Ana Gilbertson brings home-grown insights to workforce skill-building program
In early 2006 Ana Gilbertson read and heard several media stories about Skills Advantage, a new workforce initiative between Kirkwood Community College and area employers. She was impressed with the concept of testing and verifying essential skills, with advantages she thought clear for all concerned.
In two short years Gilbertson went from reading about the program–to directing it. Kirkwood recently hired her to lead the Skills Advantage program to new levels. The Cedar Rapids native has brought her education, professional experience and the growing acceptance of the project to take Skills Advantage to more companies and employees.
Gilbertson heard about the cooperative project while she worked in the annuities division of AEGON USA. The Cedar Rapids financial services giant was one of the early adopters of Skills Advantage, a service that tests aptitude in finding, gathering and understanding information plus essential workplace math. These skills have been deemed “essential” by a wide variety of Corridor employers of all sizes.
“From the first time I heard about it, Skills Advantage just made perfect sense to me,” Gilbertson recalls. “We had heard several studies and knew from economic development leaders that people needed to have these essential abilities to start and grow in promising careers. I saw the program as asking the right questions, then giving any workers that needed extra training and skill-building the chance to quickly get that training.”
Kirkwood Training and Outreach Services Director Amy Lasack guided the Skills Advantage project from its inception to her recent promotion. She says Gilbertson “jumped right into the role” in understanding and leading the program.
“Ana has been meeting with area employers and Kirkwood staff right off the bat. Since she started just over a month ago, at least four new employers have joined the Skills Advantage Consortium, bringing us closer and closer to the 100 employer mark! Ana’s experiences with AEGON and enthusiasm for the program have been wonderful additions to our Continuing Education team,” Lasack added.
Kirkwood was the first college in the nation to partner directly with ACT, Inc. in using the company’s Work Keys testing methods to identify the essential skills needed in the modern workplace.
Since its ambitious launch in early 2006, Kirkwood has grown the Skills Advantage employers using the testing to nearly 100 companies. Firms as large as Rockwell Collins and AEGON to relatively small businesses and local governments regularly use the testing modules to help match prospective workers with appropriate roles in their firms.
In addition to expansion of the Skills Advantage program around the region, Gilbertson points out the ongoing validation of the testing and its value.
“Kirkwood and area economic development groups conducted a survey in late 2007 that showed our Corridor workforce is pretty well prepared in having essential skills as identified by the testing. In most areas, the area workforce that took the Skills Advantage tests scored at the bronze to silver levels. That speaks well for our workforce knowledge and abilities. It also tells both current and prospective employers that we are ready for the current and many future challenges,” she said.
Although Gilbertson said the study also showed “areas we could surely improve on,” the access to speedy training and skill-building created good results for those who took the opportunity.
“I saw some results from the past year of prospective workers who didn’t score at the highest levels in the initial tests. Through our focused training, we saw great skill increases after just a month of those class sessions. For just a little investment of time and a class, they were much more ready for the jobs they applied for,” she added.
With a degree from The University of Iowa and several years of solid Corridor professional experience behind her, Lasack says Ana Gilbertson is herself “a classic example” of what Kirkwood and area economic development leaders want to see for local economic betterment.
“Ana is a home-grown professional. She grew up in Linn County, earned a degree in the Corridor, built smart skills with a strong local employer and now brings those skills to Kirkwood, encouraging more young talent to build careers here. It’s all good,” Lasack added.
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SOME FACTS ON THE KIRKWOOD SKILLS ADVANTAGE PROGRAM
(As of July 1, 2008)
Number of employers –98
Number of “testers” (prospective and incumbent employees) – approx. 1,900
Average score of testers in the Corridor – Silver certificate level (scoring a 4 or higher out of 5 on assessments)
Goal for 2009: “By January we would like to see 125 Corridor employers in our consortium.”—Ana Gilberstson)