1. H-1B Ready to Work Conference
October 15, 2015
BREAKOUT SESSION Job Placement Strategy: Upskill/Backfill Demand Driven Strategies for Incumbent Workers
Speaker:
Sandino Thompson, Executive Director, It’s My Community Initiative

2. Demand Driven Strategies
SANDINO L. THOMPSON

3. Demand Driven Model
Employers placed at the forefront of recruitment and service delivery
Supply and demand logic
Strategic outreach
Focus on meeting needs (employer focus) vs. generating placements (program focus)
Continuous industry analysis

4. Strategic Outreach: Messaging
Benefits: Encourage employers to utilize Work Ready Oklahoma as a recruitment source to cut down on applicant screening time
Strengths: Discuss ways to upskill existing (incumbent) workforce and the benefits of investing in “known quantities”
Solutions: Offer to quickly back-fill vacancies created by incumbent advancement

5. Strategic Outreach: Process
Discover needs
Assess challenges
Discuss current staffing
Use career pathways models as a base
Develop a recruitment and training strategy specific to the employers needs
Utilize custom outreach materials to build a pipeline to meet the employer demand

6. Industry Analysis
Employment development staff continually tracks job news and events
Media Outlets
Internal Contacts
Rapid Response Reporting (layoff alerts)
Local industry issues on the 2015 radar:
Teacher shortage in public schools
Oil and gas industry downturn
Manufacturing industry jobs creation

7. Industry Outlook: Teacher Shortage

8. Industry + Employer Snapshot
Industry: Education
1000+ teacher vacancies statewide in
800+ substitutes working in place of a full-time teacher
Over 500 emergency certifications issued (5x more than previous year)
Employer: Oklahoma City Public Schools (OKCPS)
Certified Teacher shortage + excess capacity in entry level (paraprofessional)
High new teacher turnover
36% of current staff underqualified/inexperienced

9. Employer-Driven Strategy Highlights: Teacher Shortage
Developed two-part plan with OKCPS
Part 1: Work to fill vacancies before school year
Part 2: Upskill Paraprofessionals to Certified Teachers and backfill vacancies with long-term unemployed
Developed accelerated degree program with University of Central Oklahoma (UCO)

10. Education Career Pathway

11. Employer-Driven Strategy Highlights: Teacher Shortage
Work Ready Oklahoma + OKCPS:
Co-branded outreach materials
Website landing page
Funnel all recruitment through online application
Work Ready Oklahoma + UCO:
18 month accelerated master’s degree program
Alternative certification credit hour progression

12. Employer-Driven Strategy Highlights: Incumbent Upskill
Work Ready Oklahoma + OKCPS:
Identified 29 paraprofessionals for pilot
Leveraged funds for education costs
Work Ready Oklahoma + UCO:
Working to alter student teaching requirements
Accelerated program under development to fill administration vacancies (teacher to principal progression)

13. Customized Outreach Materials
Teacher Recruitment Flyer

14. Employer Driven Strategy Highlights: Results Snapshot
Work Ready Oklahoma + OKCPS
OKCPS reduced vacancies at the start of the school year by nearly 50%
18 full-time certified teachers were credentialed and placed through WRO efforts
24 hours of professional development training delivered since July
First Incumbent Worker Information Session scheduled for this month

15. Industry Outlook: Oil & Gas Layoffs

16. Employer Driven Strategy Highlights: Oil and Gas Downturn
Work Ready Oklahoma + Employers
Early 2015 – Developed custom materials for local employers to use with Employee Resource Packets during staff reduction
Work Ready Oklahoma + Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC)
Presented resource handour to OESC for use with rapid response effort for mass layoffs

17. Customized Outreach Materials
Resource Packet

18. Customized Outreach Materials
Resource Packet

19. Industry Outlook: Jobs Creation

20. Industry Snapshot Industry: Manufacturing Employer: Boeing
10% of the state’s workforce
Shortage of qualified technicians
2015: Emerging skills gap addressed by Governor
High percentage of jobs in engineering (60% or more)
Employer: Boeing
Expanded from 900 to positions in 2013
Additional 900 jobs announced in (primarily engineering)
1300 related jobs at Tinker AFB expected by 2018
Relocation + new hiring

21. Advanced Manufacturing Pathway

22. Employer Driven Strategy Highlights: Jobs Creation
Outreach to Boeing:
Had employment development staff reach out to Human Resources
Utilized LinkedIn to see who we (our staff, key partners and associates) might know
Found a connection with the site director and were able to reach out directly
More to come…