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Advantages for All



How to Build Digital Talent With Earn and Learn Training:
A Toolkit for Small and Medium-Sized Employers

How Earn and Learn Training Makes a Difference in Your Community

 

Earn and learn programs not only help you fulfill your need for talent; they also help you meet your business’s community impact goals. With an earn and learn program for digital jobs, you can offer rewarding career opportunities to local residents instead of looking farther afield for workers with the skills you need, and that helps drive local economy and raises the level of digital literacy for the community at large.

Even though they’re customized for employers’ unique circumstances and needs, earn and learn programs also benefit individual workers—and the communities they call home. 

To ensure that workers get maximum value out of earn and learn programs, you should do the following:

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Offer a clear vision for the program, and prioritize DEI in all facets of it.

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Offer compensation that is at or above the living wage for your area.

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Give trainees meaningful assignments, with tasks that enable them to build in-demand skills and contribute to your business goals.

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Identify the specific skills that workers need on day one, and the skills they will develop as they progress in the role and in their training.

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Be sure to share that information with the workers and clearly explain how they will be acknowledged and rewarded for the progress they make.

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Support entry into and advancement within a career pathway, or encourage exploration of the various career pathways available in digital jobs.

SkillUp Career Builders say they’re looking for jobs and employers that provide opportunities for growth and development. According to one Career Builder, the most desirable jobs are those that

“encourage you to do better and
encourage you to . . . aim higher.”

How Earn and Learn Training Benefits You, the Country, and the Workforce

 

The country as a whole benefits when small and medium-sized businesses like yours succeed, and employees with the latest digital skills are essential to your success. We encourage you to consider adopting the earn and learn approaches to training discussed in this toolkit as key elements of your strategy for developing tech talent.

Paid internships, Registered Apprenticeships, and on-the-job training can help you tap into and build new diverse talent pipelines, and they’ll pay off in the form of improvements in productivity and reductions in recruiting and onboarding costs. You’ll also find that they enhance your ability to attract and retain talent, because workers will be drawn to the opportunity to earn money while they learn valuable new skills.

If you want to implement one of these models but need more information or don’t have the capacity to launch and maintain an earn and learn program on your own, use this toolkit as a road map. And remember that partners are key to the success of earn and learn training programs at small and medium-sized businesses. Be sure to reach out to intermediaries, philanthropic organizations, and government agencies that can provide, or connect you with, the support, guidance, and resources you need.

Are you an employer who has an earn and learn program, who has tried one in the past, or who wants to try one in the future? Are you a worker who has benefited from one of these programs? Are you a funder who is interested in supporting these approaches to training and development?

Be sure to reach out to JFF and SkillUp to find out how we can help. We would love to hear from you. Write us at labs@jff.org and info@skillup.org.

Learn More About These Common Earn and Learn Models, and Find Out How to Create Your Own

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No matter the stage in your Earn and Learn program journey, we’re here to help.