Remote Worker Skills as a Foundation for Workforce Development
Remote Worker Skills as a Foundation for Workforce Development
During 6 – 10 June 2022 in Helena Montana, a virtual team quietly facilitated what we think might be the first training program in this region connecting newly skilled remote workers directly to jobs. Our team approach to this form of training and workforce development is guided by a simple mission statement to “create access to better paying jobs for everyone in our communities”. The details of this event are critically important as the participants for this pilot training program were recruited and supported from numerous partner agencies including Veteran Affairs, Head-start, Job Service Workforce Center and Career Technical Institute (CTI).
The participant profiles represented a diverse range of life experiences including those with significant employment gaps, those exploring remote worker opportunities (but not knowing how to get started), folks with work experience now wanting to be remote workers (so they can work from home instead of commuting), those that have had recent changes in their current employment or experienced job loss, those wanting to develop new career paths and those wanting a side job for extra income. The training began with 14 participants registered for Day 1, with 12 participants attending until the end of Day 4, and 10 participants completing the course on Day 5 and submitting job applications to be remote workers.
The training program was delivered via zoom from a third-party provider with more than a decade of experience in this specific remote worker skills model. The setting for the training was in a room where everyone was there in-person working in their own cubicle with a provided laptop, able to talk to each other in person and interact with the trainer individually through the zoom platform. This delivery model is showcasing a unique approach to training that utilizes the principles of the training being delivered – remote worker skills. Through this personalized and social technology-based setting, individual learning creates amazing chemistry and camaraderie amongst the participants – a bit like the coffee shop model of “being on your own while in a crowd of familiar strangers” – it is a ‘warm fuzzy’. A key feature of this training model is the on-site facilitator in the room who can guide individual experiences and troubleshoot the technology and learning issues in real-time, ensuring nobody gets left behind. What stands out during the learning experience is the provider met every student where the student was at in terms of experience, personality and individual needs, which is different to the approach taken by many education institutions and training providers where those gaps can create barriers to access.
The training content reads as a simple, basic syllabus listing a half a dozen concepts and activities but don’t be fooled by that simplicity. The content objectives and outcomes are very tightly linked, emphasizing and underscoring remote work competencies while providing legitimate remote working experience for participants through the training activities. For the participants that did not have these basic skills before the training, the provider is able to work with individuals during the training to help them gain these new experiences and skills, building participant confidence in the process. The combination of (1) a proven syllabus with clear objectives and outcomes, (2) defined competencies and (3) the experience of the provider working with these participant profiles and cohorts for over a decade delivers a very manageable and enjoyable learning experience for everyone (even for the dinosaur zoom-weary, laptop dependent, two-finger typing training observers!)
At the end of this training is a job offer, with the training provider supporting participants to navigate online gateway application processes, resulting in a direct connection between the training and gaining employment. This happens literally within the last few hours of the training, leaving no room for participants to procrastinate about delaying making the online application (we have all been there!). The provider has vetted the invited employers before they present to the cohort, with many employers having a relationship with the provider over many years and hiring cycles. The depth of these relationships results in the provider establishing direct channels with employers, so that recruiters identify the participants from this training and administer these applications as ‘fast track’ outside of their standard application process. Another key differentiator in this process is the provider stays with the participants until the last online application is submitted and completes the same application in real-time with the participants, something not seen in other services or similar training. The net result of this step is a participant receiving direct support and guidance to submit a successful application that matches the employer requirements. For many participants, knowing they are submitting an application that can meet the employers needs is a new experience reinforcing what we already know about the online application process itself being a barrier to access, inclusion and equity.
When it comes to what these offered jobs pay, what might seem like a low wage to the audience reading this story, could be a big pay increase for many of these participants, so it is best to reserve judgment on that issue. Generally, the employers offer benefits with full-time employment and their offered wages align with current national rates and what we know of in Helena and other locales. The majority of employers offer higher than local rates per hour in many instances, however there is a range of wage rates based on the remote worker role and the complexity of the job. At the heart of this phase of the training when job offers are made, the employers know the skills the provider is delivering through the training, and the provider knows what the employers need from the training. This relationship exemplifies one of the core principles of workforce development where stakeholders, in this case the training providers, employers and ‘students’, are working together to solve each others’ problems and create mutually benefitting success.
We collected data on this training including pre-training awareness levels and post-training observations and insights and will be tracking these participants longitudinally to see what happens in their remote worker journey. We don’t always know why someone drops out of the training and in many cases, there are real reasons and unavoidable life decisions. We will be able to help the two participants that were unable to attend the Friday sessions. For those that complete the training, we know what they have gained from the experience. Listening online during the final afternoon session was emotional as participants shared candid thoughts and reflections on how and why this training experience is so different from what they have experienced in the past. The participants frequently mentioned their experiences with rejection, not knowing how to make an online application, feeling a lack of support or facing insurmountable barriers to access employment if there is an online application gateway. Through this training, now they can see the next steps in their personal goals emerging from this training.
The human perspective of this experience was front and center on the last day when one of the recruiters began her company pitch with her personal story sharing “this is where I was two years ago – unemployed – then I started at [company name] and here I am today presenting to you after eight promotions in two years”. We won’t share her income level, but it fits right in with the Governor’s goals of workforce development creating “$50,000 a year remote worker jobs”. What we were part of this past week leads towards the Governor’s goal, with a participant journey based on developing their existing skills base, learning new skills leading to increased employability options, participating in professional development activities and gaining valuable workforce experiences aligned with their financial goals. Our team goal with the training is to simply increase household income through better paying jobs in our communities – we just happen to utilize the remote worker skills model.
At the end of the week after 30 hours of training, 12 of the original 14 registered participants will have submitted applications for jobs presented by the five companies that were recruiting. For most of these opportunities, a minimum work schedule of 35 hours per week in a remote worker job paying $20 an hour creates $700 of new income per person per week, and new value through the available benefits that come with the job. Then multiply those numbers by each family/household/new employee in a community or small rural town or neighborhood – that math is immensely inspiring, but we are also making sure to not get ahead of the situation. We will follow these participants and track who accepted a job offer, when they start work and what their experiences are during the next few months.
As this pilot program enters a new phase of data collection and management, we also want to publicly acknowledge and thank the supporters, sponsors and funders for this training event – your contributions and support really made the training possible. We know many of you personally and appreciate you taking the time to attend our zoom-fest meetings to help organize the pilot program. As we do our debrief meetings, exciting possibilities are emerging along with more stories to share about the impact of remote worker skills as a foundation for a workforce development model. Thank-you! We feel this is just the beginning…..
#WorkFromHome #DigitalNomad #Telecommute #RemoteJob #FlexibleWork #RemoteTeams
#RemoteWorkingTips#WorkLifeBalance#RemoteCareer#flexibleschedule #remotework #remoteworkskills
