I
get it, we all love the “easy” button. Whether it’s ordering groceries for delivery today, household items for delivery tomorrow, or a ride to the airport via a tap on your phone, we’ve gotten used to convenience and simplicity when it comes to solving problems.
Which is why solving the manufacturing workforce crisis has been so hard: No same-day delivery, e-commerce platform, or ridesharing app alone can help us recruit and retain the two million manufacturing workers we need. Long-term fixes require systemic changes that I’ve written about on this blog before. But within companies today, manufacturers that are weathering the workforce storm and focusing on workplace development rather than workforce development, have jettisoned the “easy” button and focused on the “effective” button: long-term, transformational strategies that will help them become employers of choice.
What’s Working in Workforce
In the two years since the launch of America Works, I’ve visited numerous manufacturers, and interviewed more than 150 professionals across the MEP National NetworkTM to find out what’s working in workforce. The following list, which is by no means comprehensive, is just a snapshot gleaned from employers that have realized that you can’t buy a better workforce online; instead, you have to cultivate it from the inside with meaningful, effective long-term interventions.
I mentioned these aren’t easy, but you don’t have to go this path alone. If you’d like help implementing any of these, make sure to reach out to your local MEP Center!
Matthew Fieldman is currently Executive Director of America Works, a nationwide initiative to coordinate the American manufacturing industry’s training efforts, generating a more capable, skilled, and diverse workforce. Based at MAGNET: The Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network, Matt works across the nation’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) system to increase collaboration, efficiency, and impact of local and regional workforce development efforts.
Previously, he was Vice President of External Affairs for MAGNET, a nonprofit that helps Northeast Ohio’s small- and medium-sized manufacturers grow locally while competing globally. In this role, he launched the Ohio Manufacturing Survey; mspire, a regional startup pitch competition; helped launch manufacturing apprenticeships for inner-city youth; and is responsible for fundraising, legislative relations, media relations, and more. Concurrently, Matthew is the founding Board Chair of EDWINS Restaurant and Leadership Institute, Cleveland’s first nonprofit restaurant and one of the first of its kind nationally to train formerly incarcerated individuals to work in fine dining. He raised over $600,000 to start EDWINS and was named “2014 Fundraiser of the Year” by Fundraising Success magazine for his efforts. He is also the founder of Cleveland Codes, one of the nation’s first nonprofit software bootcamps devoted specifically to training low-income adults for careers in technology. Originally from Orlando, Florida, Matt earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, cum laude, from the University of Florida, a Master of Business Administration from The George Washington University, and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Case Western Reserve University. He is a former Ariane de Rothschild and American Council on Germany Transatlantic Fellow, and is currently a Civil Society Fellow at the Aspen Institute.