Let’s be clear: The training industry is full of hard-working people whose basic job is to make other hard-working people excel, succeed and contribute. It may be a stretch to call it a calling, but we’re still in an industry with its collective eye on a very appealing prize: Success and advancement.
With that in mind, it’s increasingly nice to know we’re not working in a bubble. Training’s role is clearly being recognized more deeply, and beyond the hallowed halls of headquarters.
I’m assuming you watched or at least heard highlights form President Obama’s State of the Union address last night. Taking politics completely off the table, it’s nice to hear the word “training” come out of a president’s mouth, presented as an issue of importance along with items like security, the economy and fair trade.
“An economy built to last is one where we encourage the talent and ingenuity of every person in this country,” President Obama said. Certainly no one in the training industry could form a cogent argument against that statement.
President Obama also touched on training after sharing a startling fact: At a time when so many Americans are out of work, the science and technology industries have twice as many openings as they have qualified workers. “That’s inexcusable,” the president said. “And we know how to fix it.”
Training anyone?
That’s the part of the speech when the commander in chief introduces someone in the crowd and illustrates his point with a personal touch. In this case, we met Jackie Bray, a single mom from North Carolina who learned how to work with robotics through a training partnership between a factory and a community college. The company created a course for the college, paid Jackie’s tuition and then hired her.
President Obama used that story to call for a national commitment to train 2 million Americans with skills that lead directly to employment. He urged Congress to “give more community colleges the resources they need to become community career centers – places that teach people skills that local businesses are looking for right now.”
It’s hard to argue with that as well. Same with this:
“I want to cut through the maze of confusing training programs, so that from now on, people like Jackie have one program, one website, and one place to go for all the information and help they need. It's time to turn our unemployment system into a reemployment system that puts people to work,” President Obama said. “These reforms will help people get jobs that are open today. But to prepare for the jobs of tomorrow, our commitment to skills and education has to start earlier.”
Like always with these speeches, the words are pretty and the thoughts are thoughtful. How the flowery phrases translate into action is always what remains to be seen. But when the message is this universal, this beyond party politics, it’s easy to hope for real action and real change.
What do you think? If properly financed, managed and supported, is training and corporate/college partnerships the magic bullet for our economic crisis?
What can your organization do to help?
