States across America utilize workforce development programs to equip individuals with the skills, education, and support they need to access better (and in-demand) employment opportunities. These programs create new, brighter possibilities for unemployed and underemployed individuals. For example, T1A adult trainees from the state of California's workforce development program are 9.6% more likely to be employed and earn 29.8% more money than their comparison group.
Workforce development programs boost economic mobility for communities by creating jobs that match the needs of the area, and help employers find workers (and vice versa). However, if you work at an agency, you must track metrics to gain an understanding of the effectiveness of your programs.
Why Tracking Metrics is Crucial in Workforce Development
Workforce development programs give deserving people access to secondary education and training needed for specialized jobs with higher rates of pay. To understand if your programs are effective, your team needs metrics. Tracking the right data helps you understand:
- What programs to offer for your communities
- How successful each of your current programs is
- What changes need to be made to your current programs to make them more effective
Additionally, metrics provide the solid proof often needed for grant proposals. If you're looking to expand your programs with more funding, metrics that show your success will elevate your applications.
The 9 Key Workforce Development Metrics
The following nine metrics are a great place to start. Once your agency has a solid foundation, data and analytics software like PlanStreet can help you go even further by creating custom metrics tailored to your organization's goals.
1. Enrollment Rates
The enrollment rate is the number of people who enroll in your workforce development programs over time. It helps organizations assess their recruitment strategies, identify barriers to participation, and help services reach their target populations.
2. Participation Rates
Enrollment is the first step, but it's only valuable if people in the program are actively involved. Participation rate data helps programs understand the level of engagement and commitment among participants, which is predictive of successful outcomes such as skill acquisition, credential attainment, and employment.
Participation rates usually measure attendance of:
- Training sessions
- Skill-building workshops
- Any other service intended to improve employability.
Typically, the higher the participation rate, the more involved and effective a workforce development program is. Sectoral partnerships, where a critical mass of employers from one industry partner together to help train and place workers, can be key to increasing participation rates in a program.
3. Measurable Skill Gains (MSG)
The MSG metric tracks and measures critical achievements during the course of a workforce development program. It captures important incremental milestones such as advancing educational functioning levels, earning credits, obtaining certifications or licenses, completing training milestones, and passing relevant exams.
When participants can see actual steps of progress being made, it motivates them and supports retention in their program.
4. Program Completion Rates
The program completion rate is one of the critical indicators of success. It measures how many people actually finish a program, and is a predictor of positive outcomes for your clients. Completing a workforce development program correlates with:
- Increased likelihood of job placement
- Higher job retention rates
- Better wages
Additionally, by tracking who finishes, programs can investigate barriers to completion like scheduling issues or curriculum difficulty, and solve problems.
5. Job Placement Rate
Job placement rate is one of the greatest indicators of program success. It shows how well a program helps participants secure employment after training. This one is critical for funders and policymakers, who use placement rates to evaluate and prioritize investments. They want to know that the programs they're paying for have a real-world impact.
On top of the total job placement rate, you can break it down further into:
- Full-Time Placement: clients who obtained jobs where wages are paid by the employer (not subsidized through government programs), and they work at least 30 hours per week.
- Part-Time Placement: clients who obtained jobs where wages are paid by the employer (not subsidized through government programs), and they work 15-30 hours per week.
Measuring both full-time and part-time employment helps gauge if participants are securing stable positions.
6. Employment Retention Rate
The employment retention rate measures how long your clients remain employed after a job placement. This critical metric indicates how well the workforce development program prepared them for their new career. The two critical time benchmarks for this metric are at 6 and 12 months. If there is a drop-off in that timeframe, your team can circle back with participants and assess what went wrong.
7. Wage Growth/Career Progression
The US inflation rate has a long-term average of 3.28%. Workforce development programs need to build careers that increase wages and help people move up the ladder to ensure they can keep up with the cost of living. Training providers can track wage and career progression metrics through:
- Collecting participant wage data at program entry and defined follow-up intervals.
- Linking program records with tax, unemployment insurance, or employer payroll data to track earnings and employment status objectively.
- Gather self-reported wage and job progression information from participants through follow-up surveys.
- Assess changes in job title or industries to measure shifts into higher-skilled roles.
Don't forget to adjust for inflation to understand the full purchasing power your clients gain over time.
8. Employer Satisfaction
Every workforce development program has a key goal in mind: to meet employer needs with valuable employees. The employer satisfaction metric provides valuable insights into how well the program meets employer needs and the quality of the workers' post-program.
You can utilize job placement and employment retention to see employer satisfaction, but sometimes, you just have to ask for feedback. Surveys and questionnaires using scales and open-ended questions to assess employer satisfaction with participant skills, preparedness, and overall program influence. If you need more specific suggestions, your agency can also schedule interviews and focus groups.
9. ROI of Your Workforce Development Software
Every agency will have a different benchmark for one of the most important workforce KPIs, return on investment (ROI). However, it is critical to measure this in some way, as it shows funders the impact and success of your programs. The NYC-based nonprofit Arbor Rising, who empowers their low-income neighbors on a path out of poverty, encourages the measurement of ROI for workforce development nonprofits by two key figures:
1. Net financial return per placed graduate/the fully-loaded philanthropic cost per placed graduate
2. (Placement wage -- Pre-enrollment wage) + Stipend -- Foregone wages/(Fully-loaded cost -- Earned income) / Placed graduates
How Workforce Development Software Simplifies Tracking
Collecting data for workforce program tracking can be a challenge without all-encompassing tools. Workforce development software like PlanStreet allows you to:
- Track attendance, completions, and job placements in one place
- Build customized reports for funders and stakeholders
- Keep client data updated and accessible across your team
By simplifying data collection and analysis, software reduces staff workload and ensures decision-makers always have the insights they need.
Turning Data into Workforce Success Stories with PlanStreet
PlanStreet case management software was purpose-built for nonprofit and government organizations. With robust analytics, you can track each of these nine workforce development metrics and more. Our workforce development solution streamlines:
- Needs assessments with robust document creation tools
- Communication with enrollees via client portals
- Customizable dashboards for tailored outcomes tracking and management
Talk to an expert today to learn more about how PlanStreet can help improve outcomes at your workforce development program.