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Workforce
Development Articles Contributed by Training Futures Office
Skills Program |
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The following articles were contributed by the staff at
Training Futures, a 22-week office skills training program operated by
Northern Virginia Family Service. |
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The following article was published in 2004 by the Dulles Chapter of the Society for Human Resources Management. |
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ACHIEVE YOUR COMPANY’S STAFFING GOALS WHILE MAKING DREAMS COME TRUE |
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“Living poor in |
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This case study documents the impact of Training Futures graduates’ success, which trickles back to benefit taxpayers, the regional economy, and local employers. Below are a few examples of how this program benefits the community. |
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Over the past 4 years, Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt,
P.C., has hired more TF graduates – two dozen - than any other employer. Oblon is a 400-person,
internationally-renowned intellectual property law firm based in |
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Mary Ellen Brennan, manager of Oblon
Spivak’s human resources team, conducted an
analysis published in the case study.
This analysis showed that Training Futures graduates had a 25% lower
turnover rate than for overall administrative staff; performed strongly, with
78% of those eligible receiving promotions; and saved the company money
compared with other recruiting sources.
“Training Futures graduates really care about the quality of their
work,” she said. “At Training
Futures, they learned to pay attention to details and so they make fewer
mistakes, and they bring a positive, can-do approach to their jobs that helps
lift their work teams.” |
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Training Futures graduates have demonstrated strong performance in jobs such as administrative assistant, receptionist, accounting clerk, file clerk, and customer service. For a copy of the “Trickle Up” report, and for more information about how your organization can benefit by hosting free skilled interns or participate in job fairs to recruit high-performing Training Futures graduates, please contact Training Futures’ Marla Burton at (703) 448-1630 or mburton@nvfs.org. |
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The following article was published by The American Society for
Training and Development in 2004. |
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Workforce Development: Trickle-Up Economics. Focusing on relationships, as well as skills, gave this social service program the power not only to transform lives with learning, but to realize an impressive return on investment. |
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Workforce
Development: Trickle-Up Economics |
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by |
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There’s a paradox in the training and development world: often it is the immeasurable human dimension that most influences measurable outcomes. Bill Browning believes this, because he sees it every day. |
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Four years after graduating from Browning’s workforce development program, one of the trainees called it “a great shade tree that spreads it protective arms above the students while leading them to success, one at a time.” |
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That program – Training Futures – knew that its trainees were graduating, getting good jobs, and increasing their income … typical measures of short-term success. But when a graduate student undertook to analyze the long-term outcomes for graduates of the program, even its most ardent supporters were stunned – “blown away,” in fact, says Browning – by the return on investment (ROI) of public funds. “Within two years, public investment in Training Futures generates an 18% return, a rate of return higher than most individual investors earn on their stock market mutual funds,” the study concluded. |
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About Training
Futures |
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Training Futures, a program of Northern Virginia Family Service (NVFS), prepares low-income, unemployed or underpaid individuals to move into professional office careers. The 22-week training program, launched in 1996, has graduated over 600 people, with more than 90% of them finding new full-time jobs. This success record puts Training Futures in the top performing echelon of national workforce development programs. |
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The curriculum teaches computer skills, business English, business math, keyboarding, bookkeeping, filing, basic accounting and business communication skills. But there is much more than skill-building going on at Training Futures. To learn about this program, which has forged a partnership with the staff at ASTD headquarters, ASTD Links interviewed Bill Browning, Manager of NVFS Training Programs. |
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The Educational
Model: Beyond Skills |
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Skills are just the veneer applied from the outside… life changes occur from the inside out. That’s the foundation for the philosophy and educational model that shape the Training Futures program. Browning explains that this philosophy of “imaginal learning” holds that internal changes to self-image come first, and make it possible to change behavior. |
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The skills curriculum at Training Futures is what’s tangible and measurable. “Then there’s a hidden curriculum that is actually the foundation,” Browning continues. The trainees arrive with “serious life issues,” from childhood abuse to homelessness to heads full of negative self-talk and negative self-images – emotional issues that could sidetrack them. |
