Pam Sornson, JD, Author at EWD Pulse

Applying New Guidance and Regulations to Stay Safe

Pam Sornson, JD on April 20, 2020

These are unprecedented times for Pasadena. While the Pasadena City College (PCC) campus has closed until the end of the semester, its faculty and staff are still on the job, helping students and community partners maintain their balance in these confusing times. Both businesses and industries continue to struggle to make sense of incoming guidance and how to apply new regulations over their existing standards.

As the leader of one of our local businesses, your best local resource is the Pasadena City College Small Business Development Center. They offer technical assistance and support to our community businesses. PCC has also created a site that streamlines all the information flowing into the school because of the Covid-19 concern, Covid19biztools.com. There are public and private resources there for every company.

The spread of the disease is making the struggle harder: As of April 2, California reports close to 10,000 cases and is expecting that number to grow. Every business is asked to follow all social distancing recommendations and requirements during this time to reduce the opportunity for further and unnecessary infections within our community.

At PCC, we are highly sensitive to the needs of our business and industry neighbors, so we are offering these notes in support of your efforts to get your company and its workers safely through this Covid-19 pandemic.

Be “Safer at Home”

As of March 19, the City of Pasadena is under a “Safer at Home” order (Executive Order N-33-20), which requires all individuals to stay at home (in their place of residence) pending resolution of the Covid-19 crisis. All businesses that aren’t considered ‘essential’ (see below) must close and allow their workers to remain at home. To these employers, we thank you for ensuring that both your workers and our community stay safe because of your support for ‘social distancing. ‘

Only ‘essential’ workers, those who provide ‘critical infrastructure operations,’ can continue to move about the community. The list of occupations that are considered ‘critical infrastructure’ is long and encompasses vital industries, including healthcare, public safety, food services, energy, water resources, and more. The businesses that perform these services are integral to maintaining Pasadena’s services, and their workforce is risking its health to get that work done. Thank you to all who are working hard to keep the rest of us safe.

Use This Time Well

For open and closed businesses, there are actions that can be taken now to manage this crisis and prepare for future emergencies, including another pandemic. Guidance from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) offers insights into both the specifics of this Covid-19 concern, as well as instructions on how to control and prevent the spread of this or any disease in employment settings:

Develop an ‘Infectious Disease’ Preparedness Plan

The plan should evaluate the various risk factors that are unique to the business:

Within the facility:

Every area and surface is (probably) capable of hosting a viral or bacterial threat, regardless of their location. Bathrooms and kitchens are likely areas, but so are telephones, computer keyboards, customer service desks, and doors. Take the time now to determine where these risks are located in your business and to put in place some basic infection prevention measures to keep them sanitary and hygienic.

Within the workforce:

The biggest challenge here is not knowing where your workers and customers were before they walked through your door. They may have picked up the infection (or bacterial concern) while out in the world and are bringing it into your establishment. Establish protocols for sick workers, develop handwashing and cleaning protocols for office surfaces and limit the requirement of physical contact between your employees and customers (no more handshakes!)

Within the workforce (again):

Your workers may have risk factors themselves that require special handling, such as health concerns (i.e. -chronic health conditions). The plan can include directives specific to those employees.

Within the operations systems:

Every crisis will cause some amount of absenteeism, reduced supply resources, and decreasing revenues. Your plan can include contingency actions in the event your company experiences any of these business interrupters, to minimize losses and maintain safety.

Perhaps the biggest lesson for today’s employers stemming from the Covid-19 concern is the need to remain flexible in the face of uncertainty. Fortunately for many companies, remote work-from-home opportunities reduce downtime and help to maintain at least a percentage of the company’s regular workflow. If your company can operate that way but doesn’t yet have those capacities, it’s a great time to develop them now, or at least put together the plan to put them in place.

Note, too, that, according to OSHA, for most companies, simply following existing standards will go a long way towards avoiding infection in local workforces.

Seek Help

The federal government is offering assistance, but there are many agencies and entities closer to home that are offering helpful resources during these dark days. Here in the LA area, the City of Pasadena, the Foothill Workforce Development Board, and dozens of agencies are assisting local businesses. Perhaps your enterprise can benefit from their generosity:

You can also find help at the US and CA Small Business Administration, the City of Los Angeles, and the Jewish Free Loan Association are all offering bridge loans to tide companies through the pandemic. (Anyone can qualify!).

There are also groups offering support for specific worker populations, so while they may not support your business, they do support your staff:

bartenders
freelance artists
tipped and services workers
children of restaurant workers
domestic workers, and
people who are struggling with student loan payments

Food and Other Support

Cities and groups are offering free food support, including both food bank opportunities and free take-out options. Los Angeles has a community-sourced list of food and housing supports for all groups, including undocumented people, the LGBTQ community, and the homeless population.

Other services/supports are also available:

CVS Pharmacy and Walgreens are providing free medication deliveries;
Both Los Angeles City and County have put moratoriums on evictions, which will ease the stress on families andbusinesses struggling to pay their rent. Pasadena is also contemplating joining this effort.

How NOT to Pass the Time

Unfortunately, despite the warnings and prohibitions, too many people around the country left the safety of their homes to congregate in large groups at local tourism locations, such as beaches and parks. Without work or school on the calendar, taking that sort of break sounds like a fine idea. However, those crowds create the exact type of threat that the “Be Safe at Home” proclamation is designed to avoid: easy and swift virus transmission through close human contact.

If you have closed your company or you have limited your business hours and relieved your workers of their shifts, it is appropriate for you also to suggest that they actually stay home and not wander the community during these difficult times. The critical thing to remember is that the Covid-19 pandemic will subside, and work will return to its ‘new’ normal (for most businesses), and you will need your trained and experienced workforce ready to return to work as soon as that opportunity gets the green light.

No matter what, the Covid-19 pandemic has already changed how America works. Use this opportunity to limit your company’s exposure to the current crisis and be prepared for the next one. Then take a breath and enjoy the enforced downtime; it’ll do you, your family, and your organization a world of good.

