EMPLOYER SURVEY REPORT OVERVIEW:
"Workplace Skills Needed by Employers
in High Country"

A new economic environment in North Carolina. The employers in North Carolina's High Country-a seven-county area including Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Mitchell, Watauga, Wilkes, and Yancey counties-are now entering a new era in economic competition. Driven by increasingly rapid technological change, the globalization of markets, and a growing demand for high skill workers, these area employers are experiencing at the local level an intensified pressure felt throughout the country to produce high-quality goods and services at competitive costs.

This deep-felt economic shift has fundamentally changed the way employers and workers must do business to stay competitive. To succeed, both employers and employees must work smarter with higher skills and greater adaptability at every level and in every industry.

The report. To examine employer needs in this new economic environment and to guide the way to a high-quality education and training system, the High Country Workforce Development Board commissioned an in-depth study of the issue. Over 150 randomly selected businesses from the region took part in the study, as well as several pre-selected corporations and regional business leaders. The participants in the study represented a wide range of businesses with a particular emphasis on the large presence of service, manufacturing, and retail businesses in the seven-county region.

"Workplace Skills Needed by Employers in North Carolina's High Country" divides its findings into eight major categories: Basic Skills, Thinking Skills, Personal Qualities, Resources, Interpersonal Skills, Systems, Information and Technology, and Tools. Using a standard rating scale for each of the categories, the study helps identify those attributes that are most needed for the region's employees--information essential to building a responsive, demand-driven workforce development system.

Important findings. Though many widely divergent industry groups were represented, the study found strong agreement among High Country employers on several key points:

• The need for skilled workers. The survey conclusively demonstrates that employers in High Country need job applicants with all of the basic learning skills-particularly writing and communications skills-which allow an employee to advance and grow with a business' needs.
• The need for education. Businesses were unanimous on what all employees must have to begin working: a minimum of a high school diploma.
• The need for advanced skills. Respondents showed that they want employees to be able to learn more advanced skills. Businesses found that these attributes, especially advanced interpersonal and thinking skills, were necessary for employees who wish to advance in their workplace.

A clear challenge. To prepare future and current workers for North Carolina's ever-evolving, fast-changing economic environment, a new workforce development system must emerge-one that can continually respond to the needs of employers in High Country. As the study indicates, businesses need employees who can work, think, communicate, and adapt at higher and higher levels. A redesigned system must keep up with this demand.

Benefits to the community. Working smarter doesn't just benefit businesses. A demand-driven, high-skills workforce development system that connects employers and job seekers, brings together the educational resources of a community, and assists economic growth for the region rewards everyone in the community. Workers and job seekers have greater job security with higher skills and greater employment opportunity because of increased business growth. Educators and trainers have a framework for curriculum development that eases the transition from school to work and helps attract business involvement.

Speaking of the report, Workforce Development Board Chairman Sandra Reese states, "Our employers in High Country are finding that their competitors are operating more efficiently than ever before. This report confirms that they need a skilled workforce to stay ahead of the competitive edge."

Action Steps. The High Country Workforce Development Board is using the report to assist our communities in developing local plans to meet workplace needs. Meetings have been held in each county of the region with business and education leaders to discuss the implications of the survey results, decide on actions to take, and develop a plan for disseminating survey results throughout the community to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to contribute to the process.

The Workforce Development Board has also sponsored two week-long training institutes for educators to help them develop practical ways to incorporate work-based skills into classroom teaching. In addition, the Board met with school superintendents and community college presidents to keep them informed of its efforts and to initiate an educational philosophies dialogue for the region.

The Workforce Development Board's most recent response to this issue was the development of a set of employability competencies with an accompanying curriculum. Job seekers who participate in the training program and demonstrate mastery of all thirteen competencies are certified by the Workforce Development Board, which guarantees them entrée into the hiring process of participating employers.

The Workforce Development Board. The High Country Workforce Development Board provides policy guidance and oversight of workforce development activities in the region, including the Workforce Investment Act, JobLink Career Centers, and Welfare to Work services.

Members of the Workforce Development Board--business leaders and agency representatives--are selected for two year terms by their County Commissioners. The Board is staffed by the High Country Council of Governments, which provides daily oversight of programs and activities under the Board's auspices.

To view the Executive Summary, click here.