Employability Skills Unlock Opportunity

The White County Chamber set out to create a more dynamic and efficient labor market by strengthening collaboration between employers and educational institutions. 

The idea was to create an employer-led initiative to close skills gaps by aligning talent pipelines with the evolving needs of local businesses. After years of focusing on the education system and asking them to address skills shortages, the chamber turned to its employers told them they are going to have to be part of the solution.

Business leaders stepped up.

“We identified nine key industry sectors and invited leaders from each of those industries to participate in a steering committee,” said Beth Truelove, President of the White County Chamber. “The leaders on the steering committee became the chair of their industry sector. While the steering committee met as a group, we also met with each individual industry sector.”

The key industry sectors, including agriculture, hospitality, childcare, logistics, construction, manufacturing, healthcare, professional services and utilities. Months of work with the industry sector groups and steering committee led to greater collaboration with the school system and greater flexibility from employers.

The employers slowed down enough to think about what skills candidates really need in order to get hired. Many employers had been so focused on industry-specific skills, they were overlooking one of their biggest challenges: employability skills. When the employers came together as a group, they realized they all had the similar problems. They were willing to train new hires, but many of their candidates lacked basic employability skills:

• Critical Thinking: Thinking objectively, assessing information accurately and making sound decisions based on the information they receive.
• Communication: Expressing themselves clearly and showcasing the ability to listen to instructions, understand direction and ask clarifying questions.   
• Tolerance for Frustration: Showcasing resilience and the ability to persist through setbacks, without frustration, stress or by disengaging altogether.

Truelove said the school system continues to be an outstanding partner. They organized teacher externships for everyone from Pre-K teachers to high school teachers. It helped connect classroom learning to real world acticities. It also helped to ensure the teachers feel supported and understand how much the business community values the work they do.

They started with the high school then worked their way down. Then, there were employers interested in working with middle school kids to help teach critical thinking skills. For elementary school students, they launched Leader in Me training. Leader in Me is  a program, based on Steven Covey’s Seven Habits of Effective People, that helps  equip students with skills to successfully navigate a world of constant change.

The chamber’s program set out to provide work-based learning opportunities to high school students. It is off to a great start. The goals for the program were to ensure opportunities in all nice industry sectors. They also wanted to expand the number of businesses participating. Their goal was to engage 20 companies, and they exceeded that by gaining interest from 110 companies, even though they did not all make a higher.  

“We went from a handful of kids employed at Walmart to having 62 kids employed across all of our priority industry sectors,” Truelove said. “We went from an average hourly pay of $7.25 an hour to $13.05 an hour because they were able to see an improvement in those skills.”

Moving forward, the chamber is working to build on its positive momentum. It is now working in partnership with employers and local colleges to help launch internship programs at local businesses.