Workforce Pledge Award Application Form

Presidential Award

Application

This document contains the Application Form for the Pledge to America’s Workers Presidential Award. The information in this form will be used to determine eligibility for the award, as well as your organization’s performance against the criteria for the award.

The form uses text fields (     ) that expand as you type. To enter text, place your cursor in the field, click to highlight the field, and begin typing. Use the Tab key to navigate to the next field. Where appropriate, single click the check boxes (☐) to mark them.

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

This collection of information contains Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) requirements approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).  Notwithstanding any other provisions of the law, no person is required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty for failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the requirements of the PRA unless that collection of information displays a currently valid OMB control number.  Public reporting burden for this collection is estimated to be 180 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed and completing and reviewing the collection of information.  Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to [depends on who files and how that is worded] 

OMB Control No. XXXX_XXXXX

Expiration Date: MM/DD/YYYY

Submission Information

Responses to the evaluation criteria below (starting at page 6, item 8) must be no more than 10 pages in length. You must use Arial, 11-point font, the default used in the text boxes. Margins must be no less than .5 inches on all sides. Charts and graphs to convey results and outcomes are strongly encouraged, however, all data points and labels must be clearly legible, or they will not be considered. Up to three reference letters from partners, collaborators, beneficiaries, etc. supporting the application may be submitted along with the application. Reference letters are not required, and they will not be accepted or considered if not included as a part of the application submission.

To be considered for the 2020 award, your complete application package must be emailed to WorkforcePledgeAward@nist.gov no later than MONTH DATE, YEAR. All information submitted will be deemed confidential and proprietary. Those with a need to know will be provided access to the application through a secure file sharing protocol. Applicant information will not be shared outside of a need to know without prior consent; however, recipient organizations will be named in the press lease announcing the winners.

If you do not wish to submit electronically, you must mail 5 hard copies of your complete application, postmarked no later than MONTH DATE YEAR, to

Pledge to America’s Workers Presidential Award
c/o Award Administrator
NIST/Stop 1020
100 Bureau Drive,
Gaithersburg, MD 20899

Include proof of the mailing date. Send the package via a delivery service (e.g., Airborne Express, Federal Express, United Parcel Service, or the United States Postal Service [USPS] Express Mail) that automatically records the mailing date or the USPS (other than Express Mail), with a dated receipt from the post office.

1. Your Organization

Official name	      	Headquarters address	      
Other name	      
Prior name	(if changed within the past 5 years)      

2. Highest-Ranking Official

☐Mr.☐Mrs.☐Ms.☐Dr.

Name	      	Address	☐Same as above       
Job title	      
Email	      
Telephone	      
Fax	      

3. Eligibility Determination

1. Has the applicant organization officially or legally existed for at least one year?

☐Yes ☐No

2. Is the applicant organization a signatory of the Pledge to America’s Workers?

☐Yes ☐No

3. Does the applicant organization provide training to its workforce or its members?

☐Yes ☐No

If you responded “no” to any question above, your organization is not eligible to apply for this award.

4. Official or representative that signed the Pledge to America’s Workers

Designate a person who can answer inquiries about your organization. Questions from your organization and requests from the program will be limited to this person and the alternate identified below.

☐Mr.☐Mrs.☐Ms.☐Dr.

Name	      	Address	☐Same as above
Job title	      		      
Email	      
Telephone (office and cell, if possible)	      	Overnight mailing address	☐Same as above (Do not use a P.O. box number.)       
Fax	      

5. Award Category

There will be awards in multiple categories. Because of differences in the nature of their training programs, there will be separate categories for businesses and for trade associations and unions. Within the business category, there will be separate subcategories for manufacturers and small and medium-sized enterprises. Finally, businesses as well as trade associations and unions also are eligible for awards in subcategories related to their specific training approaches. Applicants may select up to one training approach for consideration.