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To counteract those, the program deploys an array of strategies. Every day, in each of four classroom modules, trainees are greeted with an inspirational quote, followed by a five-minute discussion of what it means, where they’ve seen it, how people live it. One recent graduate shared this story that illustrates how these quotes work: “I noticed slow but significant changes. First, I stopped crying. Then, I started to really open up to the daily inspirational quotes. One powerful example of a quote that really motivated me is this one – “The load we carry is never quite so heavy as the chain from which we are freed.” Although this quote sounds simple, it goes very deep, thanks to the way the skilled and dedicated trainers lead a discussion on the daily quote. This quote and others literally cleansed my soul.” Training Futures also fosters an “intentional support community,” where students learn it’s safe to be real with each other. A social worker is available once a week to provide counseling if needed. |
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“Peer to peer support is extraordinary,” Browning notes, as he recalls a North African woman – homeless, with a child, thrown out by her husband, prohibited from returning for her belongings – who told her story to the group in a Toastmasters® speech. The others took up a collection for her, rustling up $200 from their own not-very-full pockets. Now she has a job, her own apartment, and employer-paid child care benefits. |
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Business Immersion |
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For many people who turn to Training Futures, the business world is mystifying, and the program needs to bridge a large cultural gap. Browning calls their technique the “business immersion philosophy.” The training program operates like a business, with a dress code, time sheets, discipline policy on attendance, and performance reviews. It’s a simulated office environment, where Browning wears a tie because he has to model office attire appropriate for the most conservative type of business. |
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Twenty volunteers run a clothing closet, stocked with donations of professional clothing. In the program’s second week, volunteers open the closet doors to trainees, treating them like Nordstrom shoppers, and they “come back glowing,” says Browning. “Now that they look the part of professionals, they can feel it more.” |
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Business
Partnerships |
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Volunteers come from local businesses as well, and ASTD has been one of Training Futures’ business partners for two years. Students have come for two-week internships in the ASTD offices, and a number of staff members have agreed to be individual mentors for trainees. Plus, staff of the HR department at ASTD have worked with trainees on practice job interviews. |
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“They really blew us away!” says HR Director Julie Nielsen. She also has high praise for the program’s focus on core skills, including the soft skills – especially the “positive attitude” ingredient – that other groups miss. |
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The “Trickle Up”
Analysis |
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To measure its accomplishments, Training Futures uses typical measures of outcomes: trainees who complete the program (over 90%), trainees who obtain jobs as a result (85-90%), those who raise their families’ annual income by over $5,000. In the spring of 2003, a graduate student surveyed graduates to learn about the longer-term benefits, such as increased earnings, career advancement, and home ownership. |
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Impressed with the results, staff went back and spent many days reading the case files of nearly 600 trainees to get complete data on at least one measure: savings to the public treasury from graduates who also “graduated” from public assistance. Here are a few of the statistics published in the final report, called Trickle Up: A Case Study on Community Benefits of Workforce Development: |
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Higher wages. In 2002-2003, 109 graduates increased their annual earnings by $6,000 (37%) with their first new office job. The average salary of those who graduated two years earlier doubled to $33,000. |
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Children’s health. Children covered by employer-sponsored health insurance tripled to 73%. |
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Reduced public assistance. Over seven years, public agencies reduced public assistance payments by a cumulative total of $663,000 as a result of graduates getting and keeping good jobs |
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Contributions to the economy. Training Futures’ nearly 400 successful graduates through 2002 were estimated to contribute over $1.6 million back to the community in 2003 in the form of increased taxes on additional earnings and consumption that trickles back into public coffers as graduates buy vehicles, computers, and homes. |
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Return on Investment. First-year public sector return from Training Future produces a first-year return equal to 75% of the original investment. In the second year, the return swings to a surplus of $86,000 – in other words, an 18% “profit” over two years. Plus the added social benefit of increasing private sector earnings by over $1 million for more than 100 low-income families. |
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Corporate vs Nonprofit Training |
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Browning has lived in two training worlds: big corporate, and small nonprofit. Each has something of value for the other, he believes. |
