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The deadline to register for the November Certified Professional in Learning and Performance® (CPLP®) Knowledge Exam is Friday November 4th, 2011. REGISTER NOW Learn more about the value of CPLP.

Need more time? The 2012 dates are here. Please note that registration for all 2012 windows opens on 12/1/2011. If you wish to register for a 2012 window, please wait until on or after 12/1/2011 to complete the online application.

Why CPLP? In the face of stiff competition and increased expectations, learning and performance professionals are seeking the Certified Professional in Learning and Performance®(CPLP®) credential to differentiate themselves in the marketplace. Offered by ASTD’s Certification Institute, the CPLP is the premier credential for those in the field. Join more than 1165 elite professionals who have already earned the designation by registering today. What’s in it for me? As the job market becomes increasingly competitive, learning and development professionals need to distinguish themselves from the pack. The CPLP is in demand by top employers across industries. Booz Allen Hamilton, Wal-Mart, Disney Institute, State Farm Insurance, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Hilton Hotels, and over 1,000 other leading companies have already listed their preference for CPLP credential holders to fill open positions. Now is your chance to earn the CPLP credential and move your résumé to the top of the pile. What's involved? Professionals with three or more years of related work experience are invited to participate in the CPLP program. Candidates must first pass a multiple choice exam based on the ASTD Competency Model’s nine areas of expertise and then submit a work sample (“work product”) demonstrating more in-depth competence in one of those areas. After successful completion of the certification process, CPLP credential holders have proven that they have not only a keen grasp of learning and development theory, but also the ability to apply this knowledge successfully in their organizations. Need Help? ASTD offers an array of online, instructor-led, and self-study preparatory options and other tools to help you to become a CPLP®. For more information, go to astd.org/content/ASTDcertification/Prepare/. Learn more about the real value of CPLP at cplp.astd.org or email Customer Care at customercare@astd.org.

King County Executive Dow Constantine has been putting a lot of emphasis on using training to help make county government more efficient and effective.  Specifically, trainers on loan from Boeing have been training county employees in lean management techniques.  Read more about this effort here.

Millions of Americans, and tens of millions of people around the world--are following their own idiosyncratic learning paths: stopping out, “swirling” among institutions, balancing learning with working, raising a family and other responsibilities, and vocational and experiential learning.

Via the National ASTD Pubic Policy Council, we are alerted to a short summary and analysis provided by the National Skills Coalition of the training implications of President's Obama "American Jobs Act" proposal that he outined in a nationally-televised speech earlier this month.  You can read the one-page report, which lists three training-related proposals, at the link.

Of particular interest, perhaps, to our Chapter is the proposal to fund innovative work-based strategies to help people acquire credentials and skills that will enable them to find work. The Chapter has the opportunity to play a constructive role in working with other community groups to use the power of training to get our economy moving again.

An example of such a program is the Georgia Works program, which Obama mentioned in his speech.  According to the Associated Press,


"Under Georgia Works, people who register with the state for unemployment benefits can volunteer to receive up 24 hours of on-the-job training for up to eight weeks. They also receive a weekly stipend to cover costs such as child care or transportation."

The program has received both praise and skeptical scrutiny. According to the Georgia Department of Labor, 10,589 people have participated over the past seven years, of whom 6,105 completed training and 3,363 were hired either during or at the end of their training.

Critics have called the program a cynical effort to exploit the unemployed.

If you want to get involved in using your professional abilities to make a better world, contact me at governmentaffairs@astdps.org.

More evidence continues to accumulate that the skills gap is a real and present drag on the U.S. economy as it seeks to recover from disasterously high levels of unemployment.  Suzy Khimm, writing for one of Washington D.C.'s most-read policy blogs, provides two graphs from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that once again prove that a picture (or two) is worth a thousand words.

The first graph shows the number of nonfarm job openings for the twelve-month period ending this past July.

The second graph shows the number of new hires for the same period.  Here too there is an increase but even the most casual observation shows that the trend is not nearly as steep as job openings.  The difference between the two is largely explained by the skills gap.

