Located in:
- III. Operational Planning Elements
The Unified or Combined State Plan must include an Operational Planning Elements section that supports the State’s strategy and the system-wide vision described in Section II(c) above. Unless otherwise noted, all Operational Planning Elements apply to Combined State Plan partner programs included in the plan as well as to core programs. This section must include—
- a. State Strategy Implementation
The Unified or Combined State Plan must include–
- 2. Implementation of State Strategy
Describe how the lead State agency with responsibility for the administration of each core program or a Combined Plan partner program included in this plan will implement the State’s Strategies identified in Section II(c). above. This must include a description of—
- 2. Implementation of State Strategy
- a. State Strategy Implementation
III. a. 2. D. Coordination, Alignment and Provision of Services to Employers
Describe how the entities carrying out the respective core programs, any Combined State Plan partner program included in this plan, required and optional one-stop partner programs will coordinate activities and resources to provide comprehensive, high-quality services to employers to meet their current and projected workforce needs and to achieve the goals of industry or sector partners in the state. The activities described shall conform to the statutory requirements of each program.
Current Narrative:
Since the passage of WIOA, the Arkansas WIOA Roundtable, consisting of core partners, meets monthly to share information, identify resources, and build relationships. Because of the large number of members, working committees are utilized to work on specific issues and the policy committee is tasked with the coordination, alignment and provision of services to employers. A working group has been established that consists of leaders from each agency tasked with business relations from all of the core programs and key workforce stakeholders. The intent of this partnership is to allow for all business relations representatives to be versed in the services provided by all core programs and key stakeholders in order to provide this information to employers.
In 2015, an informal study was conducted to determine all of the contact points with employers that are made by the various agencies. These contact points were defined to include the purpose and need for employer engagement. This information was shared with more than 250 managers, directors, and leaders in core and non-core programs during a partners meeting in the fall of 2015. This information will be used by the working group to establish a streamlined process for making contact with employers that will meet requirements set forth in the Arkansas Workforce Center Certification criteria.
The Arkansas Workforce Center Certification Criteria requires the center to have a business liaison team as the single point of contact for business services. It is expected that staff involved with initiating employer contacts will participate on the team in a coordinated outreach program under the Arkansas Workforce Center name and marketing approach. The team will consist of business contact staff from all partner programs and will, at a minimum, provide the following structure and coordination in approaching the business community:
- A team leader to coordinate the activities of the team
- A coordinated “script” to market the system to employers
- Use of the Arkansas Workforce Center name as the primary marketing approach, with agency specialty areas (i.e. Arkansas Rehabilitation Services, Services for the Blind, DVOP/LVER Veterans Services) presented as a part of the overall system as needed
- An information sharing strategy that makes contact results available to all team members
- A clear menu of services across all partners
- A division of duties with employer sector specializations as deemed appropriate for quality customer service
- Multiple agency participation with clear cost and information sharing commitments
- At a minimum, job search, employer contacts, job orders, or job development leads performed by any center staff as a result of outreach will be entered into the Wagner-Peyser database (Arkansas Job Link)
Arkansas has received several discretionary grants from the U.S. Department of Labor to address workforce development and training needs of Arkansas employers and jobseekers. Specifically through the Arkansas Apprenticeship Pathway Initiative, Arkansas Sector Partnership, and the Arkansas Job Driven National Emergency Grant, the State has been able to connect with numerous employers throughout the state to identify existing and emerging occupations and training needs. These grants have enabled to the state to be very flexible and immediately responsive to the training needs identified by employers. Through the use of project management teams comprised of core, mandatory, and optional partners in addition to Registered Apprenticeship, two- and four-year educational institutions, local workforce development boards, and non-profit organizations, the State is able to most effectively deliver services through these grants and maximize on subject matter expertise from all involved.
Arkansas understands that the WIOA legislative mandate has changed workforce development. As such, we are currently seeking a “business facing” workforce development solution that is a collaborative platform to connect people, jobs, programs, and data to advance the economic viability of our state.
The Division of Workforce Services - Adult Education Section offers a trademarked job readiness program, Workforce Alignment for Growth in the Economy (WAGE™ ) in which students can earn up to six certificates in industrial, employability, customer service I and II, office technology, and bank teller. Adult Education WAGE Coordinators work with local employers to customize training that meets the needs of their workforce. In order to stay abreast of employers’ needs, the WAGE Advisory Committee is made up of 51% business and industry and chaired by an employer.
Salesforce Implementation
Salesforce is a customer relations management tool that will assist business services teams to track and report business engagement activities across partner programs. In Fall 2019, the initial implementation of Salesforce began and allowed business services staff to begin recording actual business engagement activity in the system. As we launched the system, we established a “working group” to assist in developing some ground rules (or protocols) for moving us forward utilizing the tool. The “working group” also takes the lead in working through any issues that may arise using the system and determining their potential solutions.
The Salesforce tool is being developed in four phases (or sprints) that include:
- Sprint 1 – Business Leads and Account Management
- Sprint 2 – Training Application
- Sprint 3 – Reports and Dashboards
- Sprint 4 – Needs Assessment and Skills Gap Analysis
The testing, development, and training on the product are complete.
Currently, evaluating several “next steps” to broaden the base of Salesforce users as well as enhance the system’s value through collaborative efforts and data integration.
Here is a listing of potential next steps:
- Purchasing additional licenses to broaden the user base among partner programs. This is in addition to the original 35 licenses that have been purchased.
- Assessing/evaluating potential integration with Arkansas Economic Development Commission employer needs assessment data.
- Assessing and evaluating potential opportunities for integration with Arkansas Job Link data.
- Assessing and evaluating the utilization of an external community portal feature within the system that could provide capabilities to interface with employers.
- Evaluating whether to continue administrative support with the Salesforce vendor (Coastal Cloud) under a managed services agreement over the next year.