WIOA State Plan Common Elements

Pure Michigan Talent Connect (Talent Connect), at MiTalent.org, brings together educators, employers, and talent into one centralized hub.  Strategic skills development, retraining tools, cutting edge labor market data and trends, networking, and employment matching opportunities are pulled together into one easy to use location.   Talent Connect features information and tools that job creators and job seekers need to make educated decisions concerning hiring, career choices, and other
talent-related efforts.  Talent Connect provides strategic tools for employers to help them identify and develop their talent base and gives job seekers the opportunity to create a personalized plan to help them more effectively navigate career decisions.  With a focus on retaining and attracting talent, Talent Connect helps employers attract, connect with, and hire the best employees.

 Talent Connect includes the following tools/resources: 

• eLearning Soft Skills Program – provides a universally accessible soft skills training resource for Michigan’s workforce for basic and foundational skills for the workplace.
   
• Pathfinder – an online career exploration tool that can help students, parents, counselors, and others find roadmaps to education, training, and career success.  Pathfinder helps users make more informed decisions about their options for a successful future by using real-time, value-added information to show return on investment on education and training opportunities.
   

• Pure Michigan Talent Connect (Talent Connect) - Talent Connect is a web-based labor exchange system that brings together employers, educators, and talent.  It is the launch pad for new jobs, careers, and talent.  Provides strategic tools for employers to help them identify and develop their talent base and give job seekers the opportunity to create a personalized plan to help them more effectively navigate career decisions.
   

• Michigan Training Connect (MiTC) - Michigan’s Eligible Training Provider List.  The Michigan Training Connect provides job seekers with the tools they need to choose a training program to become employed in a high-demand job or industry. 
   

• Going PRO in Michigan – is a public awareness campaign designed to elevate the perception of professional trades and to showcase opportunities in a variety of rewarding career pathways.

 The Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity collaborates with, and participates in strategic partnerships with employers through the implementation of: 

• Michigan’s Industry Cluster Approach (MICA) 2.0:  Michigan Industry Cluster Approach 2.0 is a framework in which many employers within a single industry jointly engage with the workforce system to identify their demand and challenges.  In this approach, talent issues may be handled more efficiently though multi-company, industry-focused employment and training programs.  As industry clusters are established, the focus shifts emphasis on talent issues to an industry basis, rather than working with a single employer at a time.  Regionally, partners including but not limited to, Michigan Works! Agencies (MWAs), business associations, and non-profits convene employers along with education providers, economic development organizations and other groups associated with workforce development to solve talent challenges.  Local clusters, formed based on local needs, are led by industry.  The hub of the cluster is a service provider, which researches information about jobs in demand, skill gaps, training needs, job seeker screening factors, and other related issues, The State’s key clusters are Agriculture, Business, Construction, Energy, Health Care, Information Technology, Manufacturing, and Mobility.
   

• Work-Based Learning:  The Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity’s work-based learning efforts align and leverage resources and cultivates partnerships to meet industry-driven demands related to workforce skills gaps.  Technical and advanced worker skills gaps are addressed through apprenticeships (including Registered Apprenticeships with the U.S. Department of Labor) and customized training programs, including the Michigan Advanced Technician Training Program, the Community College Skilled Trades Equipment Program, and the Going PRO Talent Fund Program, employers, Michigan’s workforce development system partners and other stakeholders are actively engaged to achieve industry-driven talent goals and objectives.

• Collaboration with Michigan Works! Business Services teams and employers to cultivate Registered Apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships to provide career paths to high-skilled, high-wage jobs in industries such as Agriculture, Construction, Energy, Health Care, Information Technology and Manufacturing for Michigan residents, including underrepresented populations, youth, women, ethnic minority communities, Native Americans, persons with disabilities, and veterans.
   
• Business Resource Networks (BRNs):  BRNs are a tool that provides resources to local companies with the goal of reducing employee turnover and creating a more stable workforce.  BRNs are operated by the local MWAs.  Companies participating in a BRN have an assigned Success Coach who works on-site at each business as an extension of their human resources department.  The Success Coach assists employees to help manage life’s challenges, enabling the employees to be more reliable and productive.  For employers, these services help to increase worker retention and productivity.  The BRN program offers services to individuals with one or more demonstrated or documented barriers to employment, including, but not limited to those who are:

• Returning citizens.
• Homeless.
• Have a mental or physical disability.
• Substance abusers.
• Living at, or below, the federal-established poverty limits.
• Lacking a high school diploma or high school equivalency.
• Challenged by long-term unemployment.
• Receiving state or federal public assistance.
• Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed (ALICE) households and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) clients.
   