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Because the training fundamentals are the same, corporations and organizations like ASTD can teach nonprofits a lot about those fundamentals. Frequently, nonprofits face situations where people are stepping into training roles for the first time – social workers asked to do training, for example, or other professionals making a mid-career change. |
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“What nonprofits can teach the for-profit world is a lot more about change management at the personal level,” observes Browning, noting that “what’s different in nonprofits is that the clients you work with bring a ton of personal issues to the table.” |
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“The personal change dimension” is often missing on “the corporate side,” he says. Many corporate culture change efforts call for personal qualities, such as entrepreneurial spirit. “But that’s a not a skill you can just impart; it requires somebody to change in fundamental ways. What I think nonprofits can teach the for-profit world is how people really change, and how to facilitate that process.” |
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“Our trainees come from broken lives, and they’re able to make extraordinary changes in who they are, and that transforms their lives.” |
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sidebar text: |
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Bill Browning says:
“There are workforce development programs like Training Futures all over the |
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Learn more about Training Futures and download the “Trickle Up” report at |
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For more information about NVFS Training Futures, visit NVFS’ website at www.nvfs.org or email Bill Browning at bbrowning@nvfs.org. |
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OPENING A DOOR TO THE AMERICAN DREAM |
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“By graduating from Training Futures, you’ve taken the first step towards the American dream of educational opportunity, economic opportunity, and home ownership” Dr. Robert Templin, President of Northern Virginia Community College, told Training Futures’ 29 graduates at their May 7, 2003 graduation ceremony. Then, Dr. Templin made a surprise announcement that opened up a new door to the American dream for these and 300 recent Training Futures graduates. “You are now admitted to NVCC, and not only that, by completing Training Futures you’ve earned 7 NVCC college credits”! With his surprise announcement of this new transfer credit award for completion of Training Futures’ 22-week office skills program, the entire audience collectively gasped. A couple of graduates’ jaws dropped. One pumped her fist in celebration. Then, everyone in the audience rose in a standing ovation to celebrate the news of this new partnership that awards 7 NVCC college credits to graduates of Training Futures. |
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Keynote speaker Lee Ivory, Executive Editor of USA Today
Sports Weekly, kicked off the graduation program by telling his story of
growing up poor in |
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The father of graduate speaker Annmarie
Higiro, a Tutsi refugee who fled to |
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Alive and well. Dr. Templin spoke for Training Futures, all its supporters and NVCC when he promised these graduates: “We will be here for you to help you develop and fulfill your dreams”. |
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To remember this day, the graduates went outside after the ceremony to have a group photo taken in the sunshine on the beautiful grounds of graduation hosts Gannett Corporation and USA Today. Only one guest remained, talking with Training Futures co-founder Susan Craver just inside the exit door, when the group of graduates discovered that this door was locked. Seeing where they wanted to go, this last remaining guest, Bob Templin, stepped forward, opened the door, and all 29 graduates strode across the threshold a few steps closer to their dreams. |
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The following article was published in 2004 by The American Society for Training and Development. |
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TRANSFORMATION THROUGH TRAINING |
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By
Bill Browning |
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Training
Manager, NVFS Training Futures |
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Several years ago, when I led a corporate training enterprise, my team and I selected the slogan “transformation through training” to promote our business. I believed in our learning mission, and I believed that we could make a profound difference for the companies and individual trainees we served. Although our business was profitable and our clients generally happy, I gradually lost that faith that we made much of a difference through our training programs. Despite our heartfelt slogan, our clients fell far short of achieving “transformation through training”. |
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Now, I once again believe that people can achieve profound
personal changes through training programs, but the social service training
programs that have led to my recovery of this faith don’t look anything like
the corporate training programs that I once led. With these social service programs, we have
both the ROI data that eluded us in the corporate world, as well as an authentic
storybook of our graduates who have used this training program to change
their lives. What’s the
difference? And what lessons about
facilitating personal change can social service training providers offer to
our corporate training colleagues? |
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Creating a Support Community |
