The Penn Foster Blog

Common misconception: Once an individual learns the technical skills required of a particular trade, this person is also ready to succeed in their career. Unfortunately, many employees who enter the workforce lack the essential skills needed to thrive in a professional setting. According to a new report by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 68% of HR professionals report having a difficult time recruiting in today's talent market.1  Within such a competitive market, what can organizations do to prepare the next generation of workers to be career-ready? 

The responsibilities of a workforce investment board are vast, and chief among them is to oversee local career centers where job seekers can find employment information and connect to career development and training opportunities in the area. To do this well, WIBs need a clear understanding of the needs of the community they serve. Launch a proactive effort to unearth the needs of the people in your community with these four tips:

Inmate reentry programs are, by design, intended to provide a smooth transition for convicts heading back into civilian life. These programs often include a range of components such as drug or alcohol treatment, anger management, spiritual counseling, parenting classes, and classes on budgeting/financial health. Increasingly, many correctional facilities are discovering that a high school diploma is another vital component that supports inmate reentry.

Penn Foster is proud to introduce a suite of Common Core aligned curriculum into our single high school course offerings. With these courses, youth organizations, employers, and secondary school partners will be able to further prepare students for post-secondary success by promoting deeper learning, critical thinking, and problem solving. The introduction of these common core courses is aimed at improving student outcomes both during their time with Penn Foster and in their endeavors afterwards.

Students who were homeschooled for high school are exceptionally college-ready, according to U.S. News & World Report.1 In a study conducted by Dr. Michael Cogan of the University of St. Thomas2, 66.7 percent of homeschooled students went on to graduate from four-year colleges, compared to 57.5 percent of their peers who attended traditional high school. Although homeschooled students are ready for college, career college recruiters face a challenge attracting them, since promotional strategies geared toward traditional high school students may not reach homeschooled audiences. Career colleges seeking to attract homeschooled students must take measures specifically designed to reach this target market. Here are five ways career college recruiters can reach out to homeschooled students.

Corporate training has historically been offered as a perk for white-collar employees. But with free, educational content being made readily available and a culture of constant learning influencing our everyday lives - a subtle but significant shift is happening across the workforce. Companies interested in offering upskilling opportunities to their employees are beginning to recognize that "gray collar" and blue collar jobs also require training dollars. By distributing funds out to reach all employees, and by focusing on building greater, more robust, personalized, and flexible training programs, companies should benefit greatly by empowering their entire workforce.

Last week, Jobs for the Future, a national nonprofit working to ensure educational and economic opportunity, hosted its first annual summit. Entitled Voices for Opportunity and Economic Mobility, the summit brought together over 650 educators, employers, funders, policymakers, and researchers in conversation and collaboration on how to push forward the initiatives needed to improve economic mobility. The engagement at the panels and workshops of the summit was exceptional and sought to give all members of the educational ecosystem a common language with which to work.  

Institutions of higher education could soon face an existential crisis as more young people decide that college debt is too oppressive. A substantial number of them may even choose to skip the traditional college experience altogether. It might seem more appealing to get a job or start a business right after high school.

As many organizations face the growing challenge of a tightening talent market and generational shifts, it's important to think about how to retain those employees once they join your organization. And since "up to 20 percent of turnover occurs in the first 45 days" according to a recent SHRM article, getting the new hire experience right is crucial to your organization's success. Here are 4 ways new employees often struggle and what  you can do to ensure that they are progressing from the start.

Your hourly employees are the face of your quick-serve restaurant- responsible for the day-to-day interactions between your customers and your business. These positions are often plagued with high turnover rates and unfortunately, sometimes the people filling them fail to deliver the quality of service your brand promises. Training and skills development are excellent tools, but they should be thought of as tactics to enhance already-existing characteristics, ones that can't always be be taught. When hiring hourly employees for your restaurant, ensure they fit front-line job requirements by looking for these characteristics: