experts, technology specialists, and truly engaging presenters requires the direction and coordination of people who have a deep understanding of adult learning styles, instructional methods for addressing differing styles, and a keen head for keeping divergent thinkers on the same path. The key, of course, is to understand that you don’t have to know everything; you just have to know how to bring together people who collectively know everything. Your job is to create an environment where they trust each other’s expertise, share freely, and generate appropriate solutions. The team’s goal is to transfer required content in a way that ensures participants understand and are able to apply what they’ve learned.

Now’s the time to sharpen up your project management skills, as well as your understanding of the latest adult learning theories and instruction design and delivery approaches. With that expertise as your foundation, you can foster a learning pro-cess in your organization that improves individual and collective capabilities, utilizing new technology to its fullest advantage.

THOMAS G. BERSTENE is the founder and president of Workforce Planning Associates, Inc. (WFPA). He has more than 20 years of work experience in the area of quality and organizational assessments. Berstene worked for Aetna as an education evaluator and was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Coast Guard where he was a founding member of the Leadership Development Center. He can be reached at [email protected].

References

1. R. l. Jacobs and J. D. Hawley, “The Emergence of ‘Workforce Development’: Definition, Conceptual Boundaries, and Implications,” R. Maclean and D. Wilson, Eds., International Handbook of Education for the Changing World of Work, 1, pp. 2537-2552, 2009.

2. ASQ, “Emergence,” 2011 Future of Quality Study, 2011.


Checklists: The Antidote to ComplexityPreventing Audit Exceptions in Federally-Funded Workforce Development Programs

You can bet that you will be audited if you spend federal funds for workforce development programs. The auditors won’t do much checking to see if you matched the right person to the right job; however, they will search your files for missing signatures, dates that don’t match, wrong codes, and all sorts of technical details.

In workforce development, our main mission is to engage people on such a profound level that they transform from tax burdens to tax payers. That’s no small task! On the one hand, our career counselors must size up a job seeker quickly, conduct a job readiness assessment, identify work-related strengths, and make a referral to an appropriate job order. On the other hand, they must contend with mounds of paperwork and arcane activity-coding systems, enter information on paper copies and often on multiple databases, and be sure that everything matches and meets the letter of the law.

For those of us who manage federally-funded jobs programs, here are some strategies for a qual-ity assurance plan:

• Re-confirmtherules. It is not a matter ofif you will be audited but when you will be audited. It is appropriate to ask in advance for an

audit schedule and a copy of the audit guide. Chances are neither will be supplied, but by asking at least you are being proactive. Next, confirm the policies and procedures promul-gated by the funding source. This may sound easy, but it’s not. There are usually multiple layers of regulations and a wide variety of uncontrolled documents. If you don’t press for proper documentation, no one else will.

• Controlthedocumentationofrules. Compile a library of relevant compliance documents or test access to online policies and procedures. Of course, there will be more rules than anyone can follow, so a triage process will be needed to ensure that you are covering the audit “test questions.”Auditors can be picayune. In one case, they

looked at student competence sign-off sheets. Diligent instructors, who caught up with their paperwork on Saturday, were slammed because they signed off on a competence on a day the student was not in class. Auditors didn’t ask the more insightful questions such as, “How can you be sure the student is competent at task x?” Instead they burned the pro-gram for mismatched signature dates.

David M. Saunders




• Controlchangestorules. Often a funding source will change the rules verbally. It may seem gauche to confirm changes in writing, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

• One funding source gave verbal instructions on the eligibility rules for a youth program. The staff diligently followed those rules only to have a devastating audit report a year later.