• Michigan Works! Business Services team members work locally to coordinate customized training plans on behalf of employers to apply and benefit from the Going PRO Talent Fund, along with other work-based training opportunities, such as on-the-job training, customized training, incumbent worker training and registered apprenticeships.
   
• Rapid Response Team (RRT):  Michigan continues to provide a holistic service package for dislocated workers by incorporating partner presentations and targeting special populations.  Veteran Services, Michigan Rehabilitation Services, Migrant/Seasonal Farm Workers, and Talent Development Liaisons have representatives available to support Rapid Response events and/or Worker Orientation meetings.  These partners, along with the MWAs and Unemployment Insurance, offer eligible citizens more options to get back to work.  The RRT also worked to coordinate better alignment between Trade Adjustment Assistance with Rapid Response services by improving the incident tracking system and enhancing the intersection between the two programs. 
   
• The Business Solutions Professional Certification Training:  The Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity in collaboration with the Michigan Works! System has adopted the Business Solutions Professional Certification Training as a statewide common foundational training for individuals providing services to employers.  This adoption provides a common approach regardless of organizations for working with employers to diagnose problems and then design solutions to meet specific demands.  The Business Solutions Professional brings resources and services directly to the business eliminating much of the “red tape” and hassle of working with multiple providers.  There are Business Solutions Professionals practicing the Business Solutions approach in the MWAs, workforce development agencies, economic development agencies, community and four-year colleges, business development groups, unions, local and state government, and MSU extension.

 Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) – Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS) and Bureau of Services for Blind Persons (BSBP) 

Core Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act partners including Title I, Title II, and Title IV have agreed to collectively measure and track the following performance metrics for effective business engagement: 

• Retention (Retention with the same employer) – This approach captures the percentage of participants who exit and are employed with the same employer in the second and fourth quarters after exit.
   
• Repeat Employer/Business Customer Rate (total employers who utilize the Michigan Workforce System).  Percentage of repeat employers using services within the previous three years.  This approach tracks the percentage of employers who receive services that use core program services more than once.
   
• Employer Penetration Rate (Percentage of employers using services out of all employers in Michigan) – This approach tracks the percentage of employers who are using the core program services out of all employers represented in an area or State served by the public workforce system. 

MRS has a Business Network Division, with the vision to build and sustain partnerships with business and industry through effective services that are driven by the needs of employers.  These partnerships will lead to competitive integrated employment and career exploration opportunities for VR customers.  Partners will be engaged to create one primary public point of contact for an employer, while also connecting the business with a broad pipeline of workers across programs and agencies. 

MRS and BSBP are expanding business relationships with employers at the local level to identify and maximize competitive integrated employment opportunities and career exploration opportunities for adults and students.  MRS and BSBP will continue to utilize the Talent Acquisition Portal (TAP).  

Examples of MRS and BSBP business services include: 

• Expansion and enhancement of business solutions for Michigan businesses 
   
• Talent Development:

• No-Cost Recruitment
• Extended Recruitment Beyond the Local Area
• Out-of-State Recruitment, Talent Acquisition Portal©
• Collecting and Screening Resumes
• Pre-employment Assessment Tools
• Job Ready Talent Pool
• Customized Training Needs and Supports
• Paid Internships or Apprenticeships
• Vocational Counseling
   

• Connections to partners’ assets and services:

• Cost Effective Solutions
• Company Funding Assistance
• Connections to Michigan Works! and other business solutions providers
• Accommodation Services
• Job Analysis for performance elements and requirements
• Job Restructuring and/or Work Site Adjustment
• Reasonable Accommodations/Ergonomic Intervention
• Assistive Technology and Services
   

• Strategies for Workers with Physical, Cognitive and/or Behavioral Disabilities Risk Management/Staff Retention:

• Return to Work Strategies
• Job Maintenance Approaches
• Injury Prevention and Wellness Programming
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Services
• ADA Consultation, Guidance, and Education
• Windmills© Disability Awareness Training
• ADA Architectural Guidelines Site Assessment
   

• Expansion of the development of a coordinated response to business needs, utilizing resources from across every Planning Region. 
• Customization of training as a strategy for closing skills gaps.  The Michigan Career and Technical Institute has an excellent model for both short–term and technical training and the proper supports for people to be successful.  VR is continuing to develop methodologies to expand and export services to students, youth, and adults with disabilities statewide. 
• VR is exploring ways to develop staff/vendor skills in customized employment and to export appropriate training across the state. 
• Offering of technical assistance to business as well as workforce partners to remove barriers to employment.