Overview
Background
The 21st Century Workforce Initiative is a collaborative process to ensure the competitiveness of Utah's workforce in an increasingly connected, dynamic global economy. Commissioned by Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr., the initiative is long-term, data-driven, stakeholder-focused, and overseen by leaders in Utah's education, business and workforce development communities.
Project kick-off
In April 2008, Governor Huntsman appointed a group of leaders in education, business and workforce development to lead the initiative. This group, the Globally Competitive Workforce Steering Committee, met for a kick-off meeting at the Governor's mansion on May 7, 2008 and participated in a press conference the same day to introduce the initiative publicly.
The Hon. William Brock, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senator, and Secretary of Labor, spoke to the steering committee about the need for the United States to increase its global competitiveness. He cited numerous reports and data describing how the U.S. has fallen behind most other countries in high school completion rates, college readiness, and college degrees in science, technology, engineering and math. Secretary Brock is a member of the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce which published the report "Tough Choices or Tough Times," a call for the U.S. to improve its approach to workforce development and thus increase its global competitiveness. An executive summary of that report can be found here. The "Tough Choices" report is an important point of reference for this initiative, but is by no means a blueprint for Utah's process.
At this first kick-off meeting, the steering committee received a briefing on the proposed process for developing 21st century workforce recommendations. The process uses as its main methodology Lean Six Sigma, a data-driven process improvement approach successfully applied across many industries including state education systems. Here is a copy of the PowerPoint presentation given to the steering committee members.
Process
The first phase of the initiative (through September 2008) involves a series of structured discussions on key aspects of workforce development. These discussions, dubbed SMART (Stakeholder-focused, Measure and data-driven, Action-oriented, Responsive to customers, and Time-bounded) Sessions, have been scheduled to address two topics each during four sessions, as follows:
- June 16-20, 2008 Session 1: Organizational Alignment and Finance
- July 14-17, 2008 Session 2: Teaching and Education Management
- August 18-21, 2008 Session 3: Workforce and Economic Development and Preventing Dropouts from High School through Higher Education
- September 15-18, 2008 Session 4: Early Childhood Education and Curriculum
Each member of the steering committee was asked to nominate subject matter experts to participate in these sessions. Here is a list of the participants. During each session, participants follow a rigorous, facilitated process to identify opportunities for improving major aspects of our system of workforce development. The discussion generally develops around the following activities:
- Illustrate the current process (workforce development financing,
teaching assessment, adult retraining, etc.).
Participants divide into groups and map each step of their current process from a systemic perspective, working toward a common understanding of the relationships involved. Data on current outputs and outcomes (collected prior to the session) are tied to each process. Ample amounts of butcher paper, markers and sticky pads support the discussion and allow for rework and fine-tuning of the illustration. - Identify bottlenecks, non-value activities or areas of pain or
frustration in the current process.
Participants are given a set of colored adhesive dots and asked to place them on the steps of the current process that are most troublesome or least valuable from a customer's perspective. Session facilitators press participants for evidence to support their assessments. Opinions or conjecture are discouraged. Greater weight is given to areas where participants' observations are backed by customer feedback, documented outcomes or other actual data. As participants step back and view the areas where the most dots finally cluster, there is often a collective sense of discovery and increased unity among participants. These areas become topics for discussion by the entire group, which then categorizes and ranks these "pain points" by impact and relevance. - Identify potential solutions or innovations to address systemic
weaknesses.
Prior to this point in the discussion, participants have focused solely on the current process. Now they cover the walls of their meeting rooms with sticky notes describing ideas to resolve the areas of frustration previously identified. Participants then group their ideas into categories and rank them by feasibility and potential impact. Considerable discussion occurs among participants in determining the most practical, meaningful resolutions to complex problems. The solutions discussed incorporate all of the perspectives, functional areas and diverse disciplines represented by the group. - Develop recommendations for project plans to test and implement
potential solutions.
Participants form project teams for each set of recommended solutions and develop project plans using the Lean Six Sigma DMAIC model (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control). Each team's initial efforts usually focus on gathering sufficient data to develop a complete project plan with thoroughly defined objectives.
All of these steps occur during the weeklong SMART Session. On the final day of the session, participants present to the steering committee their recommendations and project plans.
Expected results
This is a long-term collaborative process. We expect some early opportunities to demonstrate progress and set the stage for sustained improvement. We will see a few results within months. Most of this initiative's success, however, will come as we work together over time to refine the way we develop Utah's workforce. We expect the initiative to realize its greatest potential during the next 5-10 years.
It will require partnership among public and higher education and the business community. It will require support from the public and the legislature. It will require patience, commitment and ongoing communication of the initiative's status.
