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Bringing Rapid Response Workforce Aid to Citizens

Bringing Workforce Aid Efficiently to Citizens

In a state where manufacturing and other mass layoffs were overloading an outdated manual process, an Office of Workforce Development brought in KSM Consulting to ensure that service delivery could happen quickly and efficiently. Bringing aid to hundreds or even thousands of workers at once taxed a process too reliant on paper and data entry.

Inconsistent data, manual interventions, and out-of-date software made this agency’s work harder than it needed to be. Meanwhile, a new system would mean better constituent services for local citizens, a boost to efficiency department-wide, and massive savings down the road.

Data Analytics
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The Problem
The Approach
The Outcome
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The Problem

Facilitating events to meet with individuals who have been or soon will be affected by an employer layoff meant tedious processes to attract, collect information from, and provide services to citizens.

Staff members relied on paper and pen to collect details about dislocated workers so that they could help affected workers find new jobs or acquire training and new skills. Like any manual process, it was incredibly time consuming, limited capture of data for analysis and reporting, and provided opportunity for human error affecting data and process integrity.

The Approach

Our team worked with multiple groups within the state to design, develop, and implement a multichannel mobile application to enable workforce specialists to automate and efficiently collect data and help affected workers.

Through familiarity with the workforce sector and experience working with the state, our team brought deep program and institutional knowledge that the state relied on to fine tune the project and optimize its processes to create new efficiencies and reporting enhancements.

The registration mobile application project evolved to address state workforce needs through a proven process of design, development, testing, and deployment through the Scrum agile methodology. To set the foundation for further app development without need for two custom code sets for iOS and Android platforms, our team utilized the Kony application platform to implement a single code base, which gives the state room to grow and address future needs through a streamlined development process.

To bring the state’s project to life, our team compiled detailed project management and communication plans to best enable collaboration with the client toward the following objectives:

  • Determining and confirming design requirements
  • Completing design documentation
  • Mocking up a wireframe prototype
  • Developing and deploying a mobile app pilot
  • Developing and deploying a production-ready mobile app
  • Conducting industry research
  • Conducting knowledge transfer and training
  • Providing 90-days post go-live tier-2 support

The Outcome

Working in partnership with the client, our team managed the full project lifecycle, ultimately designing and developing a mobile application with the following high-level features and functions:

  • Collection of job-seeker registration details via driver’s license barcode scanning
  • Worker survey collection
  • Searching for events by name, date, location, or ID
  • Document scanning including automatic cropping and image enhancements
  • Geolocation function to connect workers with events
  • Automated report generation and export
  • Offline functionality
  • Support for Apple iOS and Android smartphones and tablets

Following app implementation, our team provided training documentation and an integration plan, as well as technical support to ensure the state could fully utilize its new data collection, communication, and reporting capabilities.

Impact

Citizens and workforce specialists who formerly utilized an entirely manual process for employment events and services now benefit from instant registration and data collection. The state can now handle mass layoff events in a much more efficient and thorough manner. Citizens impacted by job loss utilize the app to connect quickly with necessary support and assistance through the re-employment process.

The client now provides employment services more efficiently and, because automated data capture enables real-time registration for critical assistance and advanced reporting and tracking capabilities, the office can help affected workers get trained and reemployed faster. New reporting capabilities also enable the state to more easily identify opportunities for process improvements and evaluate program effectiveness.

Design decisions that facilitate efficient future app development mean the state can quickly add supplemental employment services and new employment and training event types as needed.

From a paper process, the state now has a functional and adaptable digital means to address citizen need and evaluate its own efficiencies to continue improving service delivery.