The staff of The Widing Group have extensive strategic and operational knowledge of what it takes to create integrated, demand-driven State and local workforce systems. We understand the critical elements and processes that are necessary and can help your system develop and implement these key elements.
Widing Group staff have worked as staff to Workforce Boards, as staff in One-Stop Partner agencies and Chambers of Commerce, and as consultants providing technical assistance and training to all stakeholders in the workforce system.
Robin M. Widing is the President of the firm and has over twenty-five years of experience in workforce development. Her areas of expertise include strategic planning, public policy analysis, and organizational and board development. She is a recognized national authority on the workforce system, with a special expertise in the development, integration, and implementation of customer-focused delivery systems. She has led the design and development of one of the country’s most comprehensive approaches to the development of a fully integrated One-Stop service delivery system. For more than ten years Ms. Widing has provided ongoing strategic planning and consulting support to New Jersey’s statewide workforce board, the State Employment and Training Commission. This included being a lead consultant on the design of the state’s comprehensive and massive consolidation efforts that integrated Wagner Peyser, TANF, Unemployment Insurance and Adult Literacy Programs into the local One-Stop System. At the request of the State, Ms. Widing facilitated the planning of more than half of New Jersey’s local WIBS in the design of their local consolidation plans for a fully integrated One-Stop system. Furthermore, she assisted the SETC in the design and development of its standards and processes for chartering One-Stop Centers.
Ms. Widing is also a strong business leader, skilled in assessing needs, managing major projects, and consistently exceeding her client’s expectations.The firm has provided consulting services, strategic planning, organizational development, technical assistance, training, process mapping, policy and technical assistance manuals and tools for numerous Workforce Boards on a wide range of workforce projects. She has functioned as the Executive Director of the WIB for three different workforce areas in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In Texas, the firm is working with the Tarrant County and Heart of Texas Workforce Boards to evaluate existing practices in their respective Workforce Centers and to establish Workforce Center standards that reflect the level and quality of services to be offered. This work included detailed process mapping reviews and audits of One-Stop Center operations coupled with extensive reports and recommendations. As part of the Board’s implementation team, the firm’s work was expanded to included curriculum design and staff training.
The State of
Arizona tapped the Widing Group to lead them in a comprehensive strategic
planning process that reviewed their current delivery system in response
to a US DOL Review and Corrective Action Plan. This resulted in
a comprehensive report that provided a blueprint for Arizona in restructuring
their systems. This report was adopted by the Governor and forwarded
to the State Legislature. This work also provided the basic template
for the development of Arizona Strategic Five Year Plan update, in which
she, assisted in the planning, development, and writing of that plan.
Ms Widing’s career includes top management positions at the Philadelphia Private Industry Council and Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. She had responsibilities for strategic planning, government affairs, welfare-to-work, business – education partnerships, employer marketing and economic development. Ms. Widing also served on numerous state and national boards. She is a frequent lecturer/presenter at state and local conferences and has authored numerous strategic plans and workforce related publications.
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Michele M. Martin is a certified
Career Development Facilitator Instructor with over 10 years of
experience in the design and development of workforce programs that
are business-driven and based on best practices in career and workforce
development. She has trained staff and developed innovative service
delivery systems in a variety of settings, including One-Stop systems
in Pennsylvania, Texas, and New Jersey, as well as with private agencies
such as Goodwill Industries International. She has specilized
expertise in staff capacity-building, workforce program design, the
development of comprehensive One-Stop asssessment services, curriculum
development, and staff evaluation and performance improvement.
Through her work with the Widing Group, Ms. Roy Martin facilitated several New Jersey workforce areas in the development and implementation of their Consolidation Strategic plans, a massive state-wide effort to integrate TANF “To Work” and Adult Basic Literacy services into local One-Stop Career Centers. She has then gone on to assist in the implementation of the Consolidation plans, working with local staff to redesign programs for functional service delivery and to provide staff training in support of strategic changes. Ms. Roy Martin has also provided process mapping services, developed a variety of publications and manuals for state and local areas and provided techncial assistance to both Board and One-Stop staff in numerous locations.
In her capacity
as a curriculum designer and trainer, Ms. Roy Martin developed a project-based
120-hour Certification curriculum for workforce development staff that
was approved by the Center for Credentialing and Education and used
to certify hundreds of workforce staff in 12 core competency areas.
She also developed an 8-week career exploration and training program
for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Job Corps youth training program
that has been implemented in Centers around the country. In addition,
she has conducted extensive staff training for regional Job Corps offices
and for private Job Corps contractors. She has also developed
a 4-week assessment and career planning program for TANF recipients
and has trained staff in the implementation of the program. She has
extensive work experience in both the public and private sectors, including
working as a Human Resources Manager for two major manufacturers.
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Christine
Couturie Thelen brings a wide range of workforce program
design and operational experience. As a principle designer of the Widing
Group’s Process Mapping method, one of the company’s primary services
that adapted private sector process management practices to assist One-Stop
Career Centers and other service delivery systems and programs in developing
more efficient, customer-centered and performance-driven services.
She has facilitated a number of Process Mapping initiatives, working
with up to nine agencies at one time to merge upwards of 70 individual
critical One-Stop functions and over 200 sub-functions across all agencies
and programs into a single customer flow process. These
efforts have resulted in the drafting of numerous evaluation reports
with recommendations for improving current delivery systems as well
as policy and procedure manuals, learning tools and technical documents.
Ms Couturie also has a special expertise in performance enhancement, gained through her management experience in workforce agencies. She is particularly skilled at establishing performance criteria, developing evaluation tools, and training staff toward quality improvement. She has also provided in-depth technical assistance to local WIB staff and One-Stop Operators in the areas of fiscal tracking and management, contract development, performance management and other critical operational management functions. As part of these efforts, she has assisted in designing methods for tracking, reporting and using fiscal information to monitor the expenditure of funds and inform decisions regarding program activities. Similarly, she has assisted in designing performance management systems including methods for tracking, reporting and using data to monitor progress on achieving performance standards and ensuring adequate data reporting, program evaluation tools, customer satisfaction survey systems, and continuous improvement processes.
She also has
significant experience developing welfare-to-work programs including
facilitating collaborative efforts between partner agencies, staff training,
supervising case management and intake staff, and coordinating fiscal,
MIS, Contracts and Customer Services Department staff for special projects.
Ms. Couturie also has extensive experience in grant writing and grant
management. In 1999-2000 she served as Staff Analyst in
the Financial Services Department of Orange County's Social Services
Agency. Here, she led the County's effort in restructuring their
fiscal management system in line with the new requirements under TANF/Welfare-to-Work.
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Melody J. Dickinson supplies valuable support and coordination, providing office management and special events planning services for the company. She coordinates all company projects, client assignments, conferences and forums, and makes on-site meeting arrangements. She supports Senior Staff, frequently attending strategic planning sessions, process mapping sessions and client meetings, and following-up with the preparation of meeting minutes, conference reports and other research and follow-up work needed. Most recently she successfully planned and coordinated five project areas in support of a statewide Health Careers Week involving over 1000 local students, teachers, health care professionals, employers and job seekers. In addition, Ms. Dickinson plans and coordinates and Excellence in Youth awards program, including the development and marketing of a scholarship program. Her computer skills and strong organizational, communication and interpersonal skills make her a valuable asset to any project. She is skilled in all MS Office applications and is also proficient in Spanish.
