301-975-5020
mfg@nist.gov
100 Bureau Drive, M/S 4800
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-4800
Next Generation Strategy
Workforce
Innovation and growth are at the core of what MEP does, and manufacturers who innovate are far more successful than those who don’t. The manufacturing workforce – so critical to manufacturing innovation – is the basic, yet decisive, building block for the successful implementation of all Next Generation Strategies. To be competitive, America’s small manufacturers must integrate their workforce strategies with their business goals, develop and manage workforce skills and employee training, streamline recruitment efforts, reduce turnover, support performance, and plan for internal career mobility and succession in their entire employee population. So, if manufacturers are to engineer innovation in their businesses, workforce development investments will need to evolve from a one-off transactional type of activity to a business strategy integrated with other critical business strategies.
Today, all manufacturing employees need to have soft skills as well as technical skills, including emotional intelligence, communication skills, strength in cognition and analysis, business acumen, and creative problem-solving skills. Supervisors are leaders, not just technicians, and are required to be mentors, not simply bosses. Front-line workers can be valued for their ideas, not just their output and, these days, as productivity reaches its highest levels ever, should be recognized for their intrinsic value – something most often seen (mistakenly) as intangible and unquantifiable.
MEP centers partner with manufacturers to ensure that their access to talent, and to training and educational resources, is not limited by a manufacturer’s size. MEP centers can help manufacturers with business strategies that maximize the impact of their workforce investments, and, on behalf of their manufacturing clients, leverage their own partnerships at the local, regional, state and federal levels to bring the most current thinking, policies, techniques, and technology to manufacturing workforce development.
The National Association of Manufacturers is a key partner with MEP in workforce development, providing information to manufacturers on their Skills Certification System. The certifications are industry-recognized credentials that validate job seekers’ skills in specific manufacturing disciplines. NAM’s partners in this system, besides MEP, include ACT, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, the American Welding Society, the National Institute of Metalworking Skills and the Manufacturing Skills Standards Council.
Workforce Manufacturing Skills Certification System and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership
On Wednesday June 8th, President Obama announced a major expansion of Skills for America’s Future, an industry led initiative to dramatically improve industry partnerships with community colleges and build a nation-wide network to maximize workforce development strategies, job training programs, and job placements. Included in the expansion was an emphasis on skills certification. An important aspect of this expansion is the Manufacturing Skills Certification System, developed with manufacturing firms at the table, that will give students the opportunity to earn manufacturing credentials that will be valued by a range of employers and improve earning power. This will allow students and workers to access this manufacturing credentials and pathways in community colleges in 30 states as a for-credit program of study. (This program was designed by the Manufacturing Institute, an affiliated non-profit of the National Association of Manufacturers, in partnership with leading manufacturing firms, the Gates Foundation, and the Lumina Foundation, and key players in education and training including ACT, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, the American Welding Society, the National Institute of Metalworking Skills, and the Manufacturing Skills Standards Council.)
Lay-off Aversion & Business Assistance Services
The Manufacturing Sector Lay-off Aversion Business Assistance Program is a collaboration between Workforce Investment Board Rapid Response/Layoff Aversion teams and MEP Centers and partners.
MEP centers, work with multiple state partners including workforce investment boards, to assess companies at risk and identify cost savings, training, re-training and redeployment opportunities to ensure that the company and the local economy does not lose revenue or skills. Strategies to address them might include reducing costs through process improvements, or reducing waste or energy use, and implementing innovation and growth strategies.
For more information about Workforce, contact your local MEP center or NIST MEP:
Stacey Wagner
Stacey.Wagner@nist.gov
(301) 975-4850
Lay-off Aversion
Mark Troppe
Mark.Troppe@nist.gov
(301) 975-5745