TRICOR - Workforce Development

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Workforce Development

TRICOR’s vision recognizes that people are our most important resource. Through this vision, we have committed to create an environment which provides opportunities and career development for all employees and offenders. Our Workforce Development Initiative was created to fulfill this commitment and continues to evolve as a driving force in our quest for continuous improvement; a quest that is leading us to become a unique leader in the field of correctional industries and offender reentry.

TRICOR is shifting the culture of the organization by placing a significant emphasis on who we serve, how they are served, and developing individuals to meet these expectations. The practice of assessing the impact of business decisions on our social mission has become standard operating procedure. Business plans now incorporate determining staff and offender training and professional development into the value of a new business proposal. We address complicated issues of how to balance teaching and developing people with production demands. We focus on the multifaceted challenges related to what we teach, how we teach, and the transference of skill development into marketable skills for offenders preparing for release into Tennessee communities. At the core of this organizational culture is providing individuals with the opportunity to continue learning through personal and professional development. Several initiatives were ongoing during this fiscal year.

The Offender Workforce Development Specialist Program

During FY 2007, the “TRICOR Experience” for our offender workforce was further defined and expanded to become the new direction of the Transitional Readiness and Improving Life Skills (TRAILS) program model for case management and transitional services delivery. As a key part of this program expansion, a collaboration was formalized with TDOC; Department of Labor and Workforce Development; Board of Probation and Parole; Davidson County Sheriff’s Office; Project Return, Inc.; The Next Door, Inc.; and Trevecca Community Church and accepted by the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) for participation in their Offender Workforce Development Specialist Initiative.

Through collaboration with these seven agencies, TRICOR became a leader in the NIC’s model program. Four employees – including the team leader – were selected from TRICOR to be members of the 13-person team that participated in the national education program. This 180-hour education was provided to teach skills and strategies of best practices in working with offenders and subsequently, to equip the members to qualify for national certification from the National Career Development Association. The TRICOR members of this team have been charged with determining the most effective means of integrating new practices into the organizational culture of TRICOR.

The Tennessee team developed the Tennessee Offender Workforce Development Initiative with the goal of educating other professionals and volunteers who work with offenders while incarcerated and in the community. Plans are underway to participate in a formal partnership with NIC to extend the education and skills to a second team in Tennessee.

Certification Plan

TRICOR’s Strategic Business Plan in FY 2005-2006 laid the foundation for movement into labor and skill certification. The second phase of the TRICOR Certification Program in FY 2006-2007 moved the program forward to achieve an important milestone. A formal partnership between TRICOR and the Tennessee Technology Center in Nashville was created with an initial focus on welding. The program model for Welding Certification was designed in conjunction with the school’s curriculum to meet their educational and skill competency standards.

The Tennessee Technology Center has enrolled 11 offenders, who work in the Turney Center Metal Plant, into the program. TRICOR industry supervisors were approved as on-site supervisors by technology center staff. Overall site review for the program is the responsibility of the technology center. Each offender student will receive an official education transcript for competencies completed and can admit to any Tennessee Technology Center upon release at the previously completed level.

Life Skills and Thinking for a Change

TRICOR continues to refine and expand its Life Skills Curriculum offered to the offender workforce currently involved in occupational skills training. The changes are made based upon feedback from the offenders and identifying the successful components that are most often used by men and women during their transition from prison to the community. Thinking for a Change, which includes a 22-module curriculum focused on changing behaviors which will strengthen an individual’s successful return to the community, was expanded to more facilities throughout the state.

TRICOR – The Learning Organization

TRICOR has come to embrace the concepts of quality as prescribed by both the Malcolm Baldrige and Tennessee Performance Excellence processes. For the past two years, members of the management team have attended the conference on quality initiatives hosted by the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence (TNCPE). To date, six members of the management team were selected and have become trained as members of the Board of Examiners for the TNCPE. Each individual was a member of a diverse team that assessed other companies in their journeys toward continuous improvement. In return, enhanced knowledge and skill sets are brought back to TRICOR to lead this organization in its commitment to performance excellence.

To have further exposure to the role model practices and core values of a world class company, twenty TRICOR staff members attended a TNCPE company guest day hosted by Pal’s Sudden Service, a fast-food company that operates 20 quick service restaurants and is a national Malcolm Baldrige award winner and two-time Tennessee quality award winner. The presentation and tour of a Pal’s Sudden Service operation provided direction in how quality is integrated into the business culture. Follow-up activities with quality experts associated with Pal's Business Executive Institute will be ongoing.

In keeping with the organizational emphasis on learning and then sharing the experience and results with others, staff members share their experiences at the monthly TRICOR Management Business Review (TMBR) meeting. Last year, staff attended numerous unique learning opportunities. The following reflects a few key presentations.

TRICOR’s communications manager attended the HOW Design Conference. The sessions incorporated graphic design along with marketing, public relations, and personal development. Also included were classes on graphic design trends, new software, branding, and creating a consistent message across many different platforms. The results of this training will be evident in the collateral material and market messaging used in the future. Also, several TRICOR staff members toured industry operations in Florida and North Carolina to evaluate staffing and structure of operations, new program and business ventures, and competitive information. This information will be used in future planning activities.

Two executive team members were conference presenters in the area of Workforce Development and Offender Reentry at the Southeast Correctional Industry Association Conference. Eight staff members attended the National Correctional Industry Association Conference which focused on new industry trends, program and business opportunities, offender reentry initiatives, marketing and sales best practices, and financial management.

Several TRICOR employees and board members and a TDOC representative visited the Mike Durfee State Prison in South Dakota to tour a homebuilding program – a program that TRICOR is evaluating for a future job training venture.

All employees throughout TRICOR completed learning plans to increase their level of skill with a focus on career development. These short- and long-term plans were designed to further align with strategic business plans. Continuous education and professional development has become integrated throughout the organization to support the high performance expectations for the offender, employee, and the organization as a whole.