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In corporate training, co-workers being trained are often competitors – for clients, incentives, status, promotions or the boss’ favor. With such virulent strains of corporate competitiveness, it’s difficult to form a genuine support or learning community. In the corporate world where I once roamed, peers typically engaged in a competition to one-up each other in demonstrations of proficiency, conversations about achievements, and clever self-promotion. I recall one group of trade association managers who gathered for an informal networking lunch once a week in the mid-1990s. Nearly every week one of the undercurrents of the conversation was a competition to one-up each other in demonstrating technology prowess, which was one of the CEO’s priorities. No one, including me, dared admit one’s technology ignorance or fears. Imagine trying to lead a technology-related training program in that environment! |
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In the corporate world, “professionals” are drilled to leave personal issues at home. But we’re human, and we can’t abandon ourselves completely, even though some organizational cultures pretend to. In such environments, frustrations, fears, hopes, and dreams, which often invisibly drive our behavior at work, are rarely discussed openly. |
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In the social service training programs that we offer, I have observed trainees being real with one another to a greater degree than most corporate trainees. In particular, these trainees courageously disclose their problems, difficulties and fears related to the training topics. When they do, the community of peers surrounds them with affirmation and support. Our trainers set the tone for this atmosphere by being real themselves, and lead a classroom culture that rewards those with the courage to be honest. |
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Learning communities are increasingly effective when members trust one another to disclose some of their fears and failures, and use the support community to transcend those fears. This claim is not puffy new-age idealism - it works. I have witnessed numerous individual transformations, and many graduates of our programs attribute those changes to having a genuine support community that has helped them change from the inside out. It all starts with trainers who have the courage to tell stories of their own struggles. |
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Sustained Attention to Learning |
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In the corporate world, time spent learning is time away from productive work, and is minimized in pursuit of efficiency. The shorter the training intervention, the better. Although executives offer lip service in support of training time, the reality in the trenches often penalizes workers for time spent learning. As a result, training interventions have gotten progressively shorter over the years. Although this trend improves efficiency, shorter interventions are less effective in addressing personal changes that are often the key to improved performance. |
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In contrast, our social service training programs last from 12 to 22 weeks, with “classroom” time ranging from 70 – 350 hours. This kind of sustained classroom time commitment just isn’t feasible in the corporate world. However, trainees need soak time to confront and modify attitudes and habits so that new skills can stick. We should squarely face a truth that most trainers and adult learners have experienced – unlearning old habits, attitudes and behavior patterns takes more time than merely acquiring new skills. Without sustained attention, these acquired mental patterns interfere with new learning, leading trainees to downshift into old, familiar but out-of-date behavior patterns. Sustained attention to learning can help trainees identify old patterns that no longer work and replace them with new behavior patterns, undergirded by mastery of new skills. In our programs, we often rely on peer feedback and mutual mentoring to deepen and sustain new attitudes and behaviors, and these relationships extend well beyond the classroom environment. By utilizing peer mentoring and other methods to facilitate learning within the everyday work environment, corporate trainers can extend the learning time beyond the classroom. |
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The Heart of the Matter |
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I vividly recall a priest’s homily from years ago where he said: “the heart of the matter is the heart itself”. Training only in measurable “surface” skills without acknowledging deeper, related issues of the heart seems like trying to navigate a boat in shallows without considering the many shoals, sandbars and deep water currents beneath the surface of the water. Who we are matters as much as what we can do in determining job performance. Transformational learning changes who we are in some important ways. |
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I recall a corporate training project that was originally presented by executive sponsors as simple skills enhancement for financial salespeople in two departments of a bank to learn financial planning skills along with a new financial planning software tool. When our training team dug deeper in their front-end analysis, they uncovered several “heart” issues that threatened this “simple” training project: |
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When executives who sponsored the training ignored recommendations about dealing with these emotional issues and insisted on staying the course, the training delivery blew up. Many of the trainees got angry at how the program was misrepresented as “simple” skills enhancement, and threatened to walk out of the training program. |
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Trainers pride themselves in utilizing the science of
performance and instructional technology.
