IMPROVING WORKFORCE TRAINING

We must begin planning better education and training tracks for our future industrial workforce. Instead of sending everyone into the same college track, we must recognize that interests, talents and innate skills vary from individual to individual.  It’s that recognition that must guide us.

With that thought in mind, let’s concentrate on the most forgotten members of our population — our emerging, and critically necessary, industrial workforce.

Keith Nosbusch, recently retired Chairman and CEO of Rockwell Automation, has expressed important ideas on the subject of our 21st Century manufacturing workforce:

“ .  .  .  people will be valued for their knowledge; they will be safer; and more highly educated workers will drive sustainability in both their enterprises and their career paths.
 
To rise to the challenge of a global manufacturing marketplace driven by productivity and flexibility, and the need to develop workers able to lead in such an environment, our industrial strategy must address three key attributes of workforce development:  1)  Lifelong Learning; 2) Competency-based, Multi-Media Instruction; and, 3) Partnerships between Learning Centers and Manufacturers.
 
To prepare workers for the technology-infused, high productivity workplaces of advanced manufacturing, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) skills must be a key focus of our nation’s educational system. Employers must invest in job-specific, sustainable training programs to ensure workers can continue to advance with the evolution of new business processes. And, the investment of taxpayer-dollars in workforce development through the Workforce Investment Act and other federal programs must be focused on training to manufacturing skills in demand.
 
Educational pathways in secondary and post-secondary schools must be aligned to the competencies and skills required in the workplace, using tools like the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)-endorsed Manufacturing Skills Certification System, resulting in credentials with real value in the workplace. Technology must infuse education as it has the workplace, and job training programs must continually evolve to accommodate emerging needs, such as the need for more workers with Certified Energy Manager credentials.
Finally, more collaboration and partnerships between manufacturers and our educational institutions are critical to the success of both workers and manufacturers nationwide.  .  .  . “
 

We must accomplish all this if we are going to effectively educate/train our future industrial workforce. 

And, we are going to need that more highly trained workforce in order to maintain our leadership position in manufacturing.

Enjoy your 4th of July long weekend.  More next Wednesday  –  –  –

           — Bill Walton, co-Founder, ITC Learning

               June 28, 2017

           www.itclearning.com/blog/  (Mondays & Wednesdays)

 “THE WORLD RELIES ON THE HANDS OF ITS MEN AND WOMEN”

 

(This is a personal blog.  Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner, jhbillwalton@gmail.com, an independent consultant.  They do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in a professional or personal capacity.)