General goals
In a coordinating partnership with major public and private transportation organizations, SWTWC will disseminate information on apprenticeships, succession planning, knowledge transfer, and talent management; including best practices to create and implement said programs in order to effectively recruit, retain, and train the transportation workforce.
Duration
Status: Ongoing
Anticipated Partnership Duration: March 2016 – Center Lifetime
Timeline and Overview
A meeting with the Supply Chain & Logistics Action Subcommittee, held on March 7, 2016, featured a discussion on webinar apprentice programs. Stefan Minder, SWTWC Steering Committee member and Vice President for Kuehne + Nagel offered to share data for a pilot apprenticeship program Kuehne + Nagel is developing. After a follow-up discussion with subcommittee members, the SWTWC team agreed to implement a series of webinars to promote apprenticeships in 2017.
The series of informational webinars will focus on delivering a “21st century apprentice narrative.” The webinars will promote exemplary apprenticeship programs, highlight the benefits for both employers and employees, and feature best practices to create, develop, and implement apprenticeship programs.
Through in-depth discussions with various stakeholders; e.g. state DOTs and thought leaders in public, private agencies, researchers, and academia, the webinar series have expanded to include “Succession Planning,” “Knowledge Transfer,” and “Talent Management,” and are now titled: “Transportation Career Pathways.”
The first webinar is scheduled to launch in early 2017, and will provide an overview of workforce opportunities available in different sectors within transportation and transferrable skills for specific jobs. Although information provided in the webinars is purposefully designed to build off of one another; the webinars may also be viewed as a stand-alone prodcuts.
At the time of this submission, SWTWC had identified potential partners and connected with representatives from the following organizations: American Public Transportation Association, Transportation Workforce Institute, Advanced Transportation and Manufacturing, Transportation Research Board (TRB) Standing Committee on Education and Training and Subcommittee on Webinar, Los Angeles Trade and Technical College, Long Beach City College, and California State University, Long Beach to discuss mutual benefits of hosting a successful series of webinars featuring apprenticeships, succession planning, knowledge transfer, and talent management.
Key Deliverables
- Series of informational webinars on exemplary transportation apprenticeships, succession planning, knowledge transfer, and talent management across the nation
- Documentation of parties interested in apprenticeships, succession planning, knowledge transfer, and talent management
- Partnerships within the transportation industry to develop and implement the mentioned workforce development efforts
- SWTWC is also reaching out to add the following organizations to the coordinating partnership to host, promote, and speak in the webinar series:
- Advanced Transportation and Manufacturing;
- FedEx;
- Long Beach City College;
- UPS;
- TRB Education and Training Committee;
- TRB Webinar Subcommittee; and
- Transportation Workforce Institute.
Anticipated Outcomes
The series of informational webinars will serve to drive workforce development efforts to the forefront by increasing awareness of the issues and providing near-term solutions for industry stakeholders. By highlighting the advantages of implementing apprenticeships and the importance of succession planning, knowledge transfer, and talent management in the webinars, stakeholders are given options to address workforce challenges, and the best practices to develop and implement each option or a combination of them.
The webinars will also enable SWTWC to facilitate more partnerships focused on transportation workforce development by identifying interested agencies through the webinar attendees and registrants.
Furthermore, the webinars will increase general awareness of opportunities available in transportation and the various sectors within transportation; including transferrable skills from different industries to specific jobs.
It is also expected to increase understanding of how valuable apprenticeships, succession planning, knowledge transfer, and talent management are in recruiting, training, and retaining a skilled and talented workforce. These webinars are expected to increase the transportation labor market pool and engage potential employees with valuable information for ease of entry.
Contribution Analysis
- SWTWC identified apprenticeships as a valuable tool to recruit, retain, and train employees.
- SWTWC conceptualized the series of informational webinars that feature exemplary apprenticeship programs across the nation.
- SWTWC identified knowledge transfer, succession planning, and talent management through industry engagement as additional tools to recruit, retain, and train employees.
- SWTWC will coordinate speakers and moderators, and host, record, and archive the webinars.
- SWTWC will create and disseminate a document that identifies all the best practices in the creation, development, and implementation of apprenticeships, knowledge transfer, succession planning, and talent management specific to transportation.
- SWTWC will document any partnerships that are a direct result from the webinars.
- SWTWC will also include the new pilot apprenticeship programs in the Center’s data clearinghouse and compendium, and promote and feature pilot apprenticeship programs on our Center’s website.
- SWTWC will develop content material, coordinate speakers, and lead marketing efforts for the webinar series.
- SWTWC Steering Committee Member and Kuehne + Nagel Vice President Stefan Minder agreed to share information on the company’s expanding and successful apprenticeship program titled “Freight Forwarding Apprenticeship.”
Documentation
None