One specific community college’s workforce department representative placed
a call to a Joe Smith, the Vice President of an energy company who didn’t have time
to talk, but was interested in scheduling an appointment. The VP explained to the corporate college
representative that their son recently graduated from college and had received
his two year Associates degree at the college.
However, he didn’t know anything about the college’s corporate college and
required more information to guide his comprehension during the meeting.
As the meeting took place, the corporate college representative
established rapport with the VP, which
permitted him to provide a brief introduction of the corporate college. The VP intently listened, and when the
corporate college representative began to delve into a need assessment, the VP
responded by stating that much of the training was handled internally at the
facility or through his headquarters in Atlanta. While
there may have been a need, at present, it wasn’t pressing. However, the VP continued to explain that he did
have some needs for which the college seemed to be a great fit. He continued to express that he wanted to
have better exposure in the community and wanted to know about any events at
the college which he could sponsor. In
essence, he was looking to be part of a foundation or an advisory board because he is as a big believer in
helping students to get ahead. At that
time, the VP was ready to develop a recruiting relationships with colleges.
The corporate college representative nodded his head and explained
that he would check back with the VP.
Unfortunately, the representative didn’t see an immediate revenue
opportunity for his department or motivation to direct Joe to the right departments— nor could he
predict the time it would detract from his main responsibilities. The representative determined that the
meeting would not be valuable to him or his workforce development training products and services; therefore
he didn’t pursue further or follow-up with Mr. Smith.
Questions:
1. Could
there have been a better way to proactively capture the community college’s
total value proposition with an employer before the meeting was contracted?
2. Since
the VP didn’t know anything about the college’s corporate college, was it worthwhile
to visit and educate him? Why or why not?
3. At
present, it appears that the VP’s priorities do not lie in corporate training,
but rather, in understanding how the college’s capabilities could help his own business. Was this a productive meeting for the college’s
corporate training department? Why or why not?
4. As
a result of not following up on the VP’s needs, what impact on the employer’s
trust and credibility with the community college and the corporate college
division could you foresee occurring?
Given the work that you do at the Community College, what were your big takeaways? What messages spoke loudest to you? Or which ones prompted more questions or concerns? I'd love to know! Email me at http://www.thelearningstrategy.com/contact.html and write "Community College - Employer Case Study #1" in the subject line.