The Future of Work After COVID-19

Pam Sornson, JD on April 19, 2020

The COVID-19 concern has already disrupted thousands of companies and millions of lives in California. In the short-term, that means many workers are now seeking unemployment insurance (UI) as work stops while the country struggles to contain the pandemic. In the mid-term, getting back to a ‘new normal’ means adopting new processes and procedures in some or all of our work-related activities. In the long-term, the COVID-19 virus will almost certainly usher in a new way of working in general, demand new ways of performing traditional labor and services, and compel the development of a more complex and agile workforce.

The Short-Term View is … Distressing

For workers, it’s been a challenging past few weeks, with millions losing their jobs. In California, as of April 9, the state’s Employment Development Department (EDD) had processed approximately 2.3 million Unemployment Insurance (UI) claims over the previous four weeks; in just the one week ending April 4, the EDD processed over 925,000 individual claims.

In response, the state is working with the federal government to implement the opportunities contained in the new “Corona Aid, Relief and Economic Security” Act (CARES Act). That Act provides a new 13-week extension of regular unemployment benefits and a new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which offers unemployment support for workers who don’t usually qualify for unemployment benefits, such as the self-employed. The state also has several services available to help workers access benefits and obtain other assistance, including directions to set up unemployment insurance accounts, and the contacts for community resources available for food, housing, and transportation concerns.

The coronavirus is also impacting employers by forcing them to make decisions without the opportunity to comply with state law. Consequently, the Governor has temporarily suspended the 60-day notice requirement for those who’ve had to lay off or terminate their whole staff because of the pandemic. Companies can also request a 60-day extension to file payroll taxes (note the virus as the reason for submitting the extension request) and may be able to find additional financial support through local workforce development boards. Not all rules are suspended, however, and companies are still required to follow most of the protections in place for workers who lose their jobs.

The Mid-Term View is … Chaotic

Because of the virus, the vast majority of workers who still have their jobs are now encouraged to or are actually Working From Home (WFH) – 88%, according to Gartner. The shift has had an enormous impact on business and industry and is revealing where societal systems are weak, and where they are surprisingly strong.

Those companies that can transition their workforce into a ‘distributed’ resource are the most likely to hold their ground during the crisis, but the change isn’t without challenge. The capacities of home-based technology are rarely comparable to those of work-based systems, especially when it comes to security concerns. Workers may require additional training to ensure they are capturing the full nuance of their new ‘virtual’ job expectations. The company may have to invest in additional technology resources to ensure the WFH requirement doesn’t unnecessarily erode its capabilities or expose new vulnerabilities.

The employment realities are dire in those industries that are not compatible with a WFH initiative. Thousands of businesses that require face-to-face interactions with customers have closed, including retailers, restaurants, and service providers. For many of those establishments, the closures will be permanent. When the COVID-19 crisis subsides (which it will), the return to work will be equally chaotic, as corporate leaders take stock of their legacy systems and retool their organizations to be more flexible in the face of future, similar events.

The Long-term View is … Optimistic

As with every crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic also provides an opportunity to seek a fresh perspective on foundational corporate operations. With a few exceptions, ‘business as usual’ simply won’t exist when the company doors are open again and those legacy parameters won’t be returning. The situation can provide today’s business leaders with lessons arising from the fall-out of COVID-19, and how they might reframe their strategizing to both capture new opportunities while protecting against a similar disaster in the future.

Rethinking Fundamentals

Even if most companies were already utilizing technology to manage a percentage of their operational capacity, the COVID-19 concern escalated that demand, as well as the organization’s reliance on it. Technology was able to provide the connection between business+worker+customer that the virus had eliminated. It’s reasonable to assume, then, that that new symbiosis – the new ‘virtual venture’ – is also the new foundation for future operational success. Business leaders can now assess the core elements of their company to determine how they can improve its productivity from that newly empowered digital perspective.

Revising Systems for Future Success

Many industries have already adapted to a temporary system overhaul as their participants scrambled to manage their COVID-19 experience. Looking forward, the vulnerabilities revealed in that scramble remain but can be used to direct remedial efforts:

Supply chains took a significant hit from the virus, and many businesses lost their capacity to maintain continuity as parts, materials, and other resources went missing.

Fundamental business intelligence was lost, too, as connections were dropped when workers went home, or contracted partners were shuttered.

Financial management also churned through the pandemic. Some companies lost access to needed revenues, while others struggled to manage a surge in transactions as consumers connected through digital portals.

Understanding how these disruptions impacted the organization in the short term can help direct its efforts to avoid those disruptions in the long run.

Supporting Concerned Consumers

At the heart of every company is its relationship with its customers, and those consumers are now very aware that even casual interactions can pose serious health threats. For strictly online companies, face-to-face interactions are unnecessary, and consumer confidence in those systems probably won’t change. Those companies that do interact either face-to-face or through product shipments should be working to regain their customer’s trust and confidence. Actively demonstrating and talking about the actions they’ve taken/are taking to mitigate that risk will assure their consumers that they are taking the concern seriously and managing it appropriately.

Re-envisioning the Developing Workforce

It’s almost certain that the COVID-19 pandemic will impact the culture of virtually every company, and leaders can assess those cultural lessons to build a more robust, agile, and productive workforce. At the least, now is an opportune time to celebrate the value of employees, regardless of the nature of the business. Those who work from home assumed that obligation and continue to provide valuable effort while distanced from colleagues. Those who were laid off were obviously the foundation upon which the business was built. Now is an excellent time to actively recognize both employee classes for the value they offered – and will continue to offer – their employers.

