Training the work force

Nation's Business, March, 1986 by Andrew J. Sherman

Training The Work Force

Azie Taylor Morton, president and principal owner of Stami Corporation, operator of two Wendy's franchises in Philadelphia, has discovered that when she hires employees she must spend precious time teaching them the fundamentals of good work habits.

One man, now a star employee, started on the job with a marked lack of enthusiasm for doing what was entailed--he even refused to wear the required uniform. Morton says it took her a year to instill in him a productive work ethic.

Hers is not an unusual story among the nation's small enterprises. They "encounter these problems over and over," she says. "It is very costly. The time I spend training new employees is very burdensome."

Small businesses are the primary entry-level training ground of two thirds of America's work force. Leaders in the small business field say it cannot adequately meet this responsibility without more assistance from government and the academic community. They are calling for stronger federal programs and incentives, plus a more dedicated partnership with educators.

Thirty state conferences have been held so far in preparation for the White House Conference on Small Business in August, and delegates at all of them have pointed out that small businesses, unlike larger corporations, cannot afford extensive in-house training.

Demographic changes in the next 10 years will mean many fewer workers at the entry level and greater competition among employers for the fully trained. A Bureau of Labor Statistics report says: "Labor force trends reflect the movement of the baby boom generation from the ages of ... entry to prime working ages." In 1984 there were 17.4 million workers aged 18-24; by 1995, that will decline to 14.2 million. The 25-54 age group, on the other hand, will balloon from 45 million to 55 million--75 percent of the work force.

Says Roberts T. Jones, deputy assistant secretary for the Labor Department's Employment and Training Administration: "Small businesses often serve as a training ground for employees who then go on to big businesses. All the time that goes into creating an expert is lost when he or she is hired away by a larger company."

Before they leave school for the work force, "students need to be made aware of the benefits of working and staying at a small business," adds Ralph Murray, president of IDL,Inc., a Pittsburgh designer and manufacturer of advertising displays. Murray is also a member of a special White House task force on education and training.

As it currently stands, the outlook for the small business labor force is grim. Small business owners attending the state conferences have cited not only changes in work force demographics, but also the technological revolution, increased international competition, alarming illiteracy rates and inadequate business education as factors that leave them wondering where they will find properly educated and trained employees in the years ahead.

Some programs are already helping. The Job Training Partnership Act, which replaced the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act, provides job training and employment services for economically disadvantaged adults and youths and dislocated workers (those who have lost their jobs due to plant costings), among others.

State and local governments are primarily responsible for managing and administering job training programs under JPTA. Governors approve plans developed by local Private Industry Councils, which are composed of local education and training authorities and business leaders. JTPA has served more than 1.5 million disadvantaged and dislocated workers since October, 1983.

"JPTA has been particularly successful because it is run primarily by the local PICs," says Jones. "Over 11,000 business owners serve on these pICs nationwide. This helps to ensure that the training programs are responsive to the job skills needed locally."

A report of the Washington-based American Association for Adult and Continuing Education shows that businesses have contributed facilities, equipment, money, counseling, staff and input on curriculum development to joint education and training programs. But, the report concludes, "we are only scratching the surface."

These joint efforts "raise new challenges and issues for the public education system," says Kent McGuire, a senior policy analyst with the Education Commission of the States, headquartered in Denver. "Schools have to be in the business of training, teaching good work habits and giving students some sense of what makes the business world tick."

Adds McGuire: "Small business needs to collaborate with schools at a much earlier stage in the education process. By the time a kid reaches 12th grade, his work habits may have already solidified."

One such partnership has been successfully established between Treasure Isle, Inc., and the Hillsborough County, Fla., adult education program. Treasure Isle is a 500-employee seafood company that wanted to demonstrate its interest in training people for better jobs. The company donated a large double-wide trailer for a training center on company grounds, stocked it with reading equipment and typewriters and opened it to all adults in the community.