Garden State Employment and Training Association Conference September 15, 2011

1. Garden State Employment and Training Association Conference September 15, 2011 • Business Services – Where Are We Now? • Joseph Dombrowski • Acting Assistant Director • Workforce Field Services • NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development • joseph.dombrowski@dol.state.nj.us • 609-777-1042

2. Garden State Employment and Training Association Conference September 15, 2011 Jobs4Jersey Employer Portal jobs4jersey.com provides employers and job-seekers with a straightforward, easy to navigate portal focused on the labor exchange function. The job-seeker portal is powered by the On Ramp application which helps job-seekers create or improve their resume. When a robust resume has been created or enhanced using the dynamic tool, On Ramp matches job-seekers to appropriate jobs and keeps them abreast of new opportunities via email as the new opportunities develop. The employer portal will be made available and promoted this fall.

3. Garden State Employment and Training Association Conference September 15, 2011 Standard Versus Premium Business Services Most job orders will be managed by employers through our self-service employer portal. When an employer relationship goes beyond standard services and involves staff conducting a needs assessment, taking job orders, pre-screening candidates, scheduling positive recruitments, facilitating hiring incentives such as an OJT contract or training grant, we categorize this as premium services.

4. Garden State Employment and Training Association Conference September 15, 2011 Swim Lanes – Make Sure Everyone Knows Their Role and that the Handoffs Work • ID companies for business outreach • Refer companies to business outreach staff • Contact company to promote services/arrange a needs consultation • Close the sale (get a job order) • Refer job order to partners • ID suitable candidates for referral • Refer prescreened candidates • Prepare candidates for the demands of business • Attach incentives • Follow up with employer

5. Garden State Employment and Training Association Conference September 15, 2011 Potential Process Breakdowns • No direction on what companies/industries to target • Uninformed direction (strategic companies, companies not hiring, don’t have pipeline of workers with the right skills, low pay/no career ladder) • No referrals • Bad referrals • Too many referrals • No follow up • Incentive connection not made (OJTs, WOTC, CT) • No ownership established for order fulfillment

6. Garden State Employment and Training Association Conference September 15, 2011 Use History to Help Guide Business Outreach Identify the types of companies that you have worked successfully with in the past (i.e. industry, size, close to public transportation, anchor companies). Think about your job-seeking customers and the types of jobs that would be appropriate to them (i.e. veterans may be naturally good fits in advanced manufacturing, TLD, security, IT, welfare recipients may be naturally good fits in healthcare and retail, ex-offenders may be naturally good fits in automotive repair, TLD, and manufacturing). Look at the industries that have naturally clustered in your region. Identify emerging industries such as alternative energy, biotechnology, and nanotechnology. Focus on successes and cut your losses where you haven’t gotten results. Looking for jobs leading to self-sufficiency and/or career ladders may guide business outreach efforts.

7. Garden State Employment and Training Association Conference September 15, 2011 Small Team Fulfillment Model Job order taker and job candidate referral staff should meet every Friday afternoon to go over the status of open job orders. Look at all open job orders 7 days old to 3 months old. Discuss whether the needs of the employer are being met. Establish action plan for job orders with no referrals or no information on hires.

8. Garden State Employment and Training Association Conference September 15, 2011 Two Approaches for Filling Job Orders Employer-focused – manage job orders in your WIB area. Job-seeker focused – refer your job seekers to openings anywhere. The reality is that most offices employ a hybrid method depending on the immediate needs or circumstances.

9. Garden State Employment and Training Association Conference September 15, 2011 Controlling Referrals – An Alternative To Suppressing the Job Order Ensuring the quality of referrals on an open job order can be accomplished by using the name of a One-Stop staff person on the job order instead of the company name or contact person. Interested candidates will indicate their interest to a designated One-Stop staff who can prescreen the candidates and refer the best to the employer for consideration. The problem with a suppressed job order is that One-Stop staff can still see and make referrals on it without the job order taker’s knowledge and qualified job-seekers won’t have access to it.

10. Garden State Employment and Training Association Conference September 15, 2011 The Single Point of Contact Usually the staff who took the job order should retain ownership of the employer relationship even if other team members are called upon to identify referralsor write an OJT contract.

