Nocti Business Solutions helps companies find and hire skilled workers by offering solutions for assessing workers’ job-specific skills. One of the ways we make our assessments available is by partnering with community colleges, career development centers, and other organizations to serve communities throughout the U.S.
The Workforce & Economic Development Center at Cleveland State Community College (CSCC) acts as a training and assessment resource for local employers. It provides a comprehensive lineup of training programs designed to keep pace with skills needed for rapidly changing technology. The center has qualified industrial psychologists on staff to help assess specific training needs, align training with organizational strategy, and coordinate testing for pre-employment and pre-advancement selection.
Partnering with Nocti Business Solutions
In addition to training programs, the Workforce Development Center utilizes hands-on and knowledge-based assessments to help local businesses objectively evaluate employees’ skills. The Center needed an assessment partner who provided third-party validation, offered relevant knowledge-based assessments, and provided comprehensive reporting.
NBS began working with the Center in 2014. We provided a more comprehensive solution than the previous assessment partner and have helped the Center expand its capabilities.
Benefits of the Partnership
The Workforce Development Center offers a variety of hands-on work sample tests, including mechanical, electrical, process control, CNC, and dexterity assessments to use in candidate selection or incumbent training. Bre LaMountain, an industrial organizational psychology practitioner and the Workforce Development and Testing Coordinator serves as the site coordinator and is the direct link between NBS and CSCC.
In addition to administering assessments, LaMountain acts as an HR consultant for businesses in the surrounding five counties. “Most manufacturers want to know a candidate’s specific hard skills,” she said. “There’s a lot that goes into assessing someone’s ability to do a job or task. NBS helps complete the circle and enables us to provide a more comprehensive picture of an individual’s skills and job-readiness.”
Matching Tests to the Position
Before administering a test, it’s important to make sure it aligns with the position being filled. NBS provides Blueprints for all our assessments detailing specific competencies and skills covered in the assessment. LaMountain reviews the position and job description with clients and walks them through the NBS Blueprint. Depending on the specific position, she may also talk to an NBS staff member and review individual test items to ensure it will measure the relevant skills needed for a position.
Comprehensive Data
A preliminary score report is available immediately after a test is complete. The standard score report package available two days after testing includes individual and group data as well as scores for each performance area. “I’m able to easily see group reports and compare individual scores,” LaMountain said. “NBS also provides a comparison to local, state, and national scores so we can see how our test takers performed locally and in relation to the state of Tennessee. This level of detail is great because it allows employers to make better-informed hiring, training, and promoting decisions.”
Confident Workforce Decisions
Another aspect of LaMountain’s position is helping employers make sure their selection process is unbiased and reliable. “NBS helps provide objectivity and clarity,” she said “my clients feel secure in the process because they’ve been involved from the beginning. They trust NBS and know the assessment measures the right skills and knowledge. When I make a referral, my clients can be confident they’re hiring an individual with the right skills and can clearly articulate the decision to anyone who might question why this process is in place.”
Training Skilled Workers Through Job Recovery “Bootcamps”
The Workforce Development Center offers other co-op programs for training and placing skilled workers. The Entry-Level Production MIG Welding Bootcamp is an intensive 40-hour program that teaches in-demand welding skills to justice-involved community members, as well as those who are recovering from substance use disorders (SUDs), or who have experienced a loss of income and economic security due to COVID-19. Those who complete the program earn their certification from the American Welding Society, making them more employable. The program also coordinates with a local non-profit community partner, City Fields, to incorporate soft skills training, resume-building skills, and career coaching. LaMountain helped create the program seven years ago, and she shared that they recently brought on another welding instructor and added two evening bootcamps to keep up with demand.
Building a Skilled Workforce with NBS
NBS is proud to partner with local organizations like the Workforce Development Center at Cleveland State Community College. Together, we are helping employers confidently assess the skills and knowledge of current and potential employees and build more competent workforces. We can help you too—whether through job-specific skills assessments or with a fully customized solution. Let us know how we can help!
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