MONTHLY HR TIPS ...
EDUCATING OUR WORKFORCE ..
We're all thinking about back to school. What is the current status of educating our "up and coming" business leaders and workforce to meet the challenges of the 21st century? Are there trends and concerns that you should be addressing now to help your business succeed in the next 10 years?
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Concerns:
According to the Business Roundtable Task Force, during the past few decades, the formal educational attainment and basic academic skills of young adults have become increasingly important determinants of their labor market success. Lifetime earnings advantages of more highly educated men and women have risen considerably since the mid 1970s. Those young adults who fail to complete high school are in the most precarious economic position, facing a possibly bleak economic and social future.
The best estimates indicate that somewhere between 25 and 30 percent of America’s teenagers, including recent immigrants, fail to graduate from high school with a regular high school diploma and that the incidence of such dropout problems has not diminished over the past 20 years. High school dropout problems tend to be more severe among men than among women in both the nation and in every state and large public school district. These dropout problems also vary widely across states and large public school districts and are greater among Blacks and Hispanics than among Whites. Many of the nation’s large central cities are confronted with particularly acute high school dropout problems. The high influx of young adult immigrants with limited formal schooling from their own countries has exacerbated the dropout problems of the nation.
The high incidence of dropout problems among young men is a major factor contributing to below average rates of college attendance and degree attainment among them. To reduce the large and growing educational gaps between the nation’s young men and women, a much higher fraction of men must graduate high school and acquire a solid base of core academic and critical thinking skills while in high school. There is a hidden dropout crisis in America’s high schools that must be immediately acknowledged and addressed by national, state, and local policymakers if the nation is to achieve important educational and economic goals in the twentyfirst century. The time for action is now!
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Things we can do ..
Are individual companies dedicating enough resources for the education of their work force in order to mitigate some of this problem?
There are a multitude of options available to the employer and employee in order to increase knowledge; graduate degree programs, continuing education courses, specific industry training, seminars, conferences, short courses, books, magazines, blogs, the Internet, mentoring and travel.
How many formal or informal programs are in place at your workplace for employees to increase their knowledge?
Formal programs might include subsidies, grants, loans or co-participation in the employees education costs. They might be specific courses run by consultants or experts, focused on improving specific skills.
Formal programs also include the participation in seminars, workshops, short-courses and other short term events. They provide opportunities for networking, information, motivation and even a “breath of fresh air” from day to day operations.
How much money and time are set aside in your business for these education events yearly? Why?
Who determines which events are important, and is there an evaluation as to which events provided valuable material and concrete results to the company?
Mentoring programs also provide opportunities to pass on knowledge, explore and share ideas in a “non hostile environment” and create valuable internal networks. Informal programs for learning would include providing books or magazine subscriptions to industry press, monitoring of industry blogs and the Internet for news and trends, attendance at trade shows and business travel. These provide opportunities to receive new information, create dialogue, learn about trends and tendencies that are or will influence the business.
After any “educational” event, is there a formal feedback program that asks the employee “how can we implement this in our company” _______________________________________________________
Globally ..
United States remains atop the "knowledge economy," one that uses information to produce economic benefits. But, some experts say, "education's contribution to that economy is weakening, and we ought to be worrying."
The report bases its conclusions about achievement mainly on international test scores released last December. They show that compared with their peers in Europe, Asia and elsewhere, 15-year-olds in the United States are below average in applying math skills to real-life tasks.
Among adults age 25 to 34, the U.S. is ninth among industrialized nations in the share of its population that has at least a high school degree. In the same age group, the United States ranks seventh, with Belgium, in the share of people who hold a college degree.
By both measures, the United States was first in the world as recently as 20 years ago, said Barry McGaw, director of education for the Organization for Cooperation and Development.
Given what the United States spends on education, its relatively low student achievement through high school shows its school system is "clearly inefficient," McGaw said.
In all levels of education, the United States spends $11,152 per student. That's the second highest amount, behind the $11,334 spent by Switzerland.
"The very best schools in the U.S. are extraordinary," McGaw said. "But the big concern in the U.S. is the diversity of quality of institutions — and the fact that expectations haven't been set high enough."
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We hope you truly enjoy the end to your Summer!!
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Proud to be your Staffing Partner
The Staff at the Lone Tree office of Excel Personnel
303.350.2600
www.excelpersonnel.com
