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Delivering Effective
Workforce Development Orientations: Preparation and Set-Up
Group orientations are a great first
step when reaching out to potential customers and job-seekers. One-on-one
meetings may be impractical in getting the initial word out; there’ll be plenty
of opportunities to develop personalized service plans later. At the onset, the
primary goal is to educate the community and increase their awareness of a
workforce professional and agency can do for them.
When preparing for an
orientation, don’t just focus on your content. Your effectiveness to deliver
your message, as well as your professionalism, starts with paying attention to
the logistics.
The following are four key areas to consider when
preparing for a workforce development orientation:
Accessibility
When considering accessibility, most staff
think only of the structural accessibility of the orientation venue. Indeed,
this is an important consideration. But, remember too that accessibility begins,
not during the orientation proper, but from the first point of contact with your
customer. To adequately address accessibility concerns, trace the steps your
customers have to make to take part in your orientation.
First, start
with your information dissemination methods: how do you plan to contact your
customers? How can interested parties ask questions? On the day of the
orientation, how can people who do not drive get to the venue? Upon arrival, how
are they welcomed to the center? All these stages, and everything in between,
must be planned with accessibility standards in mind.
Registration
Your staff must be knowledgeable and skilled
in handling specific registration concerns.
If requested, staff members
should be able to give clear directions to the center, from the bus stop or
other means of transportation. While this prerequisite may sound simple, many
orientation organizers neglect this step. If your center is located in an area
where multiple languages are spoken, make sure that bilingual staff are
available to answer those calls..
Staff members should also be asking all
customers when they call if they require additional accommodation to participate
in the session. ‘Reasonable accommodation’ may be too technical a term for most,
so perhaps the best way to go about this is to explain to customers what will
happen at orientation & asking if they will need any additional assistance.
Staff must have a clear understanding of center’s policy on reasonable
accommodation requests and should be documenting all requests.
Arrival at the Center
One your customers arrive at
the center, the path of travel should be accessible. The path of travel will be
different for each center, but it is the sidewalk, bus stop parking lot, etc.
that a customer has to pass through to reach your front door. This may include
making ensuring sidewalks and curb cuts are acceptable, disabled parking is
available, and that the route from the bus stop to the front door is safe,
especially if someone has to travel through a parking lot. All directions should
be clearly marked. If there are issues that are outside of your jurisdiction
(e.g. curb cuts), be sure to contact the appropriate city/county agencies,
report the discrepancy and document, document, document! Your job is to make a
good faith effort to correct the situation.
Once in the center, staff
members, if it’s available, should also know where their assistive technology is
located and where to direct customers if it’s requested. A good idea is to
create a center floor plan with locations of any software, as well as a
centralized area to store other items for check out.
Furniture
arrangement should also be accessible, allowing plenty of maneuvering space for
someone using a wheelchair. This includes a portion of your front desk, where
people sign in for orientation or services, being an accessible height for a
wheelchair user. Lighting within the center should also be a consideration.
Orientation Materials
Lastly, the
orientation materials need to be prepared with accessibility guidelines in mind.
Make certain all materials like forms, hand-outs and presentations are available
in alternate formats such as large print or electronically. Any videos should
have close captioning. If there is a need for translations to other languages,
make sure that it also available.
During orientation, all participants
should be provided with a list of available auxiliary aids and services,
including written guidelines for making a reasonable accommodation request.
These items should also be posted prominently within the center or in all places
where customers are accessing services.
With well-thought out
preparation, service providers can immediately foster an atmosphere of trust
with their community members. Information will be delivered clearly and in a
manner that does not discriminate. This will facilitate any follow-up
communication between you and the customer and lay the foundation for a
successful working relationship.
Would you like to reprint this article?
You may as long as you include this blurb in its entirety:
Lisa Jordan
is a disability and workforce development expert. Lisa uses her keen
ability to
identify challenges and develop solutions so
that workforce development professionals can increase their comfort level,
productivity and effectiveness when working with a diverse clientele.
Download Lisa’s White Paper on 5 Easy Disability Tips to Immediately Increase
Agency Accessibility by visiting
http://www.human-solutions.net.
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