There is a thriving educational-workforce transformation movement that is geared toward seamless student transition from educational systems to the work world. Significant parts of this movement are the employers who can simply “Do This One Thing” to support the strategic alliance between businesses and the educational system.
Businesses have heard of 21st century skills and career demands, but have we thought of how “we can do that one thing” to collaborate with educators in the ways to meet this demand? What technical and soft skills do you find lacking in our new hires? How can we reduce new employees’ time to productivity? What positive changes do we want to see in our ready-to-work community that would benefit our businesses’ bottom-line? What actions or changes do we believe are the steps toward attracting that right talent?
Studies show that businesses want new employees to demonstrate the following workplace success skills: professionalism, strong work ethic, good oral and written communication, teamwork and collaboration, critical thinking, and problem-solving.
Businesses collectively can support the momentum in new educational initiatives that focus on these workplace success skills. This support will benefit businesses’ ROI as well as the students’ wholistic wellbeing and success. As employers we determine and define the most essential skills we need from our candidates and thus it is vital “to do that one thing”, to become involved with the student-to-work initiatives that help students learn the importance of these skills.
An important trend in Human Resources is the development of talent. Businesses have a vested interest in starting that talent development early – before students become our employees. It’s up to us to help our education partners be successful in preparing students for college and career. We can work together to ensure that our next generation workforce is prepared for the workplace.
Do This One Thing: Get Involved!