Looking ahead, the new phrase describing tomorrow’s labor population is ‘elastic digital workforce,‘ a workforce that can quickly and nimbly adapt to social, technical, and environmental changes. These workers are now comfortable with working from home and may provide better service because they have that option. The opportunity to maintain a ‘distributed workforce’ can also save money for the organization, if it doesn’t need to provide a brick-and-mortar office site for its staff. Further, as the average age of the workforce drops (by 2025, three in four of all workers will be under the age of 50), so does the definition of the word, ‘work.’ For these generations, the fluidity of a work-life balance is as important as the pay rate. The newly agile enterprise will recognize that fact and provide responsive accommodations that will attract and keep the best talent on their rosters. Businesses that can adapt their practices to harness the possibility of this new, fluid labor force should see an opportunity to thrive long into the future.

The COVID-19 crisis continues to evolve, and how society will look in its aftermath remains to be seen. However, it is already compelling significant changes in how the world works. Companies that seek out and learn from those changes can position themselves to be ahead of the curve and prepared to commence operations when the crisis passes.

The Economic and Workforce Development department at Pasadena City College is tracking the changes that are occurring in the businesses and industries that make up its community. The School is looking forward to partnering with each of its corporate neighbors to provide the workforce they need to tackle tomorrow’s challenges.

Your beloved 4-day workweek would exclude half the American workforce

Pam Sornson, JD on November 21, 2019

There was just one problem, says elementary-school teacher Kallie Leyba: “Teachers can’t afford to ski.”

Colorado teachers like Leyba say they already work longer than 40 hours to get paperwork done, on top of receiving among the lowest statewide educator pay. Colorado’s shorter workweek hasn’t helped these major issues, says Leyba, who serves as president of the state’s American Federation of Teachers branch.

As the conversation around fewer work hours gets more traction, experts say at least three segments of the workforce — low-wage workers, teachers, and nurses — could be excluded from the benefits that a shorter workweek provides.

Teachers and nurses represent 6 million people; workers earning less than $15 represent 65 million people. Together, that’s nearly half the labor market.

“Very often when we think about life conflict and over work we have a vision of white-collar workers in mind,” says Daniel Schneider, a researcher at the Shift Project at the University of California at Berkeley. “It’s super important we bring in hourly workers into the conversation.”

As a whole, American workers have some of the worst work-life balance worldwide.

Workers in the US notoriously take less vacation and spend more time at work than employees in other developed countries, and the government doesn’t mandate guaranteed time off.

The lack of work-life balance could be contributing to a mental-health crisis. Over half of employees say their job is negatively affecting their mental health.

But burnout looks different for different workers. Research finds people who work irregular hours or the night shift have a 33% greater risk of experiencing depression on average. That’s why blue-collar workers, like construction workers and paramedics, have higher rates of suicide and depression than the general population.

Domestic workers — think house cleaners and nannies — typically work outside the 9-to-5 workday entirely, sometimes working 24/7, as in the case of live-in nannies. They get paid just $11 an hour, on average, meaning a shorter workweek “won’t cut it for them,” says Julie Kashen, senior policy adviser at the National Domestic Workers Alliance.

“It’s hard to even think about [shorter workweeks] without thinking about the need to increase wages and improve working conditions,” Kashen tells Business Insider.

Along with better work-life balance to prevent burnout, shorter workweeks might increase productivity.

Microsoft, for instance, found that reducing the workweek by one day led to a 40% boost in productivity. A buzzy Wall Street Journal article last month highlighted how employees at a German company got the same amount of work done after cutting three hours in a workday.

Yet the reality for low-wage workers is that they are already being worked to optimal productivity. Scheduling algorithms, such as Kronos, use AI to devise worker shifts around when to best meet a store’s demand. Companies increased use in these scheduling algorithms in the past decade, according to Adrian Haro, CEO of The Workers Lab.

The issue, however, with scheduling technology is that it gives little forewarning to hourly workers on what their daily schedules will look like. As many as 60% of hourly workers get less than two weeks’ notice of changes to their schedule, according to the University of California at Berkeley’s Shift Project.

Schneider, a researcher at the Shift Project, says hourly employees want to work more hours outside of just what these algorithms decide for them.

“The problem is, we do see people working a less-than-40-hour week, but they don’t like it. They want more hours because they’re paid hourly and not very much,” Schneider told Business Insider. “For these workers, there’s a clear time-money trade-off.”

For nearly half of workers, solutions for better work-life balance include higher pay, better staffing, and more fixed schedules — not a shorter workweek.

Leyba said that, as with teachers, nurses are often overworked. A recent report as many as half of nurses and doctors suffer from burnout.

Yet the burnout stems not from time on the job but the quality of work.

Many nurse advocates say working with too many patients is the root of the issue, and groups like Nurses Take DC and SEIU121RNhave lobbied for safer nurse-to-patient staffing ratios. So far, only California caps the number of patients a nurse can have at once, despite research that suggests fewer patients lead to higher-quality patient care.

Similarly, the National Union of Teachers found teachers with larger class sizes work the longest hours. Many teachers have gone on strike over the last few years, most recently in Chicago, protesting increasing class sizes and dwindling pay.

In the case of low-wage, hourly workers, a bill to give people better notice of schedules just got reintroduced into Congress by presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday.

Most experts agree a discussion around shorter workweeks is a good start, as it suggests — but Kashen says non-white-collar workers must be at the center of this discussion.

“White-collar workers are able to have a different conversation because they have more agency in the workplace, and they also have more resources and higher wages,” Kashen says. “If we can improve working conditions for the most vulnerable then that will really help everyone.”

Creating Success Stories One Student at a Time

Pam Sornson, JD on October 22, 2019

Located on the main campus just west of the quad, the Robert G. Freeman Center for Career and Completion offers a variety of workforce services, all conveniently housed under one roof. Established through a generous donation from philanthropists Molly Munger and Steve English, the newly renovated and expanded venue is organized around an open, welcoming community space set-up to facilitate interaction between students and staff.