• Turnrulesintochecklists. In his bestselling book, TheChecklistManifesto, Dr. Atul Gawande, a Harvard Medical School surgeon, lauds the “humblest of quality-control devices, the checklist.”1 Gawande begins by making a distinction between errors of

ignorance (mistakes we made because we don’t know enough) and errors of ineptitude (mistakes we made because we don’t make proper use of what we know). He visited with pilots and the people who build skyscrapers and came back with a solu-tion. Experts need checklists—literally—written guides that walk them through the key steps in any complex procedure. In the last section of the book, Gawande shows how his research team has taken this idea, developed a safe surgery checklist, and applied it around the world with staggering success.2

The trick is to develop a checklist that covers government red tape without having 150 checkboxes. Alas, this too is harder than it seems! It’s easier to develop long checklists that are difficult to use than short checklists that are trouble free. Your challenge in workforce development, therefore is to gener-ate shorter, better checklists.

Now you might ask, “Once we have a decent checklist, how do we get the staff to use it?”

• Turnchecklistsintofun. The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) published the compelling book, TellingAin’tTraining which describes a research-based approach to adult learning, relying on interactive exercises to teach complex tasks.3

• One welfare-to-work job-training program invented an activity-based learning contest called “Beat the Inspector.” Career coaches and inspectors conducted independent reviews of ten case folders and a checklist. Who can do a better job of finding non-conformities: career coaches or inspectors? In a high-energy “fun-filled” workshop, small prizes went to the winners.

• Usecheckliststobuildandtrackcompetence. Pilots, astro-nauts, and surgeons, all highly trained professionals, practice their use of checklists. Why not give career coaches the same benefit?The old joke: The absent-minded maestro was racing up

New York’s Seventh Avenue to a rehearsal when a stranger stopped him. “Pardon me,” the stranger asked, “Can you tell me how to get to Carnegie Hall?” “Yes,” answered the maestro breathlessly. “Practice!”4

Career coaches need regular ongoing practice to develop mastery over their often complex checklists. Try this: on a weekly basis take a single case folder and circulate it to all career coaches along with an audit checklist. Ask each career

coach to detect the number of non-conformities in the test folder. Keep a run chart showing the ability of career coaches to spot non-conformities. As the competence of the career coaches to find non-conformities improves, so will the quality of the case folders. Career coaches who pinpoint all non-conformities in the test folder have bragging rights all day in the office (and at the dinner table, too)!

The idea of giving workers tools to demonstrate their pride of workmanship comes from the famous lectures by Dr. W. Edwards Deming to Japanese and American business execu-tives. Deming gave an example of an older doctor and a younger doctor making their rounds (inspection of patients). Deming pointed out the danger that younger doctors would be reluctant to disagree with older doctors, just as workers would be reluctant to disagree with inspectors. Instead of discussing each patient as they went along, Deming suggested that each doctor indepen-dently make a judgment as to whether the patient is “better, the same, or worse.” Periodically they compare and discuss their judgments. In this way the doctors learn from each other.5

The bottom line is that workforce programs using federal funds cannot escape complex rules and adversarial audits. “Resistance is futile.”6 The counter-measure is to confirm the rules, turn them into user-friendly checklists, and have some fun as you practice using those checklists. The World Health Organization has made great strides in developing, promoting, and benefiting from the surgery checklist. Hopefully the federal government will work with key suppliers to develop power-ful checklists that will meet the intent of Congress while also reducing the losses to pride, efficiency, and productivity caused by complex rules and regulations.

References

1. Atul Gawande, The Checklist Manifesto, Metropolitan Books, 2009.

2. Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers in review of The Checklist Manifesto on Amazon.com.

3. Harold Stolovitch and Erica Keeps, Telling Ain’t Training, ASTD Press, 2011.

4. The syndicated column “The Wit Parade” by E.E. Kenyon on March 13, 1955 [CAR] contains the clever remark and in this version the word practice is not repeated. (www.quoteinvestigator.com)

5. William Latzko and David Saunders, Four Days With Dr. Deming, Addison-Wesley, 1995, p. 177.

6. Star Trek: First Contact, 1966.

DAVID SAUNDERS is the co-author of Four Days with Dr. Deming (now in its 10th printing), which describes in detail Dr. W. Edwards Deming’s quality lectures. Saunders works at ResCare, the nation’s leading provider of Workforce Development Services, which operates more than 100 One-Stop, TANF, and youth programs. He can be contacted at: [email protected].