But it needs to be kept in mind that while the skills gap is becoming more obvioius, it is by means the whole story currently. Even if the skills gap were to magically disappear overnight (and it won't -- National ASTD forecasts the gap will most likely get worse in the years to come), there are currently just not enough jobs to go around. That is the grim picture shown in yet another graph, this one comparing job openings by industry to the number of unemployed workers from the same industry.

As WLP professionals, it is up to us to play a constructive role in helping to come up with creative policy solutions to help close the skills gap now and in the future.  As concerned citizens we should also be considering what needs to be done to ensure that every American who wants a good job has a fair chance to get one.

If you would like to know how you can take action to address these issues, contact me at governmentaffairs@astdps.org.

National ASTD this week issued a white paper, "Learning To Innovate". The paper is available as a free download for all National members and for $15 for all non-members.

According to the National ASTD in its announcement of the paper: "The learning function can and should play a critical role in developing and sustaining the innovative culture that is the hallmark of successful organizations. There is little doubt that organizations of any size or industry need to innovate to remain successful. That innovation can take many forms, whether it is an iPhone-like breakthrough or a new spin on an old idea. What matters is that companies have systems and strategies in place to encourage, develop, and sustain innovation in every role in the organization."

ASTDps can be proud of the fact that it has led for a long time in promoting creativity and innovation concepts and techniques through a SIG (Special Interest Group) of the same name.  This effort was born out of the recognition that the Seattle area has in recent years become a leading city for innovation. National ASTD's white paper is a call for us to redouble our efforts and become the thought leaders in the WLP profession and leaders in the organizations we serve to tap the free gift of human creativity and turn it into profitable innovations.

More details will follow in the near future.

United States Senator Patty Murray of Washington State recently introduced The Promoting Innovations to 21st Century Careers Act in Congress. The legislation (a summary of which is available here) is intended to help address critical education and workforce needs with:

New Resources - Establishes $912 million in federal competitive grants that can be used by state and regional partnerships to help students move from high school to a wide array of post-secondary education options, to skilled careers.

Strong Partnerships - Requires state and regional partnerships applying for funding to include representatives from high schools, post-secondary education, businesses, labor, workforce, and economic development organizations.

Supporting Innovations - Encourages state and regional partnerships to develop career pathways for high school students that include counseling, mentoring, work-based experiences, and support to obtain degrees, apprenticeships, and other postsecondary credentials.

Real Accountability –Incorporates measures to evaluate success of state and regional efforts, including reports to Congress.

The proposed bill, which goes by the informal title of Careers Pathways, is similar to the Career Pathways policies advocated by the National Skills Coalition (NSC) during the just concluded National Workforce Week of Action. However, from the summary provided, the proposed bill appears to lack components recommended by the NSC to serve the training needs of out-of-work or underemployed adults. I am currently seeking clarification on this.

Murray is chair of the influential Senate subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety, part of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee. She was also appointed to the highly important and potentially powerful "Super Congress" tasked with coming up with a workable debt-reduction plan to help break the political stalemate in Washington, DC.
If you would like to help create a better future by getting more training to more people in our region, contact me at governmentaffairs@astdps.org.

Here is Fact No. 5, the Friday edition, for the Workforce Week of Action:

Throughout this series, we have said again and again that federal training and education is woefully inadequate. On this last day of WWoA, let me present the facts to back up that claim. And as you read this information from WWoA sponsor, the National Skills Coalition, bear in mind that the data presented here do NOT include the most recent severe cuts made by Congress in workforce development funding.

"Between 2002 and 2008, funding for education and training programs under the Department of Labor had been cut by almost 30 percent, and workforce funding at Department of Education has not even kept up with inflation. The U.S. spends only .04 percent of its Gross Domestic Product on job training, ranking 21st out of 25 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development internationally and far behind countries like Great Britain, Germany, France, and Canada."

America cannot continue underfunding training and expect to remain the economic leader of the world. It's as simple as that.

And if you are having trouble getting your head around the numbers, think about this: all the trainers' jobs that have been eliminated because of these cuts.

Please contact me at governmentaffairs@astdps.org if you want to know more about what you can do to make a difference in improving funding for training.