The Towards Employment WorkAdvance intervention offered a sector-focused program to help people with low incomes obtain, train, and advance in careers in the manufacturing and health care industries. Towards Employment adapted the standard WorkAdvance services to meet local industry needs and employer requirements while focusing on participants’ long-term career advancement and upward mobility.
During intake, staff thoroughly screened applicants to evaluate their motivation to be in the program and their likelihood of completion, assess their reading and math literacy skills to ensure participants were prepared and qualified for the training and potential occupations, and determine whether they met income eligibility requirements. Applicants at Towards Employment also completed a drug test, criminal background check, and a sector screening questionnaire. Staff refined the screening process based on employer feedback to seek out applicants who were interested in a career in manufacturing. Once accepted into the program, participants received the following core services:
- Work-readiness activities and soft-skills training. Participants completed sector-specific orientations and received coaching to help them develop goals and maintain progress toward their career advancement objectives. Towards Employment staff also assisted participants with developing a résumé and cover letter and addressed transportation barriers. Participants also received training in interview skills and soft skills. Staff also showed them examples of performance reviews to help them understand how employers would evaluate their work once they had found a job.
- Occupational or sectoral training. Participants could receive hands-on occupational skills training and obtain credentials in manufacturing and health care. Participants attended off-site occupational skills training at technical schools or community colleges. Based on participants’ work schedules, Towards Employment staff grouped participants in the training program into cohorts. Participants attended classes on either a full-time or part-time schedule; classes were offered during the evenings, on weekdays, and on weekends.
- Job development and job placement. After participants completed training and certification, job developers helped them identify and secure positions in the health care and manufacturing sectors that participants had prepared for during earlier program activities.
- Employment retention and advancement services. Participants received services to help them maintain and advance in their jobs, which occurred both during training and post-employment, such as coaching on creating advancement goals, instruction on how to negotiate for higher wages, and case management to tackle barriers to retention. Staff developed a follow-up plan to maintain communication with participants and provided them with feedback from employers on their performance.
The initial screening helped Towards Employment identify applicants they believed were most committed and determined to be in the program. Furthermore, staff dedicated substantial time to building rapport with participant by providing coaching and barrier-focused case management. Staff also strategically approached engaging participants and employers by carefully timing their interventions and remaining attuned to employers’ recommendations and feedback. Towards Employment developed relationships with community colleges and private technical schools involved in the intervention, as well as with industry intermediary groups that helped Towards Employment understand the manufacturing industry and connect participants to manufacturing jobs. These partners also helped Towards Employment connect participants with services that were already available in the community. Employers engaged in the WorkAdvance program by providing counseling on curricula and sector trends, serving as guest speakers in career-readiness classes, participating in mock interviews, and hosting visits for participants to their workplace.
Towards Employment changed some program components during implementation. Initially, the intervention focused on placing participants into employment first, then offered them occupational skills training. During the initial implementation, staff also offered career-readiness services for two weeks before participants started their job search. This approach resulted in fewer participants starting or completing the training program than in other WorkAdvance programs that used a training-first model. Towards Employment then changed to a training-first model, which provided career services simultaneously with occupational skills training. The organization gradually changed the occupational skills training courses by replacing the health care patient navigator training programs with more welding occupational training, to respond to industry and employer needs. Moreover, Towards Employment initially contracted intermediary organizations to build relationships with employers and connect WorkAdvance participants with employment opportunities; however, Towards Employment later replaced these intermediaries with partnerships with local hospitals.
Challenges. Towards Employment faced challenges to designing and implementing training and services for both the health care and manufacturing sectors. Implementing services took more time than anticipated, and Towards Employment staff needed considerable technical assistance from MDRC, a non-profit organization, to implement the program successfully. Towards Employment did not have experience operating sector programs that helped place participants into positions above entry level. In addition, program staff were not familiar with the manufacturing sector and experienced a steep learning curve when designing and executing the program. Furthermore, in early 2012, the priorities of Towards Employment’s health care industry association partner changed, which led to its contract being terminated. In fall 2012, Towards Employment added a different health care industry association as a partner, but that relationship also ended.
Staff also had to acclimate to providing services to participants post-employment and needed significant technical assistance in learning how to provide advancement services. Therefore, program participants who enrolled earlier in the study received less robust services than those who joined later. Some participants encountered issues leading them to discontinue the program, such as an unexpected need for more income, work schedule changes, and mental health challenges. In addition, some participants faced significant employment barriers, including unstable housing, pending legal matters and criminal convictions, and long-term unemployment.