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Perk Up Thursday – The Odenthal Group

Stan Odenthal from the Odenthal Group was recently invited as a presenter for the Perk Up Thursday series hosted by Focus Suites at Southeast Community College. In addition to discussing the business plan and background of the Odenthal Group, Stan also discusses a number of workforce development topics, including:

  • How workforce development and economic development are interrelated;
  • The primary purpose of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA);
  • The structure and composition of workforce development boards;
  • How federal workforce funding reaches state and local workforce boards;
  • How states define local area boundaries;

 

Check out the full video below.

Announcing our new office location

The Odenthal Group is excited to announce its new office location in Lincoln, Nebraska.  Our new space is located at 285 S 16th Street Place Suite 316 in Lincoln. We are conveniently located and are super excited about our new office space.

 

Our new location will provide us with more space, more meeting space, and most importantly, more partner businesses to collaborate with in the Focus Suites collaborative environment. Big things are in our future!

 

For more information about the Odenthal Group and information about of our projects and products, check out the About section of our website.

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The Odenthal Group launches workforceKO.com

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Lincoln, NE – The Odenthal Group, LLC  is inviting workforce and economic development professionals to check out its new workforceKO website. This website has been designed to provide the tools, resources, and training that workforce and economic development professionals need right at their fingertips and in real time.

 

This user-friendly site and its offerings will continue to expand as more content is added daily.

 

Features of this site include:

 

  • Workforce, Economic Development, Education, and WIOA Profiles by Geographic Location
  • Professional Development and Training Programs with Various Topics
  • Workforce Program Information and Resources including Upcoming Conferences and Webinars
  • Online Training Classes for Workforce Boards, Workforce Administrators, One-Stop Operators, and Service Providers
  • KO Now – Real Time Social Media Resources
  • Top Stories from the world of Workforce and Economic Development
  • State-by-State Job Searching Tools and Resources
  • And Even More Features Launching Soon

 

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Strategic Planning with Workforce Alliance

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(Wichita, KS) The Workforce Alliance Local Workforce Development Board and The Odenthal Group have partnered on a strategic planning process that will lead to the creation of a new two-year strategic plan. This plan will help guide the projects, operations, and initiatives of the board. It will also help better create new programs, enhance services to customers, and improve existing partnerships.

 

As part of this planning process, The Odenthal Group has helped facilitate a number of virtual and in-person conversations with stakeholders, workforce partners, and board members. We hope to create a plan that is truly reflective of the collective impact that community partners throughout South Central Kansas can have on the future of workforce and economic development.

 

 

The following topics and conversations have been held as part of this plan:

 

Topic One: Planning for the Future During this Economic Crisis

April 27, 28, 29

Topic Two: The Youth Program and Youth Employment Project

May 4, 5, 6

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Topic Three:  Funding and Operations

May 18, 19, 20

Topic Four: Local Board Committee Structures

July 23

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(Coming Soon) Topic Five: Finalizing Goals, Tactics, and Milestones for the Strategic Plan

August 12, 18, 19

Work-Life Balance

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A healthy work-life balance and employee engagement are intrinsically linked. Any organization that wants to be successful needs to ensure that its employees are engaged in what they are doing. Below is a discussion about a couple recent articles on these two very related topics.

Work-Life Balance

 

Work-life balance is one of those topics of conversations that we all bring up around colleagues to make ourselves sound like better people. Sometimes I bring it up to help justify the crazy work hours I’ll put in. It is so easy to get caught up all of our professional hoopla and not leave enough time for yourself or the people around you.

 

Fast Company’s article entitled “This is what employers need to do when it comes to work-life balance,” takes aim at the various aspects that are associated with finding a healthy balance between work and life.  I like this article because it brings up some good talking points for ourselves: 1. Am I the person I really want to be? and 2. Have I done anything meaningful today?

 

Work-life balance does matter, but so does meaningful work. There is time for both. Figuring it out isn’t easy though. If someone figures out the magical formula to it all, please let me know.

 

Employee Engagement

 

Employee disengagement is a real thing and it causes a lot of lost productivity for businesses every single day. According to a 2016 study by Gallup, only 32% of Americans were engaged at work.

 

In an article entitled “How to use workforce development to improve employee retainment,” several strategies to increase employee retention through employee engagement are discussed. One of the strategies listed in the article is about helping employees develop more skills through apprenticeship programs to help them feel like they are better reaching their full potential. Another way apprenticeship is proving itself to be such a fantastic model for on-the-job training and employee retention.

 

For more information about work-life balance and employee engagement, visit the work culture section of workforceKO.com