Making connections

Every employer wants his or her employees to be the best they can be. And as the executive director of the Bucks County Workforce Investment Board, Elizabeth M. Walsh helps both employers and employees get exactly what they want.

Walsh partners with eight state, federal, for-profit and not-for-profit agencies at the Bucks County CareerLink location. A consortium of partners at each Pennsylvania CareerLink location helps people find what they are looking for — whether it is an employee seeking extra training or education, a jobseeker looking for the perfect fit, or an employer searching for the perfect employee.

“It’s a one-stop shop to satisfy all the needs of a jobseeker,” Walsh says. “At the same time, it is also a one-stop shop for employers.”

Smart Business spoke with Walsh about the importance of having an educated, trained work force and how to acquire one of your own.

Why should employers consider using a service such as CareerLink?

First, it’s free. For employers that are struggling, there are a multitude of services available that they can take advantage of.

Funds are available for on-the-job training. Up to 50 percent of an employee’s wages can be paid — by our funds — to ensure that effective training occurs for up to six months with a reimbursement with the employer.

New businesses coming into the county can do studies to help them determine the best site selection and can receive an analysis to determine where they want to pull their population from.

Work force and economic development need to partner effectively, because if you’re going to build a new company, where are you going to get the workers? You can build it, but you need the work force to come.

The Workforce Investment Boards analyze trends such as how far the company will have to reach to get skilled individuals. If individuals in the local work force are not skilled, how can you go about training and educating them in the skills they would need?

What types of testing, training and education are available?

If employers have one opening or 150 openings, they can get prescreening done and have job fairs set up for interviewing or recruitment.

Every location has a job skills assessment system that measures math aptitude, reading for comprehension and locating information as well as some other basic literacy skills you would need on any job. It can also test for personality, fit and talent.

So if you’re looking for a bookkeeper and another company is looking for an accountant, there is assessment testing on-site that can differentiate who is equipped to do well as a bookkeeper or accountant. Even if people have gone through schooling, it helps you make better matches and helps make a better placement.

When individuals come through the system, one of their biggest needs is to get further education. That’s the way to get a skilled work force. A lot of assessment goes into making sure that an individual goes into the most effective training opportunities we can offer them through our partners, like Delaware Valley College.

The assessment vets whether or not it is an effective employer match if it’s for a job or an effective training match if it’s for a long-term educational training opportunity.

How can a business take advantage of these services?

If a company has openings for 30 welders, they can use the service to either provide on-the-job training for the welders or classroom training for the welders. All the training goes through a vetting process through the state, and training has to be for what would be considered a high-demand occupation.

How does the board determine what training and education will be funded?

To be considered a high-demand occupation, there will have to be 75 openings per year for the next five years. The occupation must offer career-laddering opportunities and a family-sustaining wage. In other words, there isn’t training available to become a busboy.

When we invest any dollars, we consider ourselves the Workforce Investment Board, not the Workforce Spending Board. We ensure the investment is not used for opportunities that a) will have no job at the end, or b) didn’t really require training.

The goal is to work with schools to make sure the training will result in a job. Then they apply to the state department of labor to be included on the approved training list. The second route is, if it’s a large company, there are off-the-shelf and customize training opportunities.

Elizabeth M. Walsh is the executive director of the Bucks County Workforce Investment Board. Reach her at (215) 874-2800 or [email protected].