Training Employees on Someone Else's Dime

More employers are ramping up hiring and there’s still a sizeable pool of unemployed, so making matches should be easier than ever, right?

Not so much.

While there are plenty of people job hunting, they don’t necessarily have the skill sets employers need.

However, there are programs and funds available to help employers develop the talent they need and for job seekers to learn new marketable skills and get back to work.

On the Job Training

Among those is the On the Job Training (OJT) program, offered through NH Works, a consortium of business, education, social service and state agencies, which provides a one-stop shop to help job seekers and employers. The NH Department of Resources and Economic Development’s Office of Workforce Opportunity administers the federal funds used for the program.

Through OJT, companies can train an unemployed person for a position and receive up to 90 percent reimbursement if the person has been unemployed 15.5 weeks or longer. The OJT Program provides job placement specialists who work with the employer to design the training program.

“We have to get people back to work; that’s what drives the economy,” says Michael Power, workforce community development director of the Office of Workforce Opportunity. “And employers are ready to hire, but they’re reluctant. So what we do with On the Job Training, we tell the employer if you’re willing to train somebody, you do the interviews, you hire. We’ll give you a pool of eligible candidates. We’ll tell you who qualifies. If you choose to hire them, we’ll pay a portion of their wages while they are training. It’s a no brainer for the employer if they hire an employee.”

According to the NH Works 2012 annual report, as of June 2012 there were 139 participants in OJT, and 89 exited the program with employment. Of those, 72 exited the program with the OJT employer. Forty eight of these jobs were in the service industry and 49 were in manufacturing.

The rest were a mix of construction, information technology, retail, engineering, administration, and transportation industries. All of these jobs were full time, paying an average wage of $14.72 an hour.

Among the companies accessing those funds was Physicians’ Resources, an Amherst-based medical billing firm with 65 employees. It needed to expand but did not have the money to screen and train new employees. Through the OJT program, the company was able to get a substantial amount of training costs reimbursed, according to the annual report, and trained and hired three employees. Power says while some larger companies come to NH Works looking for training, the majority of people accessing the organization’s services are small business owners.

Return to Work

The Department of Employment Security offers the Return to Work program, which allows an employer to essentially audition a prospective employee during a trial period of up to 24 hours per week for six weeks with no cost to the employer. Meanwhile, the job seeker continues to receive unemployment benefits. The state also pays the employer’s workers comp cost, a huge cost for many employers.

“There’s no investment on the part of the employer,” Power says. “It’s what they usually call, ‘try before you buy.’ And by the same token, the job seeker is trying out the company. And if either party determines that job isn’t the place for me, no harm, no foul. There’s no penalty.”

That same company can use the program as often as it likes, Power says. Further, if the trainee works out and the employer wants to provide the new hire with additional training, the employer can access the OJT program.

Job Training Fund

In addition to administering federal funds for the above programs, the Office of Workforce Opportunity also administers the Job Training Fund, a one-to-one matching state grant. (For example, if a company invests $10,000 in training, the state will match it with $10,000.)

The Job Training Fund is available to private businesses in NH that pay quarterly taxes into the NH Unemployment Trust Fund. Companies must apply for funds. Training is provided through the Community College System of NH (though businesses can get a waiver if the needed training is not available at a community college).

These funds are used to train workers in just about everything, from technical skills to project management training. Power says many employers use this fund to train incumbent employees on new equipment. “It really helps employers keep the skills of their employees up to date,” Power says.

The money for the fund comes directly from the unemployment taxes employers pay on the first $16,000 of their employees’ wages. The fund distributes just over $1 million annually to employer applicants for training-related costs, Power says. This training is available to every sector and reimburses employers for training costs. 

In FY 2012, 261 grants were awarded to businesses across the state, which resulted in training for more than 13,500 employees, according to the annual report. The smallest grant allowed is $750 and the largest is $100,000. More than $1 million is usually available for disbursement each year, Power says. This has resulted in  $5.9 million in grants since October 2007, with employers contributing $8.5 million for a total of $14.4 million in new training for 17,643 NH workers, according to a May 31 Job Training Fund update.

In just the first six months of 2013, 15 companies received grants from the Job Training fund.  One example is the XMA Corporation of Manchester, which received $28,650 for Manchester Community College to train 24 employees in software, soldering, Six Sigma, accounting skills, customer service, conflict management, performance management, ISO, sales development training, safety and communications skills.

With its $49,356 grant, North American Equipment Upfitters Inc. in Hooksett trained 36 employees in aerial lift and body installation at Manchester Community College.  Further, Contitech Thermopol Inc. in Somersworth received $32,000 for training from NH Manufacturing Extension Project and Great Bay Community College for up to 170 employees in LEAN, Value Stream Mapping, Kaizen, team involvement, problem solving and supervisory skills.

WorkReadyNH

This program was the result of forums held with business leaders who expressed concern that new hires and those applying for work were seriously lacking some basic skills, says Jennifer Scotland, the WorkReadyNH director for Great Bay Community College in Portsmouth (each community college has its own director). The program focuses on teaching math, reading, communication and problem solving. The program also includes training on such soft skills such as showing up on time, dressing appropriately, meeting deadlines, communicating politely and professionally and working with others.

At the end of the training, a successful trainee receives two certificates, including the National Career Readiness Certificate, proof the trainee has the basic skills required to work. While the program is geared toward the unemployed, employers can, and do, use it for their existing workforce, Scotland says.

Since its launch in October 2011, roughly 2,000 participants have registered, with 608 graduating from the full program.

Community Colleges Get AMPed

The Community College System of NH, with funding from the Job Training Fund and other sources, works directly with businesses to develop training programs for workers, says Ross Gittell, chancellor of CCSNH. For example, he says, system officials at Great Bay Community College worked with Thermo Fisher Scientific in Portsmouth to create a program that trained its workers in project management, leadership and English as a Second Language. And Lakes Region Community College developed a program for NH Ball Bearing in Laconia that included technical training, machine repair, math and computers, Gittell says.

Another training option is the Advanced Manufacturing Partnerships in Education (AMPed NH), funded by a $20 million Doleta Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training grant. The program’s goals are to decrease a technical skills gap reported by advanced manufacturers in the state and increase the pipeline of highly skilled workers, says Desiree Crossley, a spokeswoman for the initiative who is a part of the grant administration team.

As part of AMPed NH, trainees can take short, non-credit courses targeted to specific needs of the company or industry that can be delivered on site, Crossley says. “We develop close working relationships with advanced manufacturers across the state,” she says. “When a training need arises, community college staff work with these employers to develop training programs custom designed to teach skills they’ve identified as in demand. The courses can run on their schedule and at their location, and they are generally taught by industry experts.”

As these programs are customized, Crossley says, the structure and cost vary. Through AMPed NH, the Community College system also offers more than two dozen certificate and associate degree programs in advanced manufacturing concentrations like advanced composites technology, electromechanics, mechatronics and automation/robotics, precision machining, engineering and physical sciences and precision welding.

More than 100 industry partners have supported or accessed training through AMPed NH, Crossley says.