Framework for Doing Business

The Council is a powerful mechanism for comprehensive, community-wide workforce development planning and coordination. The Council promotes the alignment and integration of education, training and employment efforts coupled closely with economic revitalization strategies. The Council oversees a regional workforce development system that provides funding, direction, and a commitment of support where services exemplify the following shared principles, beliefs, and priorities:

Visionary Leadership

Leadership is a catalyst for change and works to remove barriers to change processes.  Leaders inspire, motivate, and encourage the entire workforce to contribute, to be innovative, and to embrace change.  Senior leaders set direction, create a customer focus, establish clear and visible values, and build high expectations.

market based

The system is driven by the demands of customers, particularly employer customers.  Employment and training programs should meet an identified need.  Time and resources are focused on matters that create customer value or build upon the system’s ability to do so.

comprehensive

The system strives to build capacity of communities to engage each other in partnerships that balance priorities, share resources and work towards improvements.  As a whole, the system offers a wide array of services to those in need, whatever their need, accordingly. Time and resources are focused on matters that create customer value or build upon the system's ability to do so.

outcome and results focused

The system must produce results to establish and maintain its relevance.  The workforce system is driven by the Council’s comprehensive plan based on the needs of the local labor market and the system’s overall performance to meet outcome-based goals. Each component programs’ measurement of concrete results contributes to the performance of the workforce system but they do not define that system in and of themselves.

quality conscious

The system provides services of the highest quality.  Feedback from customers is measured and acted upon to drive improvements in individual programs.  Continuous improvement is achieved by challenging the status-quo and seeking a better way. Creative problem solving and shared learning are embraced, including continuous improvement of existing approaches and significant change or innovation.

customer friendly

The system (and all its parts) should be easily accessible, easily navigable, flexible, and adaptable to changing demand.  It must be well known and “transparent” to all its potential customers.

integrated service delivery

The system management and oversight is independent of any single program or service provider.  A single set of strategic goals, plans and objectives, standards and evaluation criteria apply to all the various component programs.  These help keep service providers aware of and focused on overall service quality and overall customer satisfaction, and working together as an integrated system rather than as a collection of free-standing entities.