Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Workforce Development Training Design
SkillsNET® recently partnered with Texas Green Corridor Collaborative members inclusive of five Workforce Boards, six community colleges lead by Austin Community College and the Good Company Associates, to help build the training framework for a variety of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) occupations. Several New and Emerging (N&E) occupations recently added to O*NET were targeted (e.g., Energy Auditor, Solar Sales Representative and Assessors) as well as pre-existing O*NET occupations important to the emerging clean energy industries.
SkillsNET scientists facilitated sessions with industry Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) online and face-to-face, using their unique, systematic process for collecting and analyzing work descriptive data. This process included the use of Detailed Work Activities (DWAs), a set of common language work descriptors, in defining the type of work performed for each occupation. Expert driven edits and additions were made to DWAs as necessary to not only describe essential job functions, but also to paint the occupations in the “green” context. This effort resulted in customized lists of DWAs which were then rated by SMEs on several performance level and training design criteria. The resulting data provided a set of industry driven training profiles for curriculum designers to use in developing and updating Community/Technical College and professional training course content in support of the Green Jobs Initiative. It’s worthy of note, that by employing a standardized set of work activities into the framework design, curriculum developers can easily identify the exact activities shared by multiple occupations, thus potentially saving time and money in creating a system of courses.
For the last two years, SkillsNET has been working with employers and job incumbents across Texas to validate and update the State’s DWA library, as part of the “Weak Link” Database Project, also supported by the Texas Workforce Commission. By incorporating DWA validation for each EERE targeted occupation, the DWA Library for the State will be more representative of the new green work practices and technology changes, part of the collective movement toward energy sustainability and environmental conservation.
For more information on the Green Jobs Initiative and Texas Green Corridor Collaborative, please visit http://www.txcleanenergypark.com/green_job_exchange.php.
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More than a “consulting firm”, and not just another software company, SkillsNET provides a revolutionary HR Management tool suite and consulting service, which allows enterprises to rapidly capture work, worker, and workplace skill data elements and their relationship to performance. The SkillsNET methodology allows employers to understand their workforce environment by utilizing proprietary web-based applications requiring minimal worker and capital investment. We examine the needs of your organization as a whole, and provide realistic solutions based on science, technology, and experience. SkillsNET methodology is aligned with the Department of Labor O*NET taxonomy. Learn more about us.