While we grow up to become responsible humans with a stable career, our society, on the other hand, continuously challenges us with a competitive environment where every individual is in a rush to be at first. The advent of advanced technology, a competitive environment, and workplace automation in recent times has resulted in lower wages and a lesser number of opportunities for people with no or fewer skills. While we strive to be all-rounders to ensure a promised career or be first in our respective fields, it becomes necessary for us to enhance our skills each day. Our major concern has changed from just finding a job to now developing and retaining a stable profession. It has become a need of an hour to create, sustain, and retain a viable workforce. 

What is Workforce development? 

Workforce development comprises different sets of activities, policies, and strategies developed to improve an individual’s potential at the workplace. It acts as a tool for individuals to develop and grow the skills needed for their success.

Every year, in September, the US celebrates National Workforce Development Month to analyze the current state of the workforce, to spot loopholes and opportunities, and hence aims to collectively work towards improvement. Initially, in 2005, the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP) designated May as a month for awarding workforce development heroes; however, it shifted to September in 2012. 

Certified Workforce Development Professional (CWDP) certification was initiated by NAWDP in 1999 and is valid for 3 years, providing both technical skills and practical knowledge, therefore acting as a huge asset in building one’s career into high-paying jobs. 

Understanding the importance of fulfilling careers, workforce development ensures to fit the various needs of an organization as well as of employees through different components such as 

Skill Development: Efficient skills and training programs offered by workforce development prove to be a central pillar of equipping individuals with the necessary tools to excel in their respective careers. By fostering enhanced skills, organizations ensure their employees work effectively, which will result in improved outcomes. 

Continuing Education: Lifelong learning for an employee will provide him the adaptability needed in changing job markets. This might also be inculcated by workshops, seminars, online courses, etc. 

Awareness: It has become very crucial for employees as well as employers to be aware of recent trends, newly launched laws, etc. Workforce development even ensures job placement services to bridge the gap between employers and job seekers. This might include resume writing, interview preparation, etc. 

Collaboration: Workforce Development majorly works to engage and connect different business professionals, employers, freelancers, educational institutions, and workforce agencies that might create programs to align educational learning with industry needs. 

Advantages of Workforce Development 

September is a month that acts as an annual reminder of the importance of investing in human resources in the US. In other words, celebrating September as a national workforce development month is acknowledging and reanalyzing the benefits of workforce development. 

•  Bridging The Talent Gap – By offering different and varied kinds of skills and training programs, workforce development aims to minimize and even shut the talent gap and hence it provides an empowered workforce to the employers, which in turn proves to be an asset for the businesses.  

•  Improved Outcome/productivity – Maintaining a position in a market with different competitive brands might become problematic sometimes. Therefore, it is crucial to have a talented workforce under you. Workforce development assists employers to cling to their top professionals and therefore retain a standing in the business market. 

•  Efficient Opportunities – In current times, finding a job is not an ultimate goal but seeking valuable opportunities at the right time is very significant for an individual to have a promised and successful future. Programs offered by workforce development provide the right opportunities at the right time, leading to the growth and prosperity of both companies and job seekers. 

• Minimizing The Turnover – Workforce planning and talent management go hand in hand; however, high turnover rates can result in disruption of the same. With resource optimization, organized workforce planning, and data-driven vision supplied by workforce development help to reduce costs and generate higher revenues for a company

• Economic Growth – Business and job growth is an essential part of economic development which requires individuals with upright training and enhanced skills. Investing in workforce development is fruitful as it improves productivity, reduces turnover, and creates a skilled workforce, resulting in economic expansion.   

Disadvantages Of Workforce Development 

Like each coin has two sides, there are always two aspects attached to a thing. Therefore, it becomes necessary for us to analyze the outcome of strategies of workforce development, based not only on the merits it offers to us but also on the challenges we face during the journey to achieve the desired result. 

• Time-Consuming – Training and skill development programs are focused on thorough learning and detailed understanding, which is a tedious process. This is one of the major concerns many companies face while providing their employees, the desired skills and training to achieve proficiency in their respective work.  

• Funding: With appropriate amounts of capital, a business can reach new heights however, workforce development relies on different sectors of funding, which can lead to instability and unpredictability. For many businesses, workforce development might not be a priority and it might even shift a little downwards when it requires a lot of funds.  

• Poor Teamwork – “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller. Teamwork assists people and even businesses to break records and stand out in a competitive market. However, the absence of teamwork can result in poor workforce development. Therefore, it becomes necessary for us to focus on developing teamwork and valuing relationships before putting workforce development into the real picture. 

Conclusion 

 As we conclude our blog, it becomes highly essential for us to understand and reflect on the need for workforce development month. This month calls for attention to the importance of the link between training, skill development, educational institutions, and businesses. By recognizing not only the ease offered by workforce development but also the challenges we face in implementing it. We can work towards better economic growth and therefore a promising future for both employees as well as business. Workforce Development Month promotes lifelong learning and employee retention, ensuring that the workforce is not only prepared to meet current market needs but is also able to navigate through evolving market structures.