But people aren’t machines. Practitioners
must continually balance the science of performance technology with the art
of human relations, and openly acknowledge matters of the heart so that they
avoid emotional shipwrecks and navigate within the deep water emotional
currents of learning. |
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Relationships with the Power to Transform |
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If I were to create a Clintonian campaign slogan for what I’ve learned about learning, the slogan might be “It’s the Relationships, Stupid.” Learning that involves significant personal change will always hinge on person-to-person relationships, no matter how many online learning vendors claim technology superiority. Remember, many of these vendors also once claimed that the new economy had banished the business cycle, but a vicious recession proved them terribly wrong. |
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I remember my revered high school economics and psychology teacher, Mr. Miller. Although I made good grades, he pulled me aside one day after class, looked me in the eye and said “you can do better”. He thought I had more in me, and so I believed a little more in me as well. Inspired by him, I ended up majoring in economics in college. A great instructor like Mr. Miller gets into you deeper than the knowledge or skills he imparts. As a training professional, I recall Mr. Miller’s example and am reminded that learning at its deepest and best isn’t primarily about outcomes, ROI, or any of the new information that gets dumped into our cerebral cortex. It’s about relationships with the power to transform. |
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Once you get the core relationship focus right, outcomes and ROI measures will follow. Our social service training programs center around peer and trainer/mentor relationships. Staff meetings focus on trainee relationships and how we manage these relationships to advance the life changes that our clients have committed themselves to achieve. Paradoxically, we’ve observed, it is the often immeasurable human dimension that most influences measurable outcomes. |
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Self-Image and
Personal Stories
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When trainees first enroll in our social service training programs, they often tell us stories of defeat and despair. When they graduate, they tell a story of transformation that often includes, but transcends, the first story. One graduate of our office skills training program summed up her experience with this story: “I used to work in a coffee shop on the first floor of a tall office building. I felt unimportant waiting on busy career people – like a mouse around elephants. Now, I walk into those office buildings in my suit with my new skills and confidence. In just four months, I am an elephant too!” |
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Have we become captives of our own public hype about ourselves? In our prevailing business culture, we’re taught early to be our own best promoters. But what is the self-image that we believe about ourselves in quiet, honest moments? If we bridge our own hype vs. reality gap by defending our self-promotional image rather than admitting and addressing our shortcomings, then how do we learn or change? |
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Organizational development and training specialists can spur transformational learning in several ways: |
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Only if we risk going deeper, starting with ourselves, can we address the internal realities of our self-image, which can shift performance and self-stories in real, measurable, and mutually-sustaining ways. When this happens, profound changes and new behaviors can take root. |
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A Trainer’s Transformation |
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Before leaving the corporate world, I began to look more honestly at myself, and didn’t like who I had become. I had built an impressive resume and could brag about business growth and increased profits in our training business. But, inside my skin, who I thought that I was, or at least who I aspired to be, was slowly being gnawed away by my own self-righteousness, ambition and self-promotion. I convinced myself that I was right and my opponents wrong, willingly engaged in hallway power struggles, and stretched the truth by promoting our training services as “transformation through training.” |
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In truth, it was me, more than our training clients, who really needed a transformational change. There was no quick corporate training fix for me to learn who I wanted to be. I knew that I didn’t want to be a liar or manipulator anymore. No longer could I profitably conspire with budget-rich but leadership-poor executive clients to point our fingers at their employees and pretend that we “fixed” them with our training programs. I needed to acknowledge and bridge within my own heart and mind the often-competing demands of institutional clients and individual learners. These realizations came slowly, after I had left my previous work environment, and with the counsel of friends, family, and new communities of people who helped to draw out and reinforce new gifts and personal qualities. |
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Now, I’ve returned to the training world after a brief sabbatical. Although I didn’t design these social service training programs and cannot take credit for their success in transforming lives, I get my energy from witnessing these changes. Now, I witness with my own eyes how our training team’s collective professional investment makes a genuine difference for our trainees and their new employers. Surprisingly, I find validation of my story of continual transformation in wisdom from a cheesy greeting card that I have saved for years: “We ain’t what we want to be, we ain’t what we gonna be, but thank God we ain’t what we was.” |
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