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Employer Needs Assessment
To All Employers in and around Brooks, Colquitt, Grady, Mitchell, and Thomas counties:
The Development Authorities of Brooks, Colquitt, Grady, Mitchell, and Thomas counties that serve you are collaborating to grow your workforce now and in the future. The economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has caused an economic downturn for most areas and business sectors, and we are partnering with public school systems, technical colleges and universities in our region to increase the interest and commitment of students to fill the jobs available to them and to learn the skills needed to fill those jobs – and then to help you connect with a future workforce that is motivated, well-trained and ready to work.
The best way you can help is to share your needs and expectations as candidly and thoroughly as possible. We have developed an online needs assessment survey to define your organization’s current and future employment needs. Your answers will drive the curriculum planning and training program development that should have a positive impact on meeting your workforce needs both short and long term.
Our commitment is to help you develop the talent base you need to recover from any turmoil caused by the COVID-19 economic turndown and, in time, to surpass the accomplishments you enjoyed before the virus struck.
The following are the most frequently asked questions by respondents before they complete the survey. Please direct any specific questions you have any time, before or after you complete this survey, to our consultant:
Russ Moore/Seamless Education Associates, Inc.
(678) 876-2873
russ@seamlessed.com
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are we and what is our mission?
The Development Authorities of Brooks, Colquitt, Grady, Mitchell, and Thomas counties are formally united in a Joint Development Authority created by the legislature in 1998. We work together to identify and help solve economic problems in our region. Usually that work involves recruiting new business to our area or helping existing businesses expand; however, the pandemic has had such an impact on almost all businesses that we believe our best opportunity to help employers, citizens and our regional economy is to connect up and coming potential employees and the educational institutions training them (from teens through adulthood) to the employers and jobs available. With your help, our work can be precise, strategic and truly “move the needle” – providing you a trained and eager workforce, and helping your employees and you improve and grow.
What is the purpose of this survey?
Your confidential answers will help define gaps between the skills your operations require to remain competitive and the skills being taught in our schools and colleges today – information critical to help us design the curriculum offerings and training programs that will be most effective to you. We will not share your data with anyone other than you. We will combine your data with the answers of others to show trends and needs by sector, by job title, and by training needed.
How can educators and economic developers help local employers?
You need quality employees that have a strong work ethic and technical skill levels that match the jobs in your company, both now and in the future. Your answers will drive the development of curriculum, training programs and work-based learning opportunities (like internships and apprenticeships) by public school systems, technical colleges and University System colleges and universities in our region. We want to make it much more likely that your future applicants come to you ready to work! With your help, we should increase the quality of your applicant pool and reduce your time and cost to train employees.
Who will see our information?
All your responses are confidential; the firm collecting the data will compile the results and share them with the Joint Development Authority in a written report. We will use that report to work with public school systems, technical colleges and University System colleges and universities in our region (at a minimum) to develop curriculum, training programs and work-based learning opportunities (like internships and apprenticeships) that target your most pressing workforce needs. No company-specific information will be reported to the public or to your competitors, and only aggregated data (by job title and by employment sector, for instance) will be published and shared.
How long will it take me to complete the survey?
The amount of time required will vary based upon your organization’s size. We can send you a copy of the survey before you take it, or you can just navigate through the survey to see what data we’ll be asking for. Once you start filling it out, if you need to stop before completing the survey, you may continue later from where you stopped if you use the same computer. Just don’t hit the Submit button at the end of the survey until you are finished entering data!
Why are there so many questions?
Look at it this way: Are you willing to invest a little time (not money) to save time and money getting a workforce to grow your business bigger and better than ever? Please look at your time and data as an investment that we believe will provide you with a positive return.
Our Joint Development Authority is investing our time and money to do this work on your behalf. When all is said and done, our partnership should help ensure that you have better trained employees for the jobs you need when you need them.
The consultant we have hired has been performing regional needs assessments for 20 years, and he is willing to answer any questions and concerns you have.
Russ Moore/Seamless Education Associates, Inc.
(678) 876-2873
russ@seamlessed.com