Creating Workforce Innovation

The benefits of innnovative organisation; different types of ideas and how to inspire them; how to make your company embrace innovation; how to sustain innovation.

Canada has introduced a set of programmes to test novel approaches to skills development. This report analyses the potential of these programmes to improve the future-readiness of Canada’s adult learning system.

Tested, practical ideas to meet current and future skilling needs of both workers and employers The labor market in the United States faces seemingly contradictory challenges: Many employers have trouble finding qualified applicants for current and future jobs, while millions of Americans are out of work or are underemployed—their paths to living-wage jobs blocked by systemic barriers or lack of adequate skills. Growing Fairly offers workforce development reforms that meet the needs of both workers and employers. Based on the experiences of hundreds of leaders and workers, the authors set out ten principles for designing a more effective and equitable system that helps workers obtain the skills necessary for economic mobility. The principles outlined in the book argue for a more comprehensive view of the skilling needs of current and prospective workers. They spell out the attributes of effective programs and make the case for skill-based hiring, widely distributed performance data, and collaboration. The book emphasizes the importance of local action to overcome the structural barriers that challenge even the most determined would-be learners. Growing Fairly shows cross sector leaders how to work across organizational boundaries to change the trajectory of individuals struggling to make a living wage. This is not a book of untested theories. Instead, it is written by practitioners for practitioners. Much of it is told through the voices of those who run programs and people who have taken advantage of them. While the issues the book addresses are profound, its take on the subject is optimistic. Between them, the authors have spent decades searching out and supporting effective practices. Even more critically, they have learned how to knit competing agencies and organizations into cohesive systems with coordinated missions. Their practical ideas will benefit a wide range of readers, from practitioners in the field to students and scholars of the American labor system.

This book focuses on workplace innovation, which is a key element in ensuring that organizations and the people within them can adapt to and engage in healthy, sustainable change. It features a collection of multi-level, multi-disciplinary contributions that combine theory, research and practical perspectives. In addition, the book presents new perspectives from a number of nations on policies with novel theoretical approaches to workplace innovation, as well as international case studies on the subject. These cases highlight the role of leadership, the relation between workplace innovation and well-being, as well as the do’s and don’ts of workplace innovation implementation. Whether you are an experienced workplace practitioner, manager, a policy-maker, unionist, or a student of workplace innovation, this book contains a range of tips, tools and international case studies to help the reader understand and implement workplace innovation.

This book explores the perspectives of experienced practitioners, sharing ideas about building and sustaining organizational strength through workforce development practices and systems. In an environment where information, service, and knowledge are primary sources of value creation, workforce strength is central to securing prosperity. Written by practitioners for practitioners, Building Workforce Strength: Creating Value through Workforce and Career Development bridges the disciplines of organization and individual development, showing those charged with organizational progress why workforce strength is a key component of prosperity—and how it can be achieved. This hands-on volume is organized in three sections that establish a foundation for workforce and career development, explore implementation in organizations, and examine the process's implications for working with individuals. Showcasing workforce and career development practices and systems for both represented and nonrepresented populations, it provides a framework, techniques, and examples that will guide approaches to building workforce strength. Applications of workforce and career development principles in a variety of sectors, such as healthcare and high technology, offer tangible examples of these principles in practice.