Southeast KANSASWORKS, Inc. has completed its first round of training under its new Workforce Professional Registered Apprenticeship. The organization received a Meadowlark Grant to become a sponsor to run the apprenticeship program to train staff and plans to complete at least three rounds of the program.
According to Executive Director Leanne Kehres, the program uses the National Guidelines for Apprenticeship Standards created by the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP). The standards are a model for developing local apprenticeship programs registered with the Office of Apprenticeship (OA) or a State Apprenticeship Agency (SAA) for the occupation of Workforce Development Specialist.
Southeast KANSASWORKS’ first round of training was completed with Career Advisors and is structured as a blended model based on the organization’s needs with on-the-job training, in-person training, and online coursework. Additional Kansas-specific training was added on topics relevant to the state and area.
Kehres said they expect to have the second round of training include a business services module and the third round include a supervisory component. If additional funds are still available, another round of Career Advisors will complete the apprenticeship program.
The program utilizes a Registered Apprenticeship Program Manager specific to the organization. This program manager works with the apprentices to follow up on questions or concerns about the program and keeps close contact with Kansas’ state Registered Apprenticeship personnel. In addition, each participant is assigned a mentor, who is part of the management team. Mentors hold regular scheduled check-ins with apprentices.
Once the program is completed, each apprentice will have attained NAWDP’s Certified Workforce Development Professional (CWDP) credential and receive a $1/hour raise.
Kehres says building a registered apprenticeship program internally does present a challenge as there are a lot of things you have to think about differently than you would if you were doing a registered apprenticeship, for example, in a manufacturing organization. Kehres brought in an external trainer to complete the training portion.
“It helps to have an outside entity with the knowledge and experience to help you figure it out,” she said. “We do this for a living but when it’s yours internally sometimes you need that outside influence to help you move things along or process things differently.”
The structure of the apprenticeship program has also been a great value-add for employees.
“You’re learning a lot as you come in but when you have time to go through class and process it, it compliments what you are learning on the job,” said Kehres. “They have time in between to do other parts and pieces but have time to come back and ask questions.”
Arra Whittley, a Youth Career Advisor who was part of the first round of apprentices, agreed.
“I appreciate that we had the opportunity to do the training,” she said. “I feel more confident in my ability to do this job. I was able to grasp and capture so much more having dedicated time to slow down and get more in-depth with the information.”
Whittley, who had previously worked with the foster care system, said although she had transferrable skills to being a Youth Career Advisor there were many things that she had to learn to do differently such as more in-depth case management which the registered apprenticeship helped her with.
“Overall the biggest help was having an in-person trainer who was a living testament,” she said. “Listening to her life experiences and how she handled different situations made it real and gave me some ideas about how to solve different issues.”
Whittley said the online component was also beneficial, allowing her to reference printed materials for later use.
“If you haven’t come across something, you have that information to fall back on to look up and retrieve,” she said.
Overall, Kehres said this has been a great opportunity to invest in her employees with professional development.
“It’s about making sure that we are practicing what we preach as far as providing customers with these types of opportunities,” she said. “We need to do the same for our staff.”
