New Job Training Program At Carle Combines Preparation For Workplace With Tech Training

A new training program for entry-level workers at Carle teaches more than technical job skills ---- it also teaches other skills useful in any workplace.

Participants in Carle’s eight-week Job Readiness and Learning program learn the skills needed for positions in housekeeping, food service and Sterile Processing. But they also spend classroom time learning some more general skills.

“You know, how do you behave in the workplace?”, explains Toriana Rhone, who heads up the Workforce Development Program, which is run by the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission, using a federal grant. “How do you address conflicts within the workplace?. And some of those basic soft skills that a lot of employers are facing today, that are causing them to not be able to really retain the employees that they’re needing.”

Rhone worked with the Carle Foundation as it incorporated instruction in so-called soft workplace skills into their new Job Readiness and Learning Program. She says Carle is the first employer she knows of in the area to do so.

Carle Vice-President for Human Resources Lauren Schmid says working with the RPC’s Workforce Development Program speeds up the process of finding people who are motivated to work in the healthcare industry.

“And that just helps us to reduce the amount of time that it’s taking to fill positions, simply because we’re looking for the key foundations of those skillsets. And we can teach some of those other technical components in our training program.”

Carle used its Job Readiness and Learning Program to train entry-level employees for the first time last fall. Schmid says seven new employees received pay during the eight-week program, and have stayed on with Carle. A second training session is scheduled to start in March. Carle plans to hold training sessions three or four times a year, to meet a growing need for new healthcare workers.