Open to All

As Sharis Davoodi, Interim Director, noted, “The Freeman Center project provides a friendly, user-focused destination for career guidance while playing a pivotal role in promoting a more connected campus community.”
Bathed in natural light from multiple, north-facing windows, the facility offers an inviting, one-stop-shop for workforce exploration and preparation. With its 15 permanent, temporary, and rotating team members, the Center boasts a dedicated staff of counselors, advisors, and interns, all ready to assist students as they build a solid foundation for their futures. “Our job is to help students find their focus and become workforce-ready,” Davoodi says, “that’s why we offer so many different services.”

Resources for Students

And students certainly have options. They can schedule in-person meetings with counselors, access the online job board, which lists open internships and employment opportunities, or they can simply sign-up for a workshop.
“In just our first six months of operation, we’ve held over 95 workshops,” confirms Davoodi, enumerating recent offerings like Career Development, Networking, Interviewing and Resume Building.

“There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’,” she insists, “because every student who walks in here has unique needs that we want to address. Some are looking to choose a major, others a career, and still others want an internship or a seasonal job. Most are also here to learn how to write a resume or prepare for an interview.”

Just as there is no typical student need, there is no typical student persona either. As Davoodi points out: “we help students from all walks of life, everyone from veterans to the disabled, or those looking to re-enter the workforce after an extended absence, like single moms or the formerly incarcerated.”

Recalling one recent success story, Davoodi detailed the dilemma facing a stay-at-home mom who was ready to go back to work but was worried about the employment gap on her resume. “We helped her fill it in with all the volunteer work she had done plus other activities relevant to her career track.” With a newly revised and revamped resume in hand, it wasn’t long after that that the single-mom landed her first real job offer in more than a decade.

Every Student is Unique

Since every case is unique, center staffers make a point of first conducting a comprehensive online assessment to identify student likes and dislikes, interests, and personality traits. With that information, they can better steer students in the right direction, match them to the right career path, and quickly make course corrections, if need be. “We’re here to give students a different perspective on things,” says Davoodi. “We help them build confidence by teaching them how to ask the right questions, so it’s imperative that we get to know who they are from the get-go.”

On top of everything else they do, the staff at the Freeman Center also hosts job fairs where employers can offer real opportunities in real-time, helping hundreds of students find employment within a matter of hours. “Job fairs help students weed out what they don’t want and learn how to zero in on what they’re truly passionate about,” says Davoodi. “Once they find that focus, that excitement, that sparkle in their eye… well, we thrive off of that ‘aha’ moment. That’s what we live for.”

Connecting Workers to Jobs

Pairing talented students with potential employers is, at its core, what the Robert G. Freeman Center is all about: building bridges between the classroom and the local business community. “A 30-minute appointment is all it takes,” Davoodi states proudly. “Give us 30-minutes, and we can help start you on a path into the professional world. That’s our challenge, our mission, and our joy.”

10 Ways To Engage A Mature Workforce

Pam Sornson, JD on September 21, 2019

You can’t have escaped the news that people are both living and working longer, which in turn means the average workforce will consist of a number of mature workers. This in turns brings its own nuances when it comes to engaging your team. That outward bound team building exercise you had planned or the club night session may not (or may – let me not be judgmental here) be successful at motivating your entire workforce. This provides employers with a unique opportunity to get creative when motivating and engaging a more mature and experienced workforce further aiding staff retention. Keep these top 10 engagement ideas in mind:

Capitalize the mature workers’ wealth of knowledge – Create opportunities for mature employees to mentor new or younger team members.
Encourage cross-generational innovation – Each generation brings its own perspective on products and services. Cross-pollinate ideas by utilizing the diversity in your workplace to develop innovative products and services. Remember your workforce demographics can also reflect your customer demographics.
Provide flexible working opportunities – Parental leave requirements are often flipped – many older workers won’t have childcare responsibilities but may still have parents who are living but require care. So making some provision for this can decrease the stress some mature workers experience.
Give genuine feedback and appreciation – If an employee was motivated by feedback and recognition in the past, it doesn’t mean that changes as they age. There is no age limit when it comes to feeling valued. Ensure your recognition programs are respectful and suitable across generations, and always take time to acknowledge everyone’s contributions. Research shows older workers are more motivated to exceed job expectations than younger workers.
Older can often mean wiser – Just being older doesn’t automatically translate to strong leadership, but when you have experienced and valuable older employees who can lead—let them. Support them in sharing their strengths, talents, and leadership skills to others by assigning them special projects and overseeing teams.
Present stimulating challenges – Mature workers have gone through economic downturns, recessions, work place stresses etc. and quite often know how to ride the storms in life. Draw upon their knowledge and maturity by giving them new work situations that will provide job satisfaction.
Always learning, always developing – Mature employees may not necessarily be looking to drive ahead career-wise, but they still want to learn and increase their knowledge base. Don’t count them out, make training available for them to learn new technologies, business processes and stay relevant.
Aim to keep health care benefits relevant and flexible – Vision and hearing problems are more likely to occur in older employees, so keep benefit plans relevant and useful. Remember women can often be facing menopause, so taking simple steps to support them through their transition can make world of difference.
Tap into their network – Mature workers typically have extensive networks that they have built over their careers. There may be opportunities to tap into their networks for recruiting, outreach, or special projects.
Culture shapers – Mature workers often have good old fashioned work ethics, they can help to shape your culture by demonstrating what it means to be productive, loyal, hard-working — and to go above-and-beyond the job description.

With age brings wisdom, and with wisdom brings a skill set that will help any organization thrive. At the end of the day, mature workers are a tremendous help in the workplace, and engaging them requires a culture that embraces all generations.

Do you have ways that older workers have brought outstanding contributions to your workplace? Share your success stories – I would love to hear them!

