Charting a Course: Responding to the Industry-Related
Adult Basic Education Needs of the Texas Workforce
Handbook One: Planning and Implementation Tips
for Program Planners and Administrators

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Module Two: Marketing Adult Education Services as Workforce Solutions

You Have Five Minutes…

… to capture employers’ interest in the services you can offer. Actually, you have a little more time than that! Involving employers and community stakeholders in discussions and decisions about education and training and the mix of services needed broadens the search for solutions, improves service, and positions adult education to better serve the community. Strong business relationships can enhance your program’s image, placing adult education in a positive position with both businesses and job seekers.

Garnering employer support for adult education initiatives, however, can be a challenge. The challenge is neither a reflection of the value of adult education services, nor does it necessarily indicate a lack of willingness of employers to participate. The challenge has more to do with how you engage employers’ interest in the services you have to offer.

It can not be assumed that businesses and industry in the local area know and appreciate the services offered by adult education. Perhaps they know a program exclusively for its GED preparation; or they may know that some of their employees attend English language classes offered in the community. They may have no idea that you can offer solutions to some of their other problems.

If and when you find yourself in a position to present your adult education services to employers – some of whose employees may already be enrolled in your program – you want to be prepared. If your focus is on addressing workforce-related issues within your regular adult education classes, you still want and need employer input and support.

So how do you get employers’ attention and support? Hoping for an lengthy meeting with company management is neither realistic nor is it the first step. There are a number of strategies that can help you get employers’ attention and clarify exactly what you want from them:

1. Make an appointment. Call management or human resources. Decisions about personnel training and resources are usually made at these levels. Don’t expect the appointment to last more than 20 to 30 minutes. Typically, employers spend 95% of their time running their business and 5% on other matters. You want their attention for 5% of the day of your appointment.
2. Be prepared. First impressions count, and you may only get one opportunity. You may want to use the following suggestions for your presentation:
• Know what you want. Are you interested in providing on-site educational services? Are you requesting work-related printed materials that might be useful in the classroom with incumbent or emerging workers enrolled in your program? Are you following up on a phone call from the employer and you need additional information about the company’s need for educational services? Are you looking for job shadowing, a worksite tour, classroom speakers, or internship opportunities for instructors and learners?
• Start with a one-minute overview of your program. Be specific and use language that has to do with workforce quality, enhanced productivity, employability skills, etc. Minimize the use of educational jargon.
• Stress the importance of the employer in any workforce-related program.
• Provide employers with options - a menu or checklist - of the services you can provide to them and their employees as well as the support you need. This should be in print so you can leave it with the employer.
• Describe the support you’re receiving from other employers.
• Ask the employer to indicate which of your services and/or needs are a match to the company’s needs, interests, and resources.
3. Have printed materials ready in a folder, with your business card attached. Limit the amount of printed matter you provide. Keep it simple. A brochure highlighting your program’s services (think bullets) along with a few facts about program accomplishments is probably sufficient. Your goal is to help employers quickly understand what you have to offer/what you need in terms of support.

As you prepare, keep some other things in mind:

• Businesses are often willing to share general information about their products and services; proprietary information about specific processes and products will not be shared.
• Employers want to hear about improving employability skills, employee morale, and loyalty; how can your services help in these areas?
• Most employers care about their image in the community. They watch to see what their peers are doing, and they see the relationship between quality education and the workforce. If they’re already involved in the community, help them see the need for links to your program and services.
• Remember the 95/5 principle when it comes to time. If you have the opportunity for additional meetings/planning sessions, or you are going to provide a language or job task analysis in preparation for delivering instructional services, let the employer know what you need in order for the process to run smoothly.
• Be ready to ask and answer questions. In the pages that follow, you will find many tips to assist you in anticipating the kinds of questions employers may have as well as questions you need to ask.

If you do not yet have “working relationships” with employers in your area, look for opportunities. For example:

• Attend local chamber of commerce meetings and offer to make a brief presentation; ask the chamber to make your marketing materials available to new employers coming into the area.
• Identify the industrial associations in your area, attend meetings, and offer to make presentations.
• Read the business section of the local newspaper about companies’ expansion or downsizing, changes in personnel, production, and growth. Classified ads and feature stories also provide information about new owners, acquisitions, etc.
• Use the internet to your advantage; databases and directories provide company names, industry affiliations, product or service descriptions, estimated number of employees, estimated sales, facilities, ownership, and contact information.
• “Listen” between the lines, remembering that educators and employers do not necessarily share a common language!
• Attend/plan local job fairs – who’s participating and/or should be invited?

Marketing is usually associated with private sector products and services. Since we do not have “products” to sell per se, why bother with marketing? From a business perspective, adult education can benefit in a number of ways. For example, marketing can

• enhance the image and effectiveness of adult education and the services it offers
• attract resources (money, talent, clients)
• influence current and potential partners’ attitudes and behaviors
• increase partner satisfaction
• help achieve performance goals
• communicate that adult education can adapt, modify, and deliver

Successful marketing involves five elements:

• know the services/solutions you can offer (product)
• know the value of your services, not just in terms of cost but to include what you need “in-kind” from partners in terms of commitment - facilities, funds, recruitment, support services, etc. (price)
• know how to communicate what you do well (promote)
• know how to make your services available and accessible (place)
• negotiate to have your services linked via partners and referrals to a continuum of services for adult learners (partner)

Check Your Public Image

You can ask employers and your staff to respond to these questions. You want to know how others view adult education services. Often, what is not said during discussions with partners and staff speaks volumes.