The Future is Now A Message From the Editor
T
he collection of businesses in North Texas is incredible. In the last few months alone, I have visited with leaders from businesses who represent energy solutions for oil/gas, disposable setting tools, modular design and fabrication, air cargo conversion, artificial intelligence for the call center industry, a major entertainment arena and one of the world’s leading financial institutions. As vast as the differences are, each business shares one common denominator: the need for an educated and skilled workforce. This workforce needs to be developed for the here and now as well as for the future. Hence, the billboard on our cover this edition: Arriving at the future of workforce. We are certainly making strides in developing an educated workforce, but we also have miles to go. The evolution of workforce will forever be in motion. Businesses, like the ones mentioned above, are rapidly using and producing new technologies; they’re producing new products and services so quickly that it can be difficult to find a ready-to-go workforce already trained. Hence, it is imperative for businesses and educators to be in collaborative and strategic partnerships.
Indeed, the days of higher education institutions building programs and hoping people enroll is no longer the case. We as educators must be intimately involved with businesses in developing programs that can help them fill their talent pipelines of today while sustaining (and retaining) their workforce in the future. To wit, businesses must help us drive education that leads to career pathways for our students and our local workforce. This issue explores relationships with educators and the business community from across the country. We also explore topics like the demand to pivot to the world of badges and micro-credentials (page 10); we explore the power of stay interviews (page 52); how businesses must hire for curiosity (page 14); and the need for different personalities, multigenerations, humor and mentorship in the workplace (page 54). Lastly, we delve into women leader’s stewardship (page 12) and finish off with a craft beer on ice, though not the ice that comes in your glass (page 56)! To quote from New York Times best-selling author Harvey Mackay: Your workforce is your most valuable asset. The knowledge and skills they have represent the fuel that drives the engine of business—and you can leverage that knowledge.
Enjoy this edition of The Lens: Focusing on Workforce and Economic Development Issues. We hope you can find knowledge here that you can leverage in your business. Let’s be successful together! My Best,
david halloran
Shannon E. Bryan t, MEd, CWDP, LSSGB executive vice president for corporate solutions & economic development, tarrant county college district host, the workforce lens podcast editor-in-chief, the lens magazine publication shannon.bryant@tccd.edu 4 | CORPORATE.TCCD.EDU