Community Colleges and the Future of Workforce Development

Pam Sornson, JD on April 2, 2019

Community colleges serve many purposes. For some people, community colleges are thought of as a stepping stone on a path to a four-year college degree. This is especially compelling for individuals who may not have the time, money, or academic scores to initially matriculate into a four-year university. Others may view community colleges as a viable alternative to earn important professional credentials or an associate’s degree. Seniors often look at community colleges for academic enrichment programs, well after they’ve completed their work lives. So in many respects, community colleges are defined differently by those who enroll in them. From remedial studies, to professional certifications, to a path to a bachelor’s degree, to post-career enrichment, community colleges serve a range of needs.

At the recent National College Access Network’s annual conference in Indianapolis, there was some concern that many companies are unable to find qualified job candidates. In fact, in a 2016 survey, 46% of American employers reported difficulty filling positions due to a lack of qualified applicants, but the shortage isn’t just limited to entry or lower-level positions. A Business Roundtable survey found that 94% of CEO’s reported problematic skill gaps for their companies ran the gamut from entry-level to advanced, highly technical positions.

All this got me thinking about community colleges and the roles they play in American life. Community colleges can be great places for people to get skills training that will allow them to get good paying jobs, while also getting the broader, liberal arts education that will help them become successful employees. Technical skills are important, but so are skills in communications, problem solving, critical-thinking and teamwork.

So, why not combine both? Community colleges already have experience teaching technical skills and providing hands-on training for a myriad of job fields. They also provide the basics for a liberal arts education, in preparing students to earn an associate’s degree or transfer to a four-year college.

Businesses have immediate hiring needs and many students have immediate job needs. Both companies and individuals also have longer-term needs. Companies want skilled employees who can manage change and reinvent themselves to accommodate ebbs and flows in their business. Workers want security and an opportunity to grow in their careers.

There is a perfect opportunity here for community colleges and local businesses to band together to create workforce development programs that create skilled workers who also have the “soft” interpersonal skills to keep them relevant and able to adjust to changes longer-term.

One way to potentially think of this is as a modern version of the traditional apprenticeship model with a focus on not only the here and now, but the longer-term as well. Courses that focus on technical skills training and a specific field of knowledge could be combined with programs focused on critical thinking, verbal and written communication and time management. Both sides of the equation need to be mapped to achieve similar goals. They need to equip the student with the essential knowledge they need to join the workforce and excel not only initially, but to have the background to steadily move forward.

To get an expert’s thoughts on the power of workforce development, I spoke with Andre Williams, a Bronx born, African-American business owner and welding instructor, who has spent the last 20 years growing businesses across various construction fields and who has focused his career on helping to foster economic empowerment through tradeswork.

“The supplemental courses afforded students pursuing technical training and certification are vital,” says Williams. “Courses that can accompany technical training are courses like project management, autoCAD training, communication, and blueprint reading and drafting. These courses are not only professionally enriching, but they also empower young men and women without social capital to develop business acumen, strategic communication skills and dynamic networks.”

Like many good ideas, successful implementation involves a cost. For many of these specialty classes, there is expensive but necessary equipment and expert professors that need to be hired. Here there is an opportunity for partnerships between community colleges and companies. Companies can partner with colleges and help them to design the courses and possibly also help them defray costs associated with new outlays for technology or other resources needed. In exchange, students might perform internships at these same companies and once they graduate, they would certainly provide a pool of more highly skilled employees from which to recruit.

Williams agrees that these workforce development programs are they key to developing well-rounded employees. He should know, he’s had the experience firsthand.

“I am a testament to the multi-generational impact access to skilled union employment affords hungry young men and women,” says Williams. “Union employment through the skilled trades have been and remains one of the strongest gateways from poverty to the middle class in the United States. Community-based training and development combine skills training with access to social networks and capital, cultivating the next generation of prepared, diverse young people ready to work and thrive.”

On that note, here’s my list of six things, I believe are necessary to create successful workforce development programs:

Share the upsides. Community colleges offer companies a diverse potential recruitment pool nearby to their operations. Company partnerships offer community colleges an additional level of work preparedness, which underlines why many individuals enroll to begin with.
Focus on motivation. Many students at community colleges already hold full-time or part-time jobs. Some work at multiple jobs during their enrollment. These students have demonstrated their drive and recognize the values of employment skills. Training and mentorship opportunities, even in the absence of formal internships or work-study programs, can plant the seeds for grooming future job candidates.
Benefit from diversity and inclusion. Some companies may have trouble recruiting the diverse workforce they would prefer from existing outreach efforts and recruitment channels. Community colleges can offer a terrific complement to these efforts.
Share technology resources. Many community colleges have well-equipped computer labs and well functioning online platforms for course delivery. Companies may have their own telecommunications protocols. It might be beneficial to audit each organization’s respective resources and design programs that make the best use of the combined technology available between the local community college and partnering business.
Create a leadership pipeline. Identify and reward high performing employees by placing them in a leadership track that offers advanced education, including college-degree attainment, upper-level professional certifications, or management skills. This may require flexible work schedules to align with classroom requirements, but the benefit in terms of employee retention and upskilling should more than compensate. It can also serve as a recruitment incentive for new employees.
Don’t stop learning. Learning is a life-long process. Students may understandably be focused on getting a foothold into the field they choose to pursue. And companies have bottom-line, quarterly results to make. Nonetheless, students should see their longer-term paths as a constant toggle between job opportunities and training and educational enrichment. Ideally, they might both be accomplished within the same organization, but not necessarily. Companies want to retain great employees. But, they may not always have the ability to fully support their educational progression. It’s important to recognize this symbiotic relationship between private businesses and higher education institutions. Both can benefit from working with each other to make transitions as easy as possible for their students/employees. That in essence, defines a successful community college-local employer partnership.

Cybersecurity Workforce Needs to Grow 145% to Close Skills Gap

Pam Sornson, JD on February 26, 2019

A new study from ISC² estimates the current cybersecurity workforce at 2.8 million professionals and estimates that 4.07 professionals will be needed to close the skills gap (4.07 million professionals).