What makes one worker excel, seemingly without effort, while another person holding the same job title produces only mediocre results? The unique set of talents and dispositions that comprise the psychological makeup of each person predisposes success, mediocrity, or failure. Each element of work, play, and life in general requires a certain set of attitudes and performance char-acteristics to assure successful completion. Some of these may be acquired through education and training. Others are more innate, and are relatively untouched by employee development programs, coaching, and counseling.

Motivated Abilities

What should these innate success factors be called? According to Marlys Hanson, many terms are possible including innate motivation, gifted-ness, talents, motivated abilities, natural strengths, motivational patterns, and passion and purpose. They all can describe “the naturally endowed needs, drivers, or desires that motivate a person to some particular action or behavior” and result in the “effortless action people feel in moments that stand out as the best in their lives.”1

This innate motivation is something that expresses itself early in life and resists change.2 According to Arthur Miller, the founder of People Management International, “we can change our bad habits, our values, our beliefs, our perceptions, our attitudes, our sensibilities, and our biases. But we have never seen any compelling evidence that proves that people can be changed at the level of innate motivation.”1 Yes, you can and do change. Maslow emphasized that as needs are fulfilled, other needs will become more important. This brings about changes to values, personality, and behavior.3 In addition, “Skills can be learned to increase effectiveness. Sloppy work habits or lifestyles can be reorganized. All of these improve-ments enhance who we are but do not change our basic design.”2 Just because you know how to do something doesn’t mean that you will be moti-vated to actually use that skill. The unchanging nature of motivated abilities means that organiza-tions ultimately will be unsuccessful when trying to change what motivates an individual. Their only option is to discover the nature of this motivation and harness it.

If not harnessed at work, your motivational pattern will express itself somewhere and somehow in your life. Whether in hobbies, volunteer work,

Christine Robinson

Intrinsic MotivationMotivation and Work



sports, or some other type of activity, you will “actively seek out whatever it is that gets your motivational juices going.”1 The extent to which these abilities are used will help define whether you feel satisfied and fulfilled in Iife.1 This is both good news and bad news; good news because knowledge of your innate motivation can help guide action toward what will be fulfilling, and bad news because “employee surveys tell us that probably only one third of all employees are engaged in work activities that use their motivated abilities at least 70% of the time.”1 A related concern is that even if you are able to perform a task (due to education and/or training), any attempt to sustain performance which is not motivated will result in stress or an unconscious attempt to restructure the task so that it better matches motivation.1 Such restructuring is not done because you are self-willed, stubborn, or rebellious, but because the task cannot be done well by that individual any other way.1

Motivation at Work

If you end up in a job that is a poor fit for your motivated abilities, it can be due to one of several reasons, such as:1

• External rewards (typically money) may be too strong an attraction, overriding the knowledge or suspicion that the job would not be a good fit.

• Pressure from the organization (to be a team player or to “move up or move out”) may force a poor career decision. It is not unusual to promote an outstanding engineer or sales rep and end up with a manager who lacks the moti-vated abilities to excel in the job.

• You may have a non-confrontational personality and couldn’t say no.

• You may lack the self-knowledge that would have identified the poor job fit. Most people complete their years of formal education without learning what, how, or why they are motivated to learn.2 Similarly, performance reviews and job coaching typically fail to reveal the motivational patterns that drive excellence.

• The organization’s leaders may have misrepresented the true nature of the job because they didn’t understand the moti-vated abilities that would produce the best candidate.The last item above highlights the fact that organizations

need to assess each job to identify not only the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for each position, but also the moti-vational characteristics that contribute to success. Then, the candidate (or incumbent) and his or her motivated abilities need to be identified and matched to the job requirements. The level of stress experienced by the employee will directly relate to the amount of mismatch in the area of motivation.

