It's the Fall Edition of Workforce Today Magazine!
Greetings!
We are pleased to present our fall edition of Workforce Today. Included in this issue is information about a number of Industry Partnership grants awarded to the NWWIB for employers in our ten-county region. Also you will find.......
We hope you enjoy the articles and as always please let us know if there is a topic you are interested in!
Happy reading!
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CEP Board Chair Dan Racette, NWWIB Director of Development Mari Kay-Nabozny, and NWWIB/CEP Executive Director Steve Terry accept a Wisconsin Industry Partnership check from DWD Secretary Roberta Gassman
| Healthcare and Bio-Fuel Manufacturing Dollars Flow Into Region
BIO-FUEL MANUFACTURING Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Roberta Gassman announced a $463,488 Wisconsin Industry Partnership grant to train workers for biofuel production in Northern Wisconsin on August 25th.
Secretary Gassman awarded the grant to the Northwest Wisconsin Workforce Investment Board, who convened industry leaders and wrote the grant. The board worked with 15 employers in the biofuel, logging and paper production sector, including Flambeau River Papers, which will be powered by the new Flambeau River BioFuels bio-refinery plant once it is operational in 2013.
Through the grant, current employees and unemployed or underemployed workers will receive training in technology covering areas such as biomass harvesting and management. Chemical plant and system operators, chemists and first-line supervisors are among the jobs that will be supported through the 12-month grant project. With over $490,000 in local matching resources, total funding for the training project will surpass $900,000.
HEALTHCARE The
Northwest Wisconsin Workforce Investment Board, Inc. also recently received
a Health Care Industry Partnership Convening Grant to meet the need for our
region's healthcare sector development and planning. This project, which will serve the GROW region of
Northwest Wisconsin and Northeast Minnesota, will make a substantial impact by
supporting regional strategic planning by the healthcare industry that, when implemented,
will prepare businesses and their workers to compete and succeed in the growing
regional and global economy.
This
project will bring together health care industry sector stakeholders to discuss
issues surrounding workforce development in the industry. Health care is an
innovative field, with new medical technologies influencing the education of
future employees. It also is an economic driver for many communities. To meet
the demands of this crucial field, this initiative will involve health care
administrators, professionals, educators, and economic and workforce
development specialists.
In an
effort to develop a short and long-term plan for the region, the industry
partnership will conduct a labor-market analysis; develop goals, a work plan,
and target outcomes. Evaluation will also be a crucial piece of the
partnership. Through identifying skills gaps, training needs, and challenges
the partnership will develop a plan which will promote sustainable leadership
in the region.
If you have questions about either of the projects listed above please contact Mari Kay at [email protected].
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10 Options For Dealing With Difficult People at Work
These are ten productive ways to deal with your difficult coworker.
Let's start with the first five.
10. Start out by examining yourself. Are you sure that the
other person is really the problem and that you're not overreacting?
Have you always experienced difficulty with the same type of person or
actions? Does a pattern exist for you in your interaction with
coworkers? Do you recognize that you have hot buttons that are easily
pushed? (We all do, you know.) Always start with self-examination to
determine that the object of your attention really is a difficult
person's actions.
9. Explore what you are experiencing with a trusted friend or
colleague. Brainstorm ways to address the situation. When you are
the object of an attack, or your boss appears to support the
dysfunctional actions of a coworker, it is often difficult to
objectively assess your options. Anger, pain, humiliation, fear and
concern about making the situation worse are legitimate emotions.
Pay attention to the unspoken agreement you create when you solicit
another's assistance. You are committing to act unless you agree actions
will only hurt the situation. Otherwise, you risk becoming a whiner or
complainer in the eyes of your colleague.
8. Approach the person with whom you are having the problem for a
private discussion. Talk to them about what you are experiencing in
"I" messages. (Using "I" messages is a
communication approach that focuses on your experience of the situation
rather than on attacking or accusing the other person.) You can also
explain to your coworker the impact of their actions on you.
