Free supervisory skills training will be available for free to qualified employers thanks to a Massachusetts Workforce Training Fund Direct Access Grant.

Up to 90 local employees will have access to free supervisory skills training over the next two years, thanks to a $142,000 grant that Northern Essex Community College received from the Massachusetts Workforce Training Fund Direct Access Grant.

To be eligible for the free skills training, Massachusetts companies must have fewer than 100 employees and agree to pay employees while they are in training.

“This funding will help local employers develop supervisory/leadership skills of employees who have the potential to take on more responsibility and manage other employees,” said Kathy Ronaldson, program manager, NECC’s Corporate & Community Education.

The college will offer two courses: Effective Supervisory Skills, a 40-hour, 10-week course, and Advance Leadership Topics, a 30-hour course, 10-week course.

The college is currently recruiting students for the first session of Effective Supervisory Skills, which will run Thursdays, January 9 through March 12, 2020, in a choice of morning or afternoon sessions.  Effective Supervisory Skills will focus on topics such as understanding behavioral styles, planning and organizing, managing personnel issues, and creating a climate for motivation.

Anyone interested can attend an Information Session on Friday, November 15, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. or Friday, December 6, from 8 to 9:30 a.m.

Contact Ronaldson at 978-556-3066 or kronaldson@necc.mass.edu.

Effective Supervisory Skills will be offered six times, between January 9, 2020 and January 14, 2021, and Advanced Leadership Topics will be offered three times with the first session beginning April 8, 2020.

This is the second grant that Northern Essex has received to offer supervisory skills training.

In 2017, the Lawrence Partnership, a private-public sector consortium focused on economic development and improving the quality of life in Lawrence, conducted a survey to determine where there were local “skills gaps.” The survey was completed by 94 local employers with 50 or more employees, and many company leaders expressed concerns over lost productivity and competitiveness because of the lack of supervisory and management skills among their current workers.

Leadership was identified as the number one soft skills challenge while middle management was also shown to be an area of need, according to the survey.  As one company leader wrote, “We cannot grow our business without great staffing.”

The results of this survey led to the development of this program.

For more information, contact Ronaldson at 978 556-3066 or kronaldson@necc.mass.edu.