Recruit, Inspire & Retain

Too Many Ideas to Give You Just One This Month
 

Keys to A Healthy Workplace
Constantly getting sick during the flu season? The real culprits may surprise you: your mouse and keyboard. A University of Arizona study shows that they harbor hundreds of times more germs per square inch than an office toilet.

U.K.-based Unotron offers a line of washable mice and keyboards. They can be submerged in water, doused with disinfectant, and left in a dish rack to dry. In fact, one of the company’s favorite trade show tricks is to drop them into a fish tank, after which they still function perfectly.

Other washable mice and keyboards are made of molded rubber, which makes them difficult to use. Unotron’s products protect each key and button individually, allowing for a typing experience that’s indistinguishable from that of a regular mouse and keyboard.

According to Ella Havard, the company’s vice president of sales, "Each key assembly is sealed and welded so it protects against dust, liquid, and debris." Learn more at www.unotron.com.

Nap to Win
According to a 2002 study from the National Institute of Mental Health, an afternoon nap can help reduce brain burnout and enhance your ability to process information. But weary workers might worry about raising a few eyebrows for lowering their lids at work. Enter Metronaps. The New York-based company rents ergonomic Metronap Pods at $14 for a 20-minute sleep session—complete with a soundproof enclosure, privacy visor, and lemon-scented wake-up spritz. Not located near the company’s Empire State Building sleep center? Starting at $7,950, your company can purchase a Pod and build your own state of the art nap room. www.metronaps.com.

What if you could cut that training investment in half? What if the training department could actually generate revenue? It is possible—if you know what training incentives your state has to offer and how to get through the application and approval process to maximize your award.

From Fortune 500 corporations to small & medium sized organizations, every year more than a half billion dollars is awarded to organizations throughout the United States to offset the cost of training new and existing employees. In 2005, there were more than 150 incentive programs available at the state level, solely for training employees.

How Much Could a State Grant Be Worth to My Organization?
Each state has its own economic development goals and most provide financial incentives to organizations whose training programs support these goals. There are dozens of variables to consider, and predicting the benefit of state training incentives to an individual organization takes a bit of time and analysis, but the likely payoff is well worth the investment. If your organization plans to roll out a training program next year, now’s the time to look into the funding available from your state.

Typically, qualified training costs include instructor salaries, employee wages during training, development of training programs (internal and external costs), materials and supplies, instructional media, equipment used for training and reasonable travel costs.

What Types of Training Are Included?
Almost any industry can win a training grant. Criteria focuses more on supporting the types of training the state wants to promote for its workforce than on the type of industry.

Different industry types require different kinds of training, but there are commonalities among states as to what qualifies for incentives. Typical qualified training may include: new technology, new equipment, software implementations and upgrades, total quality management (including Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, ISO etc.), teambuilding and leadership. In some states, training incentives are linked to job creation, so states are looking to stimulate training in the area of basic job skills.

Some programs require training to take place at a state technical college. In some cases, the state will use the college’s staff to design, develop and deliver the training specifically for your organization needs. In most cases however, your training can be developed and delivered by any qualified source, including your organization’s own in-house trainers, outside training vendors, local university staff or via e-learning.

Is Federal Funding Also Available?
On the federal side, money is dispersed to each state under the Workforce Investment Act for that state to use in its programs as it sees fit.

In most states (with the exception of Georgia), a organization needs to have a Training Plan in place to submit for state approval before the state will consider its application for funding. The plan needs to outline number and nature of training programs and projected cost. If the application is successful, the grant or tax credit is awarded at that time but usually not paid until the training has been completed. So to ensure receipt of the award, applicants need to pay careful attention that, for the most part, the actual training follows the plan, and that documentation is in place to show adherence.

Why Don’t More Organizations Take Advantage of These Incentives?
Most organizations are simply not aware that these incentives are available. And those organizations who are actually aware of the programs are often daunted by the paperwork and labor-intensive procedures they expect are required to receive government awards.

It is true that every state’s program is different, and each has its own unique requirements, so the investment of time and energy to take advantage of the grants can be significant, especially with multi-state rollouts. Training managers will spend time on paperwork and deal with officials in each state and local employees to coordinate a successful campaign for state funding.

Also, because training has to take place as originally planned, organizations have to be reasonably sure on the front end that the training program they propose won’t significantly change course.

How Can I Minimize the Effort and Maximize the Return?
Many states allow multiple-year contracts. This allows a organization to go through the application and approval process once to receive a grant to cover up to two years of training.

Also, if a organization has multiple locations in the same state, it can usually group its activities together and receive one large award.

Alternatively, many corporations work with a organization that specializes in training cost recovery. These organizations already have relationships in place with state officials and expertise in leveraging each program to minimize hassle and maximize return.

Where Do I Start?
A good starting point is your state’s Web site. This will provide you with information on the various programs available. Talk with the local state officials responsible for administering and approving your local program for important details, nuances and particulars that could help with your application approval.

November 29-December 1, 2006
Training Magazine’s Instructional Design Institute & Classroom Instructor Institute, Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort and Convention Center, Orlando, FL, http://www.trainingmagevents.com

January 11-14, 2007
International Alliance for Learning, Omni Hotel, Austin, http://www.ialearn.org

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