The 2019 (ISC)² Cybersecurity Workforce Study indicates a necessary cybersecurity workforce increase of 145%. In the U.S. market, the current cybersecurity workforce estimate is 804,700 and the shortage of skilled professionals is 498,480, requiring an increase of just 62% to better defend U.S. organizations.

“We’ve been evolving our research approach for 15 years to get to this point today, where we can confidently estimate the current workforce and better understand what it will take as an industry to add enough professionals to protect our critical assets,” said Wesley Simpson, chief operating officer, (ISC)². “Perhaps more importantly, the study provides actionable insights and strategies for building and growing strong cybersecurity teams. Knowing where we stand and the delta that needs to be filled is a powerful step along the pathway to overcoming our industry’s staffing challenges.”

Along with providing the estimates, the study takes a closer look at who cybersecurity professionals are and what motivates them, reveals how organizational security teams are staffed, and outlines data-driven insights into immediate and longer-term methods for building qualified and resilient cybersecurity teams now and in the future.

Among the key findings from the study:

65% of organizations report a shortage of cybersecurity staff; a lack of skilled/experienced cybersecurity personnel is the top job concern among respondents (36%)
Two-thirds (66%) of respondents report that they are either somewhat satisfied (37%) or very satisfied (29%) in their jobs; and 65% intend to work in cybersecurity for their entire careers
30% of survey respondents are women; 23% of whom have security-specific job titles
37% are below the age of 35, and 5% are categorized as Generation Z, under 25 years old
62% of large organizations with more than 500 employees have a CISO; that number drops to 50% among smaller organizations
48% of organizations represented say their security training budgets will increase within the next year
The average North American salary for cybersecurity professionals is $90,000; those holding security certifications have an average salary of $93,000 while those without earn $76,500 on average
59% of cybersecurity professionals are currently pursuing a new security certification or plan to do so within the next year
Just 42% of respondents indicate that they started their careers in cybersecurity; meaning 58% moved into the field from other disciplines
Top recruiting sources outside of the core cybersecurity talent pool include new university graduates (28%), consultants/contractors (27%), other departments within an organization (26%), security/hardware vendors (25%) and career changers (24%)

Strategies for Building Up Cybersecurity Teams

In the face of the growing need to build the workforce and recruit new talent, there are four main strategies outlined in the report. These include (1) highlighting training and professional development opportunities that contribute to career advancement, (2) properly level setting on applicant qualifications to make sure the net is cast as wide as possible for undiscovered talent, (3) attracting new workers such as recent college graduates who have tangential degrees to cybersecurity, or seasoned pros such as consultants and contractors into full-time roles, and (4) strengthening from within by further developing and cross-training existing IT professionals with transferrable skills.

The study shows that cybersecurity and IT professionals are largely satisfied in their careers and optimistic about their futures. But the size of the current workforce still leaves a significant gap between the number of cybersecurity professionals working in the field and the number needed to keep organizations safe.

Employers in need of more workforce-ready technicians

Pam Sornson, JD on February 26, 2019

Demand is high for more local and regional skilled, workforce-ready technicians and Northeastern Junior College believes it can play a substantial role in meeting that need through the expansion of its Applied Technology Campus.

At an informational meeting Tuesday evening, advisory committee members for ATC programs, which include automotive technology, diesel technology, wind technology, welding technology and precision agriculture, were invited to learn more about the expansion project, and also share what their needs are.

Mike Anderson, chair of NJC’s agriculture department and a member of the capital campaign committee for the expansion project, started the meeting asking individuals in attendance what the most important things are that they need in order to grow their business or operation.

Russ Adels, who is in production agriculture, said they need a capable and willing workforce that is willing to stay in the area; right now when the “big city” calls, many workers leave and go there.

“It’s hard work to be in agriculture or a lot of other trade industries, we just need the capable people who are willing to work hard, to put in that sacrifice for a better future, not only for them, but for the rest of the world,” he said.

Welding professionals commented there just aren’t enough people to go out and do the jobs that need to be done and Shawn Seifried, a local electrical contractor, said there is a need to supply electricians with qualified help, that can assist with getting parts and equipment.

“We felt like we’ve got some of that feedback from other members in industry, that there’s a huge demand,” Anderson said, asking attendees if they would agree that “there is not a big enough workforce pool of trained technical skilled folks in the Northeastern Colorado region.”

Business professionals at the meeting agreed that is a fair assessment. Professionals from 21st Century Equipment said they need approximately 30 more workers to be fully staffed at all sites.

Anderson then asked what the issues are that they face in trying to retain employees or if that’s even issue.

“It’s when the big city calls they’re gone, unless they have a reason to be here, family or attachments to this area, the salary, 20 percent more salary, more than that even, that alone will alone will take them away pretty quickly,” Seifried said.

Alan Krier, local contractor and owner of Concrete Specialties, agreed that getting people to stay is a challenge, whether they are concrete finishers, truck drivers or equipment operators. He shared that his company is working on part of West Main St. right now, assisting with construction on the S-curve project, because Parsons Construction Group, the general contractor for the project, thought they could come to Sterling, rent a bunch of equipment and hire a number of local operators to assist with the project, but they found no one.

“It’s really hard to find skilled people,” Krier said.

21st Century professionals said being short staffed, they have plenty of work, but employees don’t always want to put in the extra time and work a longer day.

“It’s not always about the money anymore, there’s been a change in the thought process of these young people coming out, they value their time off, they value a lot of different things that previous generations didn’t. That’s probably one of our biggest challenges with our new younger workforce, is what excites them, what motivates them, what can we do to try and keep them around?” the ag equipment leaders said.

They noted there are some tremendous young people coming into the workforce and they are able to retain some of them, but just because they have a great employee today doesn’t mean that person will be there tomorrow, “their loyalty is not as good as it was in previous generations,” the 21st Century representatives said.

Anderson asked professionals at the meeting if there was a large enough pool of people to train, and resources and time were not an issue, what kind of training they want their employees to have when they first arrive.

