Governor s Coaching Corps Prepares Job Seekers for a Digital Economy

Governor s Coaching Corps Prepares Job Seekers for a Digital Economy

Skillful s Coaching Initiative Team Joe Barela, Director jbarela@markle.org 303-405-6728 Katherine Keegan, Manager kkeegan@markle.org 646-818-0406 2

3 Today s Agenda Skillful Overview (15 minutes) Coaching Initiative: Model & Findings so far (30 minutes) Breakouts & Discussion (25 minutes) Q&A (5 minutes)

4 What is Skillful? Markle, Microsoft, LinkedIn, the state of Colorado, and local partners, are working to achieve a skills-based labor market that works for everyone. Starting by expanding throughout Colorado and then moving to additional states, the partnership aims to create a model that can be replicated across the U.S. to help millions of Americans overcome barriers to obtaining better-paying jobs. Skillful helps employers create business value by providing data, tools, and resources that enable the adoption of skills-based hiring and training practices. Coaches and digital services enable job seekers to learn what skills are in demand and access professional training at any stage of their career. At the same time, Skillful aligns employers and educators so that their training programs teach the skills required to succeed in today s digital economy.

Skillful s Ecosystem 5

Ecosystem Supports: 6

Skillful s Colorado Partners 7

8 Skillful s Initiatives: Informed by its on-the-ground work since 2016, partners, and research Skillful is focused on five primary integrated impact initiatives and four cross-cutting streams that support Colorado, and scale/sustainability in additional states.

Coaching Initiative: Foundation What is a career coach? People who, in a professional capacity, help jobseekers navigate their career journey and advance toward a chosen career path. Career coaches provide their clients with strategic guidance, resources, and the support they need to persist and advance. Coaching Ecosystem in Colorado: Coaches are a critical component of the workforce system and provide significant benefit to jobseekers. In 2016, Skillful created a cohort-based coaching program. Initial program findings included: 1. Coaches value a peer community Coaches reported rare opportunities to confer, share information, strategize, and reflect with peers. Skillful offered coaches a platform to do all of the above as well as receive training. 2. Coaches benefit from targeted upskilling Coaches reported personal and professional growth from training Skillful provided on coaching methods, reaching job seekers, the use of digital tools, and employer knowledge. 3. Coaches report increased motivation and commitment Coaches broadly reported that training alongside their peers and sharing experiences across organizations and geographies was personally motivating and engendered pride in their shared profession.

Coaching Initiative: Strategy Based on Skillful s 2016 findings, they launched their Coaching Initiative, comprised of two components: GOVERNOR S COACHING CORPS (GCC) 20-30 coaches working at the forefront of workforce innovation, teaming with leaders in tech, business, and policy to develop new approaches to statewide challenges, and pitch state leadership to adopt these proposals. Through individual mentorship and teamwork, coaches build on their leadership and technical skills, applying new approaches to connect job seekers to skills and jobs. COACHING COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE (CoP) Alongside the GCC, many career coaches participate in monthly virtual events focused on best practices, creating a supportive, resource-sharing network that will impact an even wider network of job seekers. Skillful will design a broader Coaching Strategy based on the stakeholder engagement and learnings gleaned from the GCC and CoP.

Governor s Coaching Corps: Vision & Structure An annual leadership program in which Colorado s most talented career coaches develop innovative practices and technologies to support career services in an increasingly digital economy, while advancing their professional development and sharing best practices with their peers to increase their impact on jobseekers. SOLVE HIGH- PROFILE CHALLENGES GCC coaches work in Action Teams to tackle widespread challenges facing Colorado jobseekers. Teams pitch their recommendations to state leaders for potential adoption. INVEST IN PERSONAL LEADERSHIP GCC coaches take part in intensive training in leadership and coaching, then employ new skills in their daily work to serve jobseekers and build capacity within their organizations. HONE COACHING EXPERTISE GCC coaches attend trainings, workshops, and site visits related to the policy landscape, economic and industry trends, and bestpractice tools and approaches to serve middle-skill jobseekers.

