Toolkit for Developing High-Performing Industry Partnerships
Stakeholder Engagement
Industry partnerships have two major types of constituents: employers and regional partners. Regional partners can include workers, workforce investment boards, economic development entities, education and training providers, and community-based organizations.
Regional partners are essential to understanding worker needs and designing programs and strategies that improve outcomes for workers and businesses.
Develop and Maintain Relationships With a Diverse Group of Partners
Partners should reflect the community and demonstrate a commitment to meeting employer and worker needs. This includes building relationships with the public workforce development system to better align resources that support employers and workers.
What success looks like
Partners should reflect the community and demonstrate a commitment to meeting employer and worker needs. This includes building relationships with the public workforce development system, as well as economic developers, to better align resources that support employers and workers.
Tools
- Communities at Work Playbook (Aspen Institute & FutureWorks) – This playbook highlights the work of seven regional industry partnerships and action steps for partnership building, business engagement, and community collaboration.
- Community Engagement Toolkit (Leading Inside Out & Collective Impact Forum) – Use this set of strategies, processes, and tools for engaging community members and organizations most impacted by social challenges in designing and implementing solutions.
- Toolbox for the Systems Change Mindset – National Fund
Share Industry Intelligence and Trends
Stakeholders share information that speaks to trends affecting their work.
What success looks like
- Increased collaboration between education and training providers, community-based organizations, and employers.
- Informed decision-making and the development of new strategies to address trends and gaps.
Tools
- Insights for Action: MSP Regional Sector Analysis (RealTime Talent) – Use this example to help your partnership or region document labor shortages, skills gaps, and the impact of workforce programs and initiatives on closing those gaps.
- Information & Communication Technology: Shared Prosperity in the Digital Age (SkillWorks and EARI) – This report, which examines the issues behind the perceived ICT talent shortage, including specific concerns relative to racial, ethnic, and gender diversity, can serve as a guide for identifying diversity, equity, and inclusion issues.
- Envisioning the Future of Home Care: Trends and Opportunities in Workforce Policy and Practice (PHI) – This report provides an example of how to look at the current and projected home care landscape, focusing in turn on consumers, workers, and the sector. The approach can be applied to different sectors of the economy.
- It’s Time to Care: A Detailed Profile of America’s Direct Care Workforce (PHI) – This report provides a detailed overview of the direct care workforce (including key concepts and definitions), an analysis of how this role has evolved, and a statistical profile of the workforce. Use this as a guide to develop a more detailed profile of workers in your industry.
Incorporate Workers as Stakeholders
Add worker voice and perspective around needs, barriers, and potential solutions to inform industry partnership goals, investments, and activities.
What success looks like
- More partners are consistently engaging workers in the design and evaluation of programs and strategies.
- Activities that partners are engaged in to improve job quality in the region increases.
- Training and other supports for populations facing barriers to employment and career advancement and a commitment to racial equity and inclusion improves.
Tools
- What We Mean by Worker Voice – National Fund
- Employee Engagement Benefits and Strategies for Small Businesses – Pacific Community Ventures) – This is an article about the benefits of employee engagement and a set of tactics for strengthening employee engagement and creating a strong workplace culture. These tools can be used to coach businesses on job quality improvements with potential business benefits.
- Incorporating Worker Wisdom in High Road Training Partnerships (UC Berkeley Labor Center) – This is a deep dive into the essential element of incorporating worker voice throughout the partnership, including several promising practices gleaned from the field.
- Adding a Gender Lens to Non-Traditional Programs (Jobs for the Future) – Use this toolkit to learn how to engage and support women and other underrepresented communities as they seek new, high-potential careers.
- Worker Voice and Employer Engagement – Aspen Institute
- Engaging Frontline Employee Voice – Talent ReWire
Communicate Openly and Convene Partners Regularly
Share partnership successes and challenges and identify opportunities for continuous learning and improvement.
What success looks like
- Training, funding priorities, policies, and practices better meet employer and worker needs.
- Programs and services are more accessible.
- Outcomes for frontline workers and people of color improve.
Tools
- Talking the Walk: A Communication Manual for Partnership Practitioners (The Partnering Initiative) – Use this toolkit for partnership practitioners from all sectors, to understand the importance of good communication and help develop techniques to improve communications – both inside, and beyond the partnership.
- Advancing Equity Through Workforce Intermediary Partnerships: Best Practices in Manufacturing, Service and Transportation Industries (Jobs with Justice Education Fund) – This report details examples of sustained engagement and outcomes of workforce intermediary partnerships and can be used to guide how an industry partnership might develop a commitment and approach to advancing equity.
- Advancing Workforce Equity Guide for Stakeholders – National Fund
Invest in Frontline Worker Supportive Services
Expand roles like retention specialists, job coaching, resource navigators. Advocate for increased supportive services such as housing, transportation, and child care.
What success looks like
- More diversity among workers participating in and successfully completing education and training programs.
- Better education, employment, and advancement outcomes for frontline workers and those facing disparities in the labor market.
Tools
- The Benefits of Bridging Divides: How YouthBuild Philly Shares its Supportive Practices to Build Business Value and Better Jobs (Aspen Institute) – This report documents how YouthBuild Philly engages retail businesses to strengthen equity, inclusion, and retention for youth the organization serves. These practices can be applied in developing approaches for engaging youth and adults.
- The Women’s Fund for the Greater Cincinnati Foundation – This toolkit offers a collection of nearly 60 workplace policies to help employers support, stabilize, and retain employees. These policies can be used as a guide to identify which are most important for workers in a range of industry sectors.
- A Retailer Bets on Learning and Development – This report shares how Goodwill San Diego adapted its culture and operations to enhance job quality and business performance in response to a mandated local minimum wage increase. Use this to identify specific practices that support worker advancement.
- Workplace Financial Wellness Services: A Primer for Employers (Prosperity Now and Center for Social Development) – Use this primer to learn more about workplace financial wellness services, questions to consider when exploring these services, and employer experiences with the provision of these services.
- Guide to Employee Financial Wellness – National Fund