Jason Hazlett, director of NJC’s renewable energy department, said for electricians they want to have students working at the same time they’re going to school, which means offering classes at night so that students can work during the day. Seifried said math skills are important, but a mechanical background would be good too and that’s something that could be taught in conjunction with some of the wind technician training.

Welding professionals said more and more workers in that industry need robotics skills, but that’s something not a lot of colleges are teaching; for precision ag, workers need an understanding of the technology itself; Jimmy Atencio, said diesel technology professionals are looking for employees with character, with troubleshooting and critical thinking skills; Layton Peterman, auto technology instructor, said soft skills, diagnostics and critical thinking skills are important for that industry.

NJC vision is to address the growing demand that all of these industries have and teach students the skills these businesses are looking through its expanded Applied Technology Campus. The new campus, which will be expanded from 54,000 square feet to 89,153 square feet, will feature centralized administrative offices; a single, consolidated resource library; a program-agnostic “lounge” area where students can study, eat lunch, socialize and/or collaborate; and a virtual classroom to allow NJC instructors to conduct classes in a polysynchronous format.

With the additional space they plan to add specific programs to addressed projected demand, which includes investing money into the precision ag program and adding skilled trades programs such as electrical and HVAC technician.

NJC anticipates breaking ground on the expansion project in May 2020, and completing phase one of the project by August 2021 and phases two and three by August 2022.

“We’ve simply outgrown our space; we can’t offer these opportunities to more students unless we expand this facility,” Anderson said, adding that “we’re trying to build a facility that we think the community will be proud of, that will help support not only NJC, but local community and all the businesses here that need trained technicians.”

Here’s the good news about building a diverse talent pipeline

Pam Sornson, JD on February 26, 2019

A recent S&P Global study reports that firms with women CEOs and CFOs showed increased profitability in the two years after their appointments—but not for the reasons you might think.

In tracking the performance of 5,825 new executive appointments 24 months after appointment, S&P Global’s Market Intelligence Quantamental Research team found that firms with female CEOs saw a 20% increase in stock-price momentum. Those with female CFOs saw a 6% increase in profitability 8% larger stock returns.

Daniel Sandberg, senior director of the research team, says that, by using natural language processing to analyze the bios of CEOs and CFOs of both genders, researchers found “a common set of characteristics driving success for both male and female executives,” demonstrating that women had experience consistent with the most successful male executives. The report, entitled When Women Lead, Firms Win, refuted ideas from previous studies that said women’s leadership behavior was different than men’s, and that’s why they succeeded.

However, women still remain underrepresented in the C-suite, according to the study. By year-end 2018, the male-to-female ratio for CEOs was 19:1, and it was 6.5:1 for CFOs, which the researchers called a “persisting underrepresentation of females in key executive positions, despite recent advancements.”

The takeaway for HR is that creating a pipeline of top-achieving women leaders in the overall talent pool will reap financial benefits—a strong business case for firms struggling to achieve gender diversity. In fact, the 435 firms with female CFOs were more profitable than others, generating excess profits of $1.8 trillion.

Tagged to a campaign called #ChangePays, the report’s data has been promoted as part of S&P Global’s “Vital Statistics” Corporate Responsibility initiative. Launched in January 2019, the campaign’s goal is to provide hard stats on the benefits of women in the workforce to help global communities thrive.

Dimitra Manis, chief people officer for S&P Global, says the #ChangePays theme came out of the data itself. “We found that adding more women in the workplace would actually add about $5.87 trillion to the global market [capitalization],” she says.

“I don’t think in this day and age that we should be having to convince anybody. It’s a no-brainer. [Adding women to the workplace is] financially beneficial for the company and … is a good business practice,” Manis says.

Supporting gender diversity—as well as diversity across the board—is a matter of getting leadership on board and tying the issue to key performance indicators. Manis notes that the topic is included in the company’s quarterly balanced scorecard to promote accountability and performance. A diverse workforce is also supported in day-to-day operations—through programs and policies around workplace flexibility, increased investment in career development, mentoring, initiatives to broaden talent-acquisition practices, talent-succession and pipeline programs, and more.

Related: Here are 5 reasons gender equality is becoming a reality

“It’s up to us as leaders to emphasize [the data] and utilize it to the benefit of the company and for the benefit of the market and shareholders,” Manis says.

“We have a role to play in elevating the message of gender parity in the workplace,” she adds. “We believe that we can really showcase these insights to increase awareness.”

How San Gabriel Valley Students Scored In Standardized Tests

Pam Sornson, JD on February 26, 2019

ARCADIA, CA — Southern California students continue to make modest gains on state standardized tests, although only half of them met or exceeded the state standard in English and less than half met or exceeded it in math, according to scores released Wednesday by the California Department of Education.

The performance of Los Angeles County and Orange County students on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress tests generally mirrored that of students statewide, according to the department.

The CAASPP tests were administered in the spring to more than 3 million students across the state in grades 3-8 and 11.

Statewide, 22.23 percent exceeded the standard in English, while 28.64 met it, 22.4 nearly met it and 26.73 failed to meet it. In math, 19.69 exceeded the standard, 20.04 met it, 25.41 nearly met it and 34.86 failed to meet it. The statewide scores were all also moderately improved from the previous year.

In Los Angeles County, 21.73 percent of the more than 740,000 students who took the tests exceeded the state standard in English, up from 20.58 percent the previous year. According to the state, 28.48 percent met the standard, up slightly from 28.35 percent last year; while 22.65 percent “nearly” met the standard, down from 22.84 percent last year; and 27.14 percent failed to meet it, down from 28.23 percent last year.

In math, 19.15 percent exceeded the standard, 19.96 met it, 25.42 nearly met it and 35.48 failed to meet it. The percentages from the previous year were 17.66, 19.8, 26.04 and 36.5, respectively.