(See notes below, check all that apply, and complete the blanks as appropriate)

Award Category (Check one)

☐ Business

Subcategory (Check any that apply)

☐ Manufacturing

☐ Small or Medium-sized Enterprise

☐ Trade Association or Union

Education and Training Approach (Check any that apply)

☐ Apprenticeship, On-the-Job Training or Work-based Learning

☐ Educational Partnerships:         

☐ Training targeted at specific populations:        

• Small- or medium-sized companies are those with less than 500 employees.

• Regarding the Education and Training Approach, it is not necessary to follow any of these approaches in order to receive an award. Organizations that do select an approach for consideration should include information on the strategy, implementation, and results related to those specific approaches in the applications.

• Educational partnerships may be with community colleges, career and technical education providers, private training providers, or universities. If your organization uses this as a primary strategy, please indicate which type in the appropriate field.

• Specific populations can include, but is not limited to, youth achievement, re-entry population, non-traditional workers, entry-level, worker up-skilling, mid-career retraining, women, racial and ethnic minorities, veterans, people with disabilities, low-income individuals, formerly incarcerated individuals, and individuals recovering from substance abuse.

6. Self-Certification and Signature

I state and attest the following:

1. I have reviewed the information provided in this award application package.

2. To the best of my knowledge,

• this package includes no untrue statement of a material fact, and

• no material fact has been omitted.

3. I understand that all applicants identified as potential recipients of the Award will be subject to a limited background check. Information collected through the background check may be considered in the final selection of recipients.

	      	     
Signature of the Pledge or delegated official	Printed name	Date

7. How to Respond to the Evaluation Criteria

Organizations should submit an application that conveys their workforce education and training strategy and the results achieved in response to the assessment factors below. Organizations should demonstrate their excellence in skill-based training programs through measurable outcomes, how the training benefits workers in a strategic sector or across the organization, and how it connects to broader strategic priorities and performance goals. The training should be replicable and scalable across the organization and serve as a role model for other organizations.

To that end, the evaluators will be using the evaluation rubric found on page 9, therefore your responses should clearly describe the processes used to accomplish the objectives of the various criteria sections, as described in the blue box at the top of each section, and the associated results or outcomes achieved. The questions below the blue box further describe what robust and effective approaches and results might include, but it is not necessary for you to respond to each question separately.

8. Criteria and Responses (no more than 10 pages total)

Organizational Context

Provides a snapshot of your organization, its workforce, and its critical success factors. This section is not evaluated. It forms a backdrop for assessing how well responses to the criteria questions address, support, and/or respond to these key aspects of your organization. It is recommended that this section be no more than 2 pages in length.

Organizational Description

1. If available, what are your stated mission, vision, and values?

      

2. What are your main market segments, product offerings, and customer groups?

      

3. What is your workforce profile, including educational attainment, age, sex, and race and ethnicity?

      

4. What are the primary goals and objectives of your workforce education and training efforts?

      

5. What are your workforce education and training offerings/programs?

      

Organizational Situation

1. What are your current key strategic challenges in the areas of business, operations, and workforce? What challenges do you anticipate facing in the future?

      

2. What recent changes have you experienced in workforce composition or in your needs with regard to your workforce capability and capacity?

      

Workforce Development Strategy Rating:_____

Examines the organizational strategy and planning process that underlies the organization’s workforce planning and more specifically its skill-based training programs.

Consider in your description how you:

1. Through senior leadership, foster an organizational culture that embraces development and is characterized by open communication, high performance, and an engaged, diverse workforce.

2. Align your workforce development planning with your organizational strategic planning.

3. Determine the skills, competencies, certifications, and staffing levels you need today and in the future.

4. Ensure that internal and external job postings communicate the skills needed for open positions rather than academic credentials.

5. Ensure that candidate recruitment, screening, and hiring protocols focus on the skill requirements for an open position.

6. Determine the key requirements for your skill-based training programs.

7. Incorporate your organization’s needs for skills, competencies, certifications, and staffing levels, as well as the personal development desires of your workforce members, managers, and leaders, into these requirements.

      

Note: As defined by the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board, skill-based training refers to activities, programs, or events offered by employers that provide employees with the necessary knowledge, technical skills, and professional skills 1) to perform and stay up-to-date in their current job roles and 2) to be able to perform future job roles or enter other professions.