Be pleasant and agreeable as you talk with the other person. They may
not be aware of the impact of their words or actions on you. They may be
learning about their impact on you for the first time. Or, they may
have to consider and confront a pattern in their own interaction with
people. Worst case? They may know their impact on you and deny it or try
to explain it away. Unfortunately, some difficult people just don't
care. During the discussion, attempt to reach agreement about positive
and supportive actions going forward.
7. Follow up after the initial discussion. Has the behavior
changed? Gotten better? Or worse? Determine whether a follow-up
discussion is needed. Determine whether a follow-up discussion will have
any impact. Decide if you want to continue to confront the difficult
person by yourself. Become a peacemaker. (Decide how badly you want to
make peace with the other person and how much you want your current job.
Determine whether you have experienced a pattern of support from your
boss.) If you answer, "yes," to these questions, hold another
discussion. If not, escalate and move to the next idea.
6. You can confront your difficult coworker's behavior publicly.
Deal with the person with gentle humor or slight sarcasm. Or, make an
exaggerated physical gesture - no, not that one - such as a salute or
place your hand over your heart to indicate a serious wounding.
You can also tell the difficult person that you'd like them to consider
important history in their decision making or similar words expressed
positively, depending on the subject. Direct confrontation does work
well for some people in some situations. I don't think it works to ask
the person to stop doing what they're doing, publicly, but you can
employ more positive confrontational tactics. Their success for you will
depend on your ability to pull them off. Each of us is not
spur-of-the-moment funny, but if you are, you can use the humor well
with difficult coworkers.
5. If you have done what you can do and employed the first
five recommended approaches with little or no success, it's time to
involve others. Note that you are escalating the situation. Prepare
to talk with your boss. Take notes and address the issues, not as
interpersonal problems, but as issues affecting your productivity, the
work and your progress on projects. Tell your boss exactly what the
difficult person does.
Make a plan to address the issues. Perhaps involve your coworker's boss.
Recognize that a good boss is likely to bring your difficult coworker
and his supervisor into a three or four-way discussion at this point.
Expect to participate in follow-up over time.
4. Rally the other employees who might have an issue with the
difficult person, too - carefully. Sometimes, a group approach
convinces the boss that the impact of the behavior is wider and deeper
than she had originally determined. Be careful with this approach,
however. Know what works with your boss. You want to solve your problem,
not make it look as if you are rabble-rousing and ganging up on another
employee.
3. If these approaches fail to work, try to limit the difficult
person's access to you. Protect the needs of your business, but
avoid working with the person when possible. Leave voluntary committees,
Choose projects he or she does not impact. Don't hurt your own career
or your business, but avoidance is an option.
2. Transfer to a new job within your organization. Depending on
the size of your company, you may never have to work with this difficult
coworker again. Fleeing is definitely an option.
1. If all else fails, you can quit your job. What, flee, you
ask? But, I wasn't the employee with the problem. I was not the
difficult coworker. All I tried to do was my job. You're right. But,
what price, in terms of your happiness and success, are you willing to
pay to stay? You need to decide whether the good in your current
situation outweighs the bad or whether the bad outweighs the good.
If the good wins, stop complaining and get back to work. Back track on
these recommended steps and retry some of them when appropriate. If the
bad wins, redirect your energy to leaving your current employment.
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JULY 2010 Data for Wisconsin and the U.S.Latest Numbers for Wisconsin and US.
Seasonally Adjusted
Unemployment rate:
NW WI: 8.5%
WI: 7.8%
US: 9.5%
Civilian labor force:
NW WI: 95,167
WI: 3,030,200
US: 153,560,000
Number Employed: NW WI: 87, 093WI: 2,792,700
US: 138,960,000
Number Unemployed:
NW WI: 8,074 WI: 237,600
US:14,599,000
*Note that NW WI numbers are not seasonally adjusted
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NWWIB / CEP Executive Director Steve Terry Announces 2011 Retirement
At the August 9, 2010 CEP/NWWIB Executive Committee meeting,
a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was approved that will result in me leaving
my current position in 2011. This has been a difficult decision for my family
and me to make in that I'll be leaving many friends and the absolute best
people in the business, bar none.