Governor s Coaching Corps: Action Teams Coaches join 1 of up to 5 Actions Teams, with each team focused on a unique project related to 1 of the 3 themes below: Develop 21 st- Century Coaching Tools Explore digital solutions that address the growing need to serve jobseekers at scale with fewer resources, while maintaining an all-important human connection. Identify Segment-Specific Approaches Develop creative approaches to serve specific segments of the jobseeker population. (Potential topic areas include young adults, parents returning to work, formerly incarcerated individuals, and the underemployed) Cultivate New Partnership Models Pilot new partnership models across workforce segments to provide smoother pathways for jobseekers. (Example segments include workforce centers, human services agencies, community colleges, and employers)

Organizations Coaches Governor s Coaching Corps: Value Benefits 50+ hours of expert training fully funded by Skillful in leadership, coaching, and technical skills directly related to coaches daily work 1-on-1 and team coaching to support personal and professional growth Deep relationship building with high-achieving peers. Intimate access to a network of industry professionals, workforce experts, and state leaders to support daily work and long-term growth No-cost professional development for top coaches, with all travel and training costs funded by Skillful Motivated coaches applying and sharing lessons from trainings and projects, including sourced best practices from across organizations and regions Strengthened relationships across workforce organizations and with industry leaders Opportunity for Skillful support to pilot new programs Expectations Personal investment to commit ~4 hours/week on average, divided evenly between work hours and personal time, totaling ~150 hours over 8 months Multi-day travel for up to 4 retreats and offsite visits, including overnight stays Willingness to take risks and learn individually and in a team setting Commitment to share learnings with peers and to participate in alumni activities ~75 hours of staff time for coaches over 8 months, in exchange for no-cost professional development Willingness to share best practices and to incorporate new content into operations Openness to identify and share data that will help track program outcomes, in concert with Skillful

Coaching Community of Practice: Vision & Structure A virtual platform for career coaches from diverse organizations to build their capacity as coaches, source best practices and resources, and support one another s work by sharing experiences and advice all to increase their impact on skilled jobseekers. Skillful will recruit approximately 100 coaches from public and nonprofit organizations (including 28 Governor s Coaching Corps coaches) who will be able to use the platform to access: Professional development content Monthly webinar series Other virtual events (peer learning calls, etc.) Peer-to-peer messaging Discussion boards

15 Coaching Community of Practice: Platform Capabilities include: File sharing and storage Private chat and discussion forums Polling Connection to Office 365 resources Integration with other apps Mobile app

Organizations Coaches Coaching Community of Practice: Value Benefits 15+ hours of expert training/year delivered online in leadership, coaching, and technical skills directly related to coaches daily work Relationship building with peers Access to a network of industry professionals, workforce experts, innovative tools, and best practices, to support work and long-term growth No-cost professional development for coaches Motivated coaches applying and sharing lessons from trainings and projects, including sourced best practices from across organizations and regions Strengthened relationships across workforce organizations and with industry leaders Expectations Personal investment to commit ~3 hours/month on average Willingness to take risks and learn individually and in a team setting Commitment to share learnings with peers and to participate in sessions Willingness to share best practices and to incorporate new content into operations Openness to identify and share data that will help track program outcomes, in concert with Skillful

Coaching Initiative: Curriculum & Alignment Program Component Module Topics Alignment with Skillful Goals Governor s Coaching Corps: Skills Training Governor s Coaching Corps: Leadership Training Governor s Coaching Corps: Action Teams Foundational knowledge of platforms, economic trends, policy Best practices for skilled populations Skills-based hiring/sector strategies Strategies for effective coaching Leveraging tech tools Positive Intelligence Emotional Intelligence Communication and Coaching Building High-Performing Teams Human-Centered Design Prototyping Strategic Persuasion Peer Critique Community of Practice Analyzing labor market information, economic trends, policy Presentations on best practices from coaches Strategies for effective coaching Leveraging tech tools Best practices for skilled and high-need populations Improve career development outcomes for skilled workers Surface promising practices, technologies, and other tools Influence the Skillful Coaching Strategy Improve career development outcomes for skilled workers Elevate the workforce development profession Develop the next generation of workforce development leaders Improve career development outcomes for skilled workers Surface promising practices, technologies, and other tools Incubate data-driven models that can be exported beyond Colorado Improve career development outcomes for skilled workers Influence the Skillful Coaching Strategy Elevate the workforce development profession