If you are routinely able to utilize your inner motivations at work you will find you are more creative, effective, and productive. Motivated work will come more easily. You will have the ability to recognize work that doesn’t utilize motivated behaviors, allowing conscious effort to be applied. You also will be able to determine when a potential job change is not in your best interest. Finally, where the workplace cannot or does not provide fulfillment, motivational insight will allow you to iden-tify fulfilling avocations or hobbies.

Managers who take the time to learn about intrinsic moti-vation, discover what motivated abilities are available within their workforce, structure jobs to take advantage of these motivations, and see that personal gifts are matched with job requirements will see better productivity, more creativity, and a happier workforce. They will realize that motivational pro-grams, which focus on extrinsic motivators will bring more transient results than focusing on intrinsic motivation.

This brief has been adapted from the author’s article “The Keys to Turbo-Charging Intrinsic Motivation,” published in the Fall 2010 issue of the JournalforQualityandParticipation. The third installment of this series for the WorkforceDevelopmentBrief will identify the different categories of intrinsic motiva-tion and how to discern them.

References

1.Marlys Hanson and Merle Hanson, Passion and Purpose: How to Identify and Leverage the Powerful Patterns That Shape Your Work/Life, Pathfinder Press, 2002.

2.Arthur F. Miller and Ralph T. Mattson, The Truth About You, Ten Speed Press, 1989.

3.Abraham H. Maslow, Motivation and Personality, 3rd ed., Harper and Row, 1987.

CHRISTINE ROBINSON is a consulting quality engineer who has earned the following ASQ certifications: CQE, CQA, and CMQ/OE. She specializes in quality systems development, documentation, and improvement. Robinson has more than 25 years of experience in quality for manufacturing operations and support, service, and nonprofit organizations. Contact her at [email protected].


Adina Suciu

Workforce Development Network

The Education Division’s Workforce Development Committee is pleased to announce the launch of its community networking site. This is an excellent opportunity for members to share their experiences, have interactive discussions, and network with their peers. We encourage members interested in workforce development to join this network and share their real-life experiences by posting articles, blogs, or short messages so that others may apply new ideas in their efforts.

The topics are open to anything related to workforce development. We also are interested in members’ feedback on how workforce develop-ment supports overall organizational sustainability and excellence. Some of the questions we hope to address on the network include the following:

• What does workforce development mean to you?

• How do you measure success in your work-force development efforts?

• What do you think the connection is between workforce development and organizational learning?

• What other topics besides education and training would you include in workforce development?

• What do you think the connection is between an organization’s culture and its workforce development programs?

• What are your experiences as a participant or as an education/training provider?

• Is there any connection between workforce development and innovation? How would you describe that connection?

• As a person involved in workforce develop-ment, what do you need to be most successful?Of course, these are only some of the questions

that we suggest as starting points for discussions.The networking site is open to all ASQ mem-

bers, and Education Division members from K-12 and Higher Education are welcome to join their workforce development associates in participating on the site’s discussions. To access the Workforce Development Network, go to http://community.asq.org/networks/Education_Division_Workforce_Development_ and click on “Join This Network” link (upper right). Additional information on how to post a short message/ comment, a blog, or an article is available on the site. Guidelines for participating on the networking site also are posted, and we appre-ciate your willingness to comply with them.




I am coordinating the site and look forward to welcoming you to our group.

ADINA SUCIU is principal consultant at Adav, LLC, a company focused on helping people and organizations attain and sustain agility. She is also the education chair for ASQ’s Seattle Section and a Baldrige examiner. Suciu is an ASQ certified Six Sigma Black Belt and Manager of Quality and Organizational Excellence. She can be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].

This Network is sponsored by

ASQ’s Education DivisionShaping the Future through Quality in Education and Professional Development

To join other people interested in knowledge and best practices related to quality in education, check out our website at http://asq.org/edu/index.html and call 1-800-248-1946 to add the Education Division to your ASQ communities.


Documents

Workforce Development Brief - ASQasq.org/edu/2011/10/leadership/workforce-development-brief-2011-10.pdfWorkforce Development and Technology I began this series of articles by discussing