I will remain Executive Director for the period July 1, 2010
to June 30, 2011. Starting on July 1, 2011 until November 5, 2011 I will be
employed by CEP/NWWIB as the Transition Director to assist in training the new
Director and working on special projects for both boards.
The recruitment and selection process for a replacement Director
will begin early next year (2011). Prior to that time, an ad hoc committee of
both boards has been chosen to study and develop a re-organization plan. It is anticipated
that most of the plan will focus on upper management structure and duties,
however at this point the final outcome of the plan is unknown. Final selection
and placement of a new Director should occur sometime between April and June
2011 depending on the hiring process followed.
I will miss working with all of you and thank you for
allowing me to be your Executive Director for the last five years.
Best always,
Steve Terry
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Regional Manufacturing Sees Growth, Funding Available for Manufacturing Training
While the Midwestern heavy manufacturing states' job bases have been more severely impacted by the recession than the nation, these Upper Midwest states have been having a better 2010 than the nation in terms of a recovering job market. Ironically, it has been the manufacturing sector's slowly improving jobs numbers that are aiding Wisconsin and its neighboring states' faster overall job growth. Manufacturing employment losses accounted for a huge share of overall job loss from the beginning of the recession to late 2009/early 2010 when the job
market started showing some bounce.
The irony comes from the repeated discussions about the decline in U.S. manufacturing prowess, yet, it is U.S. and Midwest manufacturing, and its exports of manufacturing equipment and goods, that is the leading economic driver for this U.S. economic recovery. This pattern is not uncommon through previous business cycles. Manufacturing indicators usually fall faster than the economy as a whole, and just as often outpace the general economic recovery.
From January 2010 to July 2010, Wisconsin has measured a net gain of 25,000 private sector jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis dwarfing the government net growth of 200 jobs over the same period. Of those 25,000 private sector jobs, 33% of them were in the manufacturing sector, which normally constitutes less than 16% of total jobs in Wisconsin (less than 10% for the nation).* information above from DWD- Office of Economic Advisors, July 2010
The Department of Workforce Development has awarded the Northwest Wisconsin Workforce Investment Board with an Advanced Manufacturing Training Grant to help spur growth and meet training needs in the industry. Employers who are interested in having employees participate in the trainings should contact 1-888-780-4237 x103 or [email protected] for further information on dates, locations, and requirements. � Critical Core Manufacturing Skills � Blueprint Reading � Leadership & Business Skills � Lean Manufacturing � Lean Implementation: - Value Stream Mapping - Five-S System - A-3 Problem Solving - Quick Change Over - High Performance Manufacturing � ISO Preparation � Machine Tool Operator
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CEP, Inc. Awarded Transitional Jobs Grant On July 12th Governor Doyle announced the creation of a $34
million Transitional Jobs Demonstration Project to help thousands of
people across the state gain skills and re-enter the workforce. This
project, which is funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act, will help create jobs for 4,000 people across the state.
CEP, Inc. has received a two-year $529,000 contract to assist low-income
individuals who are not eligible for W-2, such as fathers without
custody of their children or young adults exiting the foster care
system, acquire new skills and work experience.
DCF Secretary Reggie Bicha visited Ashland on August 23rd to
share details on the kinds of jobs this will create locally and the
impact on the local economy. By providing job training and job experience,
transitional jobs create more financial security for families and
improves our state's economy.
The
funds awarded to CEP, Inc. are for individuals in Ashland, Bayfield,
Douglas, Iron, and Price Counties. However, other organizations have
received contracts to assist those who live in the other counties in our
region. For more information on this program- no matter which county you are in- please contact your local CEP, Inc. office.
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Are you interested in learning more about the economic and workforce status of your county? You can view the Department of Workforce Development's County Workforce Profiles here. |
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