11. Garden State Employment and Training Association Conference September 15, 2011 Ideas for Measuring the Success of Business Outreach Efforts Job orders OJTs Job fill rate Referrals Repeat customers Layoff aversion Employer referrals between partner agencies

12. Garden State Employment and Training Association Conference September 15, 2011 Job Order Fill Rate Use a 3 month rolling job order report to calculate the job order fill rate. Job order fill rate = Hires Job openings While the higher the better, a 100% goal is probably not realistic. Seasonal factors, employers finding workers on their own, etc. will prevent a 100% fill rate. Run with the number to gain a historical perspective before setting a target.

13. Garden State Employment and Training Association Conference September 15, 2011 Job Order Referral Rate Use a 3 month rolling job order report to calculate the job order referral rate Job order referral rate = Referrals Hires You may think the higher the better, but you need to work to achieve the sweet spot. You can achieve the sweet spot by improving the quality of the match, ensuring that referrals actually are interested and do apply, and making sure that job orders don’t slip through the cracks without any referrals.

14. Garden State Employment and Training Association Conference September 15, 2011 Partnerships Business Development Initiative Lt. Governor’s Business Action Center Wagner-Peyser Industry Affiliation Groups (BioNJ, NJBIA, HINJ) REDI Talent Development Network

15. Garden State Employment and Training Association Conference September 15, 2011 Talent Development Networks The goal of the “Talent Networks” is to connect businesses in six key industries with educational institutions, workforce development agencies, government and community groups to identify the skills and training Garden State employers require in prospective employees to remain competitive in the global market. By being trained in those skills, students and job-seekers will be able to find long-term jobs in New Jersey and help to boost the state’s economy.

16. Garden State Employment and Training Association Conference September 15, 2011 Talent Development Networks The six “Talent Networks” and the organizations contracted to organize them include: Transportation, Logistics, and Distribution (Rutgers University): Warehousing, trucking, wholesale trade companies, and the movement of goods Life Sciences (BioNJ): Biotechnology, life-science firms, developing medical devices. High paying, talent-driven jobs that require specialized skills Advanced Manufacturing (New Jersey Institute of Technology): The smaller, leaner, high-tech, specialty manufacturers Financial Services (Newark Alliance): From banks and mortgage firms to CPAs and programming operations Health Care (Rutgers University): Growing even at the height of the recession. Wide range of jobs, from aides to people collecting data Technology and Entrepreneurship (New Jersey Technology Council): Wide assortment of businesses, from start-up companies to telecommunication firms

17. Garden State Employment and Training Association Conference September 15, 2011 Talent Development Network Contacts Inform the One-Stop System, make employer connections, assist job-seekers, train staff, participate in job fairs and Rapid Response events

18. Garden State Employment and Training Association Conference September 15, 2011 Work Opportunity Tax Credit Online The paper-based system has been replaced with an online application with the potential to offer a 48 hour turnaround to employers or their consultants submitting applications for certification. Reducing the paper backlog currently estimated at 30,000 applications is high on the list of priorities for LWD and additional staff have been detailed to the unit to assist. The online application is available at http://wotcnj.dol.state.nj.us.

19. Garden State Employment and Training Association Conference September 15, 2011 Workfirst OJT System Making the OJT process more transparent and faster is an ongoing challenge. Piggy-backing on the Workfirst online OJT approval system with different funding sources will provide outreach staff the ability to write their own OJT contracts in as little as 5 minutes.

20. Garden State Employment and Training Association Conference September 15, 2011 Technology Tools Salesforce is used by the Business Action Center and the NJ Economic Development Authority to manage client relationships. Customization for use by workforce development professionals will help improve customer service and provide a straightforward management information system to guide decision making.

21. Garden State Employment and Training Association Conference September 15, 2011 Professional Development • Career T.E.A.M. Job Developer Certification training in April-May 2011 resulted in 80 plus certified job developers among state, county and One-Stop partners. A second round concludes today in New Brunswick. • GSETA sponsored Dynamic Works Business and Employer Services Certification geared to job developers– May 2011 • Project Management Training (March – June 2011) for project leaders at state and county level

22. Garden State Employment and Training Association Conference September 15, 2011 Questions