Last Fall I attended an afternoon presentation by TechPoint called “Tech Talent Workshop”. Before you decide Tech and Probation are not related, I will tell you my mind was changed after that afternoon and completing another module of the training.
The class description was “Based on TechPoint’s research on the state of the Indiana tech workforce, they will share findings on key statistics such as talent growth, current salaries, and most in-demand roles. They will also share top best practices for hiring talent in this competitive market.” During this engaging presentation by Dennis Trinkle and Natalie Wenzler I became convinced that our issues with attraction and retention in Indiana Probation were happening all over the State in different industries. The very good news is that TechPoint has teamed up with some powerful partners to bring ideas and online tools to employers that can improve our ability to attract, hire, and even retain talented new team members.
Here’s a video to help you learn more about the start of the program.
I then attended 3 completely free modules of hands-on learning to try an inform a fresh approach to our very popular jobs page. Natalie led the cohort and has an excellent communication style providing not only practical content but individual assistance. She has ties to Probation and understands our work situation having been a former Probation Officer. These free live and interactive sessions could help any of our departments improve our job posts and position descriptions. I had the choice of attending in person or virtually so it could not be more convenient.
Additionally, Natalie provided us access to 2 resources with tools to research ways of wording our posts so they are not gender specific plus add language that enhances our posts to be more attractive to job seekers while still being clear about responsibilities and requirements. Two of these tools leverage Artificial Intelligence and a large database to refine your phrasing. I took one of our standard job posts and removed all identifying county information from it to practice and could find lots of information specific to either Probation or Community Corrections roles including Officers.
There is a new cohort starting just next week (in person in Indianapolis or virtually!) and the free registration is open to any representative of any Probation Department in Indiana. Here’s what the website says:
Join TechPoint to learn how to make inclusive changes to your job postings through interactive workshops, change management, and community engagement.
Aligning with our Mission41K to inclusively grow the Indiana tech workforce by 41,000 by 2030, you will:
- Learn how skills-based hiring helps to increase diversity, reduce biases, and improve retention
- Practice updating job postings to be skills-based
- Gain access to online learning to share with colleagues
- Receive resources and community support to update job postings
The Skills-First Learning Experience is comprised of three meetings for a total of 6 hours over a 6 week period with in-person and virtual options. The final meeting will combine the in-person and virtual cohorts for a rich peer-to-peer learning opportunity.
Meeting #1: Attract the Right Talent/Updating Job Descriptions to be Skills-First (3 hours, Week 1)
Meeting #2: Skills-First Practice and Change Management (2 hours, Week 2)
Meeting #3: Reflections and Progress with Skills-First Adoption (1 hour, Week 6)
In-Person:
- January: 1/18/23 (1pm – 4pm), 1/25/23 (2pm – 4pm), 2/20/23 (3pm – 4pm) ET
- February: 2/8/23 (1pm – 4pm), 2/15/23 (2pm – 4pm), 3/13/23 (3pm – 4pm) ET
- **Workshops will be held at 16 Tech / TechPoint offices at 1210 Waterway Blvd., Indianapolis, 46204
Virtual:
- January: 1/17/23 (1pm – 4pm), 1/24/23 (2pm – 4pm), 2/20/23 (3pm – 4pm) ET
- February: 2/7/23 (1pm – 4pm), 2/14/23 (2pm – 4pm), 3/13/23 (3pm – 4pm) ET
I highly recommend participation in these three meetings that changed the way I think about job posts. You’ll see our page more assistive in this theory later when I’ve implemented some of the ideas but I think it would be time well spent to sign up someone from your department and gather this information directly from Natalie.