Develop a Talent-Ready Workforce!

As leaders we know the way to grow our business is to get the right talent with the right skills in the right positions. We are only as good as our team.

I have run small and billion dollar businesses, hired hundreds of people, had thousands of coworkers in my organizations, and built intern and new college hire programs. The biggest challenge was always finding, hiring and developing our colleagues. 

We all know the statistics:

• More than 70% of jobs require STEM
• Only 14% of US graduates are STEM-ready
• More than 60% of employers can't find qualified talent

Over the past eight years I have been working closely with K-12 students, especially young girls to help develop STEM skills and the confidence to pursue these careers. During this period, workforce development has been evolving drastically, with major companies developing their own training and certification programs for high school and even middle school students.

This is a long-term, more expansive workforce development effort with a focused Develop-to-Hire Workforce Strategy.

Here are Ten Steps to Implement a Successful Develop-to-Hire Workforce Strategy.

1. Skills Focus
2. Know Your Audience
3. Build Talent Pools
4. K-12 Future Workforce Partnerships
5. Intern Program
6. Emerging Workforce Partnerships
7. Certification Programs
8. Engage & Stay Connected
9. Tracking & Measurement
10. Hire!

In this series, we will dive in to each step and discuss how to implement this strategy and create a qualified workforce.