Governor s Coaching Corps: Where are we now Overview Video Press release Action Project Updates Project #1: Leverage digital tools to expand the reach of career services Stakeholder needs survey and environmental scan Interviewing partner contacts (University of Michigan, LinkedIn, Microsoft representatives) Project #2: Identify best practices for serving the underemployed. Jobseeker survey to understand underemployment (550 responses so far) Researching existing programs across U.S. Project #3: Identify best practices for serving specific segments of the middle-skill population (50+ and people with disabilities). Site visits and interviews with local programs Piloting AARP Back to Work 50+ in CO communities Project #4: Identify best practices or create new models for education and workforce partnerships Interviews with workforce and educational providers (agency leadership and career coaches) Researching existing models across U.S. Retreats Retreat 1 on October 26 th 27 th in Denver completed Retreat 2 on January 25 th 26 th in Fort Collins Completed Retreat 3 on March 15 th 16 th in Colorado Springs Retreat 4 (Final Presentations) on June 28 th 29 th in Denver Project #5: Facilitate a direct feedback loop between frontline coaches and employers. Completed Business Services Certification Researching existing models across U.S. Analyzing data trends with LinkedIn and local economists Interviewing local employers and coaches to understand and rank pain points.

Coaching Community of Practice: Where are we now Jan, 2018 Opened Registration on Skillful.com (195 people registered) Feb 1 st, 2018 Kick Off Webinar (94 people attended) Feb 15 th, 2018 Yammer Page Launched (116 members have created profile) First Professional Development Topic: LMI Feb 28, 2018: Webinar: Colorado State Demographer s Office Demographic Trends to Watch how to access and use labor market information to help job seekers find better pathways. 54 people attended. Virtual Event to expose Coaches to new tools Mar 29, 2018: Tools and strategies to use LMI in your career exploration and planning with customers. Created Member Map to share resources LinkedIn used the Community of Practice to inform a presentation to high school counselors.

Coaching Initiative: Impact Our Goal: Over the next three years, 10,000 job seekers will be on better pathways as a result of the coaches participating in Skillful s Coaching Initiative. How to measure? By leveraging existing data systems where possible. In the meantime, we are collecting stories, conducting pre/post surveys on all skill-building sessions, and checking in with stakeholders on a regular basis to assess impact. Without the Governor s Coaching Corps I would never have heard about these resources and tools. Craig Farnum, Colorado Mountain College The whole idea behind the Coaching Corps adds to the privilege that I was selected to make an impact and change within my state. Being able to network with other coaches around Colorado by hearing their stories breaks down boundaries more than you know. Leslie Galindo, Weld County I love this! Thank you for making this happen! Claire Benton, Boulder County I haven't had much experience with online communities of practice before. Excited to venture into this. Leslie Wilson Langsdon, Jefferson County The implications of the Governor's Coaching Corps and Coaching Community of Practice to positively influence economic development in the state and possibly the nation is incredibly powerful. Rudy Sanchez, CDLE

Break Out Session You ll be divided into two groups. Each group will discuss a series of prompts on career coaching. Using Post-Its, write your response and stick them onto the appropriate poster. Each group will spend 10 minutes at each poster. We ll reconvene to synthesize and debrief. 21

Questions? 22

23 THANK YOU! Please feel free to contact Joe or Katherine with questions, feedback, or ideas! You can check out the Skillful State Playbook on our website at Skillful.com