There are four categories of skill-based training:

• Initial skill training: Activities, programs, or events that provide employees with the knowledge or skills necessary to do the job into which they were hired, promoted, or transferred. Examples may include job shadowing and job rotation.

• Job maintenance training: Activities, programs, or events that ensure employees continue to be fully productive and able to succeed in their current job. Examples may include new product/services training and technology training.

• Up-skilling training: Activities, programs, or events that help employees gain new knowledge, skills, or tools that can enable them to perform new jobs roles or enter other future professions and fields. Examples may include cross-functional training, certification programs, educational courses, and apprenticeship programs.

• Employee development: Activities, programs, or events designed as processes to help employees expand individual capacity and enhance career-related professional skills, other than technical proficiency in their professions and fields. Examples may include formal mentoring, coaching, leadership development, and professional development programs.

Skill-based training does not, however, encompass the following other types of essential training that employers offer:

• Compliance training: training provided to educate employees on laws, regulations, and company policies that are applicable to their job function, organization, or industry.

• Onboarding training: training provided to new employees as part of their onboarding process as they enter the organization or assume new job roles.

• Informal learning: self-directed learning aimed at acquiring work-oriented knowledge or skills outside of a formal training program such as experimentation, on-the-job learning, or observational learning.
  
  
  

Workforce Development Implementation Rating:_____

Describes how the organization implements its skill-based training programs.

Consider in your description how you:

1. Evaluate and improve your organization’s skill-based training programs

2. Manage the programs’ cost and efficiency

3. Assess your workforce’s skills attainment, including attainment of industry-recognized credentials, through skill-based training programs

4. Use new training models, such as Artificial Intelligence, online learning, training through virtual or augmented reality, bootcamps, and micro-credential and badging programs

5. Use apprenticeships or other forms of work-based learning/training as part of your skill-based training programs

6. Partner with community colleges and secondary career and technical education programs. Also note other relevant educational or other partnerships that your organization has established to support its skill-based training programs.

  

Workforce Development Results Rating:_____

Details the measurable outcomes and impact from the organization’s skill-based training programs and the use of evidence to continue developing those programs.

Charts and graphs to convey trended results and outcomes over time are strongly encouraged, however, all data points and labels must be clearly legible, or they will not be considered.

Present your results for the measures and/or metrics used to determine:

1. The effectiveness and efficiency of your workforce development strategy, including data on worker recruitment, promotion, wage increases, employee engagement, and retention, including layoff aversion.

2. The effectiveness, efficiency, and scope of your skill-based training programs, including but not limited to:

   1. The number and characteristics of workers participating in skills-based training programs and their skill and credential attainment

   2. The impact on the community at large.

3. The annual investment and investment per employee in skills-based training and associated outcome measures

4. Workforce satisfaction with your workforce development offerings

  

Describe how your organization has scaled or will scale successful skill-based training program across your organization.

  

Evaluation Rubric

Maturity Level	Description
Developing	Some skill-based training-related policies/operations and education and training approach are characterized by effective, well-ordered, repeatable processes. Key processes are consistently and effectively used by appropriate organizational units, although some may be in the early stages of use. Key processes are beginning to be systematically evaluated and improved and address your organization’s basic needs. Some results important to the organization’s ongoing success are tracked, and they show good performance levels. Some trend data are tracked, and most show improvement over time. Some available comparative information is tracked.
Mature	Many elements of skill-based training-related policies/operations and education and training approach are characterized by effective, well-ordered, repeatable processes that are consistently and effectively used by appropriate organizational units, although use may vary in some areas or work units. Key processes are systematically evaluated for improvement, and learnings are shared, with some innovation; Processes address key strategies and goals. Many results are tracked, and they show good performance levels, improvement trends or sustained high performance trends, and good performance against available comparisons in areas of importance to your organization’s ongoing success. Results are used in decision making.

Award eligibility requires the applicant organization to be assessed as “Mature” in all three sections of the criteria.