The Los Angeles Unified School District — the nation’s second-largest — showed across-the-board year-over-year gains, but students continued to lag behind their counterparts across the state. According to state figures, 17.73% of LAUSD students exceeded the standard in English, 26.17% met it, 23.45% nearly met it and 32.65% failed to meet it. In math, 15.08% exceeded the standard, 18.39% met it, 25.83% nearly met it and 40.7% failed to meet it.

In Orange County, 29.82 percent of students exceeded the state standard in English, while 29.66 percent met it, 19.74 percent nearly met it and 20.78 percent failed to meet it. In math, 28.53 percent exceeded the standard, 21.91 percent met it, 23.03 percent nearly met it and 26.54 percent failed to meet it. The figures all reflected slight improvements over the previous year.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond acknowledged the overall improvement, but said he was concerned that gains were less consistent in later grades of 7, 8 and 11, while performance continues to lag among some students of color.

“Disparities between students of color and their white and Asian peers continue from year to year and demonstrate the importance of our priority initiative of closing the achievement gap,” Thurmond said in a statement. “Education equity should mean equity for all students and right now, we are not there. All students should have an equal opportunity to succeed academically and enter the workforce prepared with the needed skills to compete in the industries that drive our state forward.”

Hispanic entrepreneurs more optimistic in business survey

Pam Sornson, JD on February 26, 2019

Hispanic entrepreneurs are feeling better about their businesses and the nation’s economy than other business owners, a new report reveals.

Bank of America’s 2019 Hispanic Small Business Owner Spotlight survey says 51 percent of Hispanic-owned businesses plan to hire more workers this year compared with 26 percent of non-Hispanic owned companies. Moreover, 87 percent of Hispanic businesses plan to expand their operations compared with 67 percent of all other businesses.

ESCO Aerospace Manufacturing in La Puente is one of them. ESCO makes components for Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. And business is picking up.

“I have 12 employees now and we’re looking into starting another shift,” company CEO Yvonne Escobedo said. “That means more people and more equipment. I’ll probably have to bring on another 12 people.”

Escobedo said the Trump administration’s pro-business stance has given her confidence to move her company forward.

“The big thing is the corporate tax break,” she said. “They lowered the corporate tax from 35 percent to 21 percent. That’s the catalyst for everything … it makes you feel comfortable with buying equipment and hiring. They are thinking about the little guy who is trying to succeed.”

Other survey data worth noting:

74 percent of Hispanic-owned businesses expect their revenue to increase this year, compared with 57 percent of non-Hispanic business owners
28 percent of Hispanic-owned businesses intend to apply for a loan, compared with 14 percent of other business owners
68 percent of Hispanic-owned businesses expect the economy to improve over the next 12 months, compared with 54 percent of other companies

Sergio Rivas, small business banking manager for Bank of America’s Los Angeles market, has a theory about the optimism.

“Many of them own newer businesses that haven’t seen the roller coaster kind of economy more established businesses have, so there is more confidence,” he said.

Still, some aren’t taking any chances.

“We dealt with a tortilla manufacturer that was concerned about commodity prices, so they bought up to six months worth of supplies as a hedge against the economy,” Rivas said.

More workers, more equipment

Frank Montes, chairman of the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce and founder and CEO of Inland Body & Paint Center in Fontana, is looking to hire five new employees to augment his current workforce of 19. He also plans to invest $100,000 in new equipment.

“I think our culture has always been optimistic,” he said. “When times get tough in our community we refocus. I’m a strong believer that when something bad happens, you look at how you can turn it around and make it positive.”

Still, Montes admits that California isn’t the easiest place to do business.

“More than 2,000 bills were introduced this year that will somehow impact our businesses,” he said. “If you want to scare small business away from California keep introducing all of these bills. The one thing that scares small business is the unknown.”

Health care costs topped the list of concerns among both Hispanic-owned businesses and others surveyed for the BofA report. Additional concerns included commodity prices, trade tariffs, consumer spending and minimum wage increases.

A tight labor market

Hispanic entrepreneurs are among many other businesses grappling with an ultra-competitive job market that has made it harder to attract and retain talent.

Sixteen percent of Hispanic businesses surveyed said they have lost at least 10 percent of their workforce over the past 12 months while 11 percent of non-Hispanic businesses faced the same problem.

To counteract that trend, Hispanic entrepreneurs are offering a variety of perks to attract job candidates. Fifty-five percent offer flexible hours, 36 percent offer flexible locations, 35 percent offer professional development and 32 percent offer discretionary bonuses, the report said.

Alex Guerrero, chief development officer at Valley Economic Development Center in Sherman Oaks, said his organization helps businesses in underserved communities gain access to technical assistance and loans.

“In the last 12 months, 21 percent of our loans have gone to Hispanics and those companies have created 111 jobs as a result,” he said. “It used to be mainly restaurant owners and manufacturing companies, but now we’re funding loans for dentists, accountants and other professionals.”

Increasing gender diversity in the STEM research workforce

Pam Sornson, JD on February 26, 2019

Women experience substantial, gender-specific barriers that can impede their advancement in research careers. These include unconscious biases that negatively influence the perception of women’s abilities, as well as social and cultural factors like those that lead to an unequal distribution of domestic labor (1, 2). Additionally, sexual and gender-based harassment is a widespread and pernicious impediment to the retention and advancement of women in many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)–related fields (3). Although there is substantial evidence documenting systemic barriers that women face in scientific careers, less is known about how research institutions and funding agencies can best address these problems (see references below and in the supplementary materials). We outline here specific, potentially high-impact policy changes that build upon existing mechanisms for research funding and governance and that can be rapidly implemented to counteract barriers facing women in science. These approaches must be coupled to vigorous and continuous outcomes-based monitoring, so that the most successful strategies can be disseminated and widely implemented. Though our professional focus is primarily academic biomedical research in U.S. institutions, we suggest that some of the approaches that we discuss may be broadly useful across STEM disciplines and outside of academia as well.