Workforce Development
TCA’s Board of Directors engaged in a year-long strategic thinking process as we worked to update our strategic plan in 2017. Our study of workforce issues, both in general and specific to the ready-mix industry, convinced us that retention of existing workers is a major concern. A key factor to increase retention – regardless of the industry – is training and development opportunities for the existing workforce. We found that our ready-mix members had almost no formal training for ready-mix operators, aside from basic safety training. To help our members address this need, TCA launched the TCA Online Academy in 2018. TCA is first focused on creating content aimed at ready-mix operators to provide training and development opportunities for employees working for our member companies. Future development plans will include content for quality control, plant managers and other ready-mix positions as well as content for concrete installers.
In the fall of 2018, TCA formed a working partnership with both the Kentucky Concrete Association and the Carolinas Ready Mixed Concrete Association to expand the reach of our online learning platform. This now joint effort of the three state groups is called the Concrete Career Academy and will officially launch under this name in April of 2019. All three groups are working together to develop and deliver content to the platform, as well as to create a series of credentials that will be issued to those completing required work through the Academy. A tangible first step was taken by the group in 2018 as we jointly developed and delivered a training needs survey to the ready-mix members in each state. Well over 100 responses to the survey were received with strong participation from all states included in the survey. Information gained from the survey was extremely valuable to guide content development for the platform.
The credentials earned on the platform will take the form of live digital badges that enable the badge earners to share their credentials on social media platforms or as part of their email signatures. Anyone curious about the badges can click on the credential and see what requirements had to be met in order for the badge to be earned. Digital badges can become the foundation of a personal professional resume for ready-mix operators and other front-line workers in the concrete construction industry. This ability to document knowledge and skills earned through experience and education is key to increasing pride for our current and future workforce, as well as a critical factor in our industry’s ability to retain talent in a very competitive environment. A sneak preview of the online site for the Concrete Career Academy can be seen by clicking the link above. Some content can be previewed but the site is undergoing development work and will be changing prior to the April 2019 launch. Please note that the URL for this site will be changing in February, 2019 to reflect the new name.
Also related to TCA’s overall efforts in the workforce space, we launched an online Career Center focused on the concrete industry in 2018. A link to the TCA Career Center is included here on the right. TCA members can post jobs at discounted rates and concrete industry personnel can post resumes here to stay in touch with the latest opportunities in the concrete industry in Tennessee and beyond.
In late 2018 TCA began work on another survey designed to measure engagement and satisfaction of mixer operators working in Tennessee. Hearing first-hand from our front-line mixer operators is the best way to develop a strategy to attract new hires to this position, as well as to determine what changes need to be made to keep the talent already working in our industry. Because of the importance of this information, TCA hired a professional survey consultant to guide survey design and to perform analysis on the survey data. The work on the survey was completed in December of 2018, and the survey will be open for response in January 2019 with the results to be shared with TCA members at our Annual Convention in February 2019. TCA plans to continue to administer this survey periodically over time to measure changes and to keep our workforce efforts in touch with those we want to attract and retain.
Finally, Executive Director Sparkman is serving on the NRMCA Workforce Development Committee (WDC) and is leading one of the task groups (Partnering with Schools) developed by the committee. Director Sparkman attended the inaugural meeting for the new WDC in Kansas City, and participated in all three meetings during 2018, including the committee report at the 2018 ConcreteWorks event in September.