Resources for Good Works

Share with the Lord’s people who are in need.

Be inventive in hospitality.

(Romans 12:13)

I had one of those weeks where I submitted a monthly report that was underwhelming for me to publish. We had a lot of meetings last month that produced a lot of narratives. When I read over the document, there were a lot of “fixin’ to’s,” but very few, if any, quantifiable metrics. To know me is to know that I am process and goal driven. I must be able to report measurable progress of my works and activities over time. My immediate prayer: while working in the workforce readiness environment, please help me to never lose focus on the necessity to deliver a corporate solution.

In full disclosure, I did not come to that prayer request on my own. Shortly after pressing the send button to forward the progress report, I participated in a conference call. The topic of discussion was learning more of the best practices of other career readiness and workforce development program successes through the deployment of employer resource networks (ERN).

The primary goal of an ERN is to provide a cost-effective solution to reduce turnover and to improve productivity for the employers. The program especially targets the workforce who are employed, or underemployed, where life situations happen that mean the difference between getting to or staying at work, versus having to miss a day of work to resolve potential crises. ERNs are not benevolent programs or gifts. The model is designed so that “success coaches” are available in the workplace to guide employees to resources so that they do not have to miss work. The employer benefits by proactively investing in an on-site person who knows the local community services, preventing the supervisor or human resources staff from dealing with these matters. My take-away from the meeting was that productivity programs like ERNs must be treated like corporate initiatives, where the potential benefactors, employers, must pay-to-play and expect a measurable return on investment. To learn more about successful regional employer resource networks, visit http://schenectadyworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/West-Michigan-Team-ERN-Overview.pdf or http://www.ern-ny.com/.

On my drive home, I thought about the activities that we are engaged in and asked myself to answer the questions I challenge our team to consider everyday: What product or service do we provide that our customers/clients/partners are willing to pay a subscription or service fee to receive? How do we quantify that value? If we cannot clearly articulate measurable solutions in a monthly progress report, what good are we…? Our September time resources will be allocated differently and more effectively.

A couple of weeks ago, I asked for examples of what other communities are doing to meet the needs of job seekers that address generational deficits in finding gainful employment. The ERN model is a purposed solution for removing barriers that impact an employers’ productivity and profitability. Could you get the corporations in your community to buy into and deploy a proven pay-to-play resource? Feel free to comment or send me an email to latanyua.robinson@gmail.com.If you like this post and want to catch up on some of my previous discussions, please visit the full Purposed Work blog at http://ltr-latrobe-mfg.blogspot.com/.