Third, we also advise you to contact clients who have used the subcontractor. If possible, visit training sites and learn as much as you can. Finally, interview the administrative and program staff of the training firm. In the course of your screening you may want to know the answers to such questions as these: 1. Does the subcontractor have experience in training 2. Does he have client references? 3. Were those clients satisfied with the subcontractor's 4. Does he know the JOBS guidelines well? 5. Does his own approach to manpower training support 6. Does the subcontractor have training ideas of his 7. Does he support the employer's capability to contribute to the training curriculum? 8. Is he willing to use the employer's staff to enrich 9. Is he willing to work to develop the employer's 10. Does his approach to the training program include broader issues relating to the total work situation? e.g., rewriting job descriptions, new staffing patterns, innovative approaches to on-the-job training and supervision for all employees, budget reorganization, other sources of funding, etc. 11. Are the staff lively teachers and counsellors 12. Do the staff members support the employer? 13. Does the subcontractor prefer to train at the work site? 14. Does he draw education and training materials from many sources? 15. Can the subcontractor show how his curriculum prepares the trainee to perform according to the 16. Does he avoid an approach that sounds like any of these? "we'll handle the entire contract for you" "we can raise the reading level of all trainees to at least 8th grade within the contract period" "a couple of sensitivity training sessions are "sensitivity training will handle any resistant "management doesn't have the answers anymore" "the employer has his interest in training and Your choice of a subcontractor will depend on these and other kinds of judgements as you evaluate the capabilities of candidates. COALITION JOBS SURVEY During the month of November 1969, the Information/Evaluation Unit of Coalition JOBS conducted a survey of firms in New York City that are operating training programs under MA Contracts. The purposes of the survey were: (1) To discover whether or not the MA Program is achieving its goals in New York City; (2) To learn about common and recurrent problems faced by New York City's MA Contract holders; (3) To collect their suggestions on how to improve MA Contract procedures; (4) To determine ways in which Coalition JOBS can assist Contract-holders most effectively; (5) To recommend possible solutions to the recurrent problems. 12 months. The survey interviews were conducted by 24 of Coalition JOBS' Job Developers, businessmen "on-loan" from their companies for periods of 6 The Job Developers were able to complete interviews with a total of 92 directors of MA-3 and MA-4 training programs. Forty (40) of these firms had individual contracts; 52 were members of consortia. The 92 programs contained 7,365 training positions. * Coalition JOBS' survey was intended to be "operations research" aimed at providing information about MA Contract programs in New York City without waiting for the results of the extensive evaluation/research projects now underway nationally. One of these studies will examine in depth the characteristics, attitudes and experiences of trainees, and includes a sizeable sample from New York City. In order to avoid duplicating the efforts of these studies, Coalition JOBS' survey concentrated on characteristics of programs rather than trainees. Its findings do not, therefore, deal with factors such as the educational attainment, family size and previous earnings of trainees-factors which would have to be taken into account by a full evaluative research study. In addition, while the survey asked for information on the extent of upgrading of trainees after completion of their programs, few of the programs had been operating long enough to provide meaningful data on this important question. However, in spite of these limitations, the Coalition JOBS' survey does provide the basis from which to draw preliminary conclusions as to the achievements and problems of MA contracts in New York City. |