From 1997 through 2007, Workforce Innovation Networks (WINs) worked with local employer organizations across the country that are on the cutting edge of workforce development, testing the proposition that they can play a unique intermediary role in achieving a dual goal:
- Improving the economic prospects of disadvantaged jobseekers and workers; and
- Meeting the needs of their member firms for employees at the entry level and above.
Building Employer-Responsive Workforce Systems at the State Level is one of four "how to" manuals published at the conclusion of the WINs initiative. It helps state-level
employer intermediaries organize and facilitate task forces of key stakeholders in order
to make state workforce systems more effective and responsive to
employer needs and to better align state economic and workforce development
policies and programs.
The other three manuals are also available for download. They are as follows:
- Creating Community Advancement Intermediaries: Implementing a model that enables employers to move entry-level, low-skilled workers up career ladders, at the same time creating vacancies for new workers entering the job market.
- Partnering with One-Stop Career Centers: Advice for businesses on collaborating with One-Stop Career Centers in strong public-private partnerships to train both incumbent workers and new entrants to the labor force.
- Providing Business Services: Positioning employer intermediaries to provide business services through the local workforce system—and using this new position as a tool to grow both association membership and the number of employers who use and benefit from that system.
