Last month, George Pernsteiner, Chancellor of the Oregon University System posed the question, ”how do we educate enough Oregonians that they and the state are successful?”
This question was posed as it relates to graduating high school, technical schools and college students and their contributions to growing the state. While I think there’s no question we need to educate everyone to be a contributing member of the state, and society, in particularly increasing the high school graduation rate, here are three simple thoughts on educating not just enough, but all students.
Numero Uno: Expectation
Raise the expectation on all students and they’ll achieve it. The US military uses the crawl, walk, run philosophy. Maybe a Zero (Big 0) Failure policy statewide? While the statewide policy is focused on closing the achievement gap, the plan is executed at the district level in the classroom. Who holds districts accountable? The parents and school board of those districts of course. We could start with raising the bar. Once hired, management need be managers and lay out their expectations of their staff and check in periodically to make sure they’re tracking. This applies to students as well.
Numero Dos: Ownership
Encouraging ownership at the youngest age. Kids, often, are not given enough ownership of anything on campus, and that’s unfortunate. Unless we get involved in sports, clubs etc., we may go through 12-years of schooling and never given ownership. When we are tapped to go to national conferences or to present our projects overseas it brings meaning to our studies. It cements our learning about horticulture, engineering and history. Ownership creates responsibility. Teachers play a vital role in this formula. I’ve met Oregon teachers who do this phenomenally well. In high school, the Student Leadership Program was instrumental, and as a migrant farm worker super motivating.
Numero Tres: Empowerment
Empower students and parents that college is not only possible, but a must. There’s no question that the higher degree you have obtained the more you might earn. Colleges are modifying their marketing in ways we’ve not seen before. Today for instance I was on an online live-chat with MIT Sloan admissions officers using Accepted as an interactive platform. There were over 200+ participants asking questions about admissions, programs, requirements, etc. through a moderator. Think about it for a second. What if we applied this same technology in the classroom? We already do it socially through email, chat, texting and even social networks like Facebook and Twitter. At the higher education level, Western Oregon University conducts, on a case-by-case basis, on the spot admissions resulting in filled seats for the next class year. Are they cognizant of their diverse demographics? You bet. Empowering students and parents begins at the top. Leaders everywhere must recognize that the ball is in their court.
The Market
The market is ever evolving and changing like one massive turbulent tornado. It can be violent and leave employees stranded with same day layoffs. I spoke to a lady who had given of herself for the same company for fifteen years and HR called her in on a Monday morning to say that the company was letting her go. No sympathy. No compassion. Just a good bye. She was asked if she’d rather leave early and get paid, or stay the rest of the day. The employment market can be rough.
And, it can be pretty obvious, like turnover due to retirees or mid-career changers. I won’t bore you with what you know: that organizations, all organizations turn people, grow and require new talent, whether we’re talking healthcare, education, government or even the military. The market demands an educated and diverse workforce ready to deploy to those local companies that have just arrived in town, or fill a state government post. One of the deciding factors a company relocating here is whether the talent exists to execute the work. The alternative: import their talent if necessary. Our state’s economy is highly dependent on two factors: growing industries and growing talent. As leaders we must fervously look for opportunities to groom our own Oregon talent, to integrate a “train the trainer” program where mentors are assigned to their subordinates, diversify the workforce and utilize untapped knowledge in the community, deploy organizational talent to the schools and demonstrate to the next generation that the market requires their passion, innovation, creativity and persistence.
If I was given a mandate by the local CEO of a company and they offered me the opportunity to shadow and learn the trade. You bet I’d be empowered to meet the market head on. We may not realize, but leadership is moving people and ideas from point A to point B.
Your turn.
Do you think the company and industry come first or the educated workforce? Or both? What do you see as challenges in your local area as it relates to employment, market demands and workforce diversity? Look forward to having a conversation below. It’s okay to say this wan’t useful too.
David Molina is the co-founder of BilingualHire. He can be reached at: [david at bilingualhireco dot com], direct 1+(503) 708-4614 or you can follow him on Twitter.