Participate as an Employer

Finally, something you can do about your workforce!

Employers around the country are clamoring for workers with strong High Performance skills like learning agility, an intention to excel, attention to detail, persistence, and problem-solving mindsets. Excel Together West Virginia is an initiative to address these issues, in unprecedented scale.

Excel Together West Virginia trains a new, highly-qualified pipeline of potential employees through schools, adult education, colleges and workforce development. The initiative also offers free training and upskilling services for your employees.

The cost to participate? It's free!

And as a participating employer, we'll direct potential job candidates with High Performance skills to your company -- at no cost.

Excel Together West Virginia partners include:

  • WorkForce West Virginia
  • The WV Office of Adult Education
  • WV Community and Technical College System
  • WVU, Concord University, Glenville State University
  • WV Manufacturers Association
  • WV Hospital Association
  • WV Society of Human Resource Management Council
  • Chemical Alliance Zone

Excel Together West Virginia is a non-profit initiative.

The High Performance skills of a 21st Century workforce

Excel Together West Virginia uses an online, self-paced training program called CSM that teaches High Performance skills:

High Performance Skills
  • college-level quantitative reasoning
  • professional literacy
  • problem-solving mindsets and strategies
  • learning agility
  • intention to excel, supported by attention to detail and persistence
  • deep, earned self-confidence

These are skills that you want across your workforce.

A survey of members of the West Virginia Manufacturers Association found these High Performance skills are much more highly valued relative to advanced math skills, and are even more important than technical, job-related skills!

The manufacturers also said that these High Performance skills were hard to assess in hiring, and hard to train in existing employees.

Participate in Excel Together West Virginia

Joining us as an Employer Participant is easy and free! 

Recognize the CSM Certificate in hiring

The CSM Certificate certifies the High Performance competencies that you want in your workforce. It is a valuable labor market signal that can help you find employees for all positions who are ready to thrive with great math and literacy skills, persistence, high personal expectations, learning agility, and self-efficacy.

To participate in Excel Together West Virginia as employer, the only requirement is that you allow us to list in our Excel Together WV database and in the WorkForce West Virginia state jobs database (MACC) that you recognize the value of the CSM Certificate in your hiring. How you express that recognition is entirely up to you: you can inform hiring managers of the value of the certificate; you can guarantee job interviews to anyone who both met the job qualifications and had a CSM Certificate; you can indicate the CSM Certificate as a preferred credential in job ads; etc.

Excel Together West Virginia provides employer participants with resources to promote their participation, including language for job ads, images, flyers, logos and more, found in the Participant Resources page.

By indicating your interest in the CSM Certificate, not only will this drive high quality candidates to your company's positions, this also encourages training providers in your community (schools, adult education, workforce development, etc.) to offer the CSM Course, and people in your community to take the CSM Course and improve their skills. All at no cost to you!

Upskill your workforce

CSM helps employees at all positions and levels (frontline or managerial, in production, HR, logistics, marketing, sales, finances, administration, etc.) build the High Performance competencies they need to thrive and grow in their careers.

Excel Together West Virginia provides participating employers with help in designing upskilling programs for their workers. These programs can be voluntary (with or without incentives) or required for certain employees, and can be part of onboarding, promotion pathways, or prerequisites for advanced training. Many of these programs are free to employers through a partnership with the West Virginia Office of Adult Education.

In a survey of WV Manufacturers Association members, over 80% said that they would encourage employees to take CSM, and 58% said they would provide incentives (such as extra personal days, points towards promotion, cash bonuses, pay raises, or time during the work week to take CSM).

Help your community

Excel Together West Virginia can help you sponsor CSM summer or after school programs for high school students or young adults in your community, or design internships for students who have earned their CSM Certificate. Excel Together West Virginia can also work with your local school district on implementing CSM to provide a pipeline of local students graduating ready for work.

Sponsor the Excel Together West Virginia initiative

Excel Together West Virginia is an initiative of non-profit SeeMore Impact Labs. You can sponsor our initiative with tax-deductible donations, which will be recognized in a variety of ways. Learn more about sponsorship here.

Lynn White, SVP Education, National Oilwell Varco (Fortune 500 manufacturer)
Remarks about CSM made at the White House

"Our pilot group has indicated that CSM teaches in a manner that is non-threatening and less frustrating with a strong focus on persistence, attention to detail and improved knowledge retention. In short, it teaches our workers how to learn. ...CSM will result in a more confident, self-reliant workforce that ...has a changed mindset from 'Getting the job done' to 'Getting the job done more effectively and efficiently'..."

Click here for Lynn White's full remarks
CEO, Firehouse Subs (1200 restaurants) and CSM Certificate holder

"CSM provides a valuable tool for assessing and strengthening the proficiency of employees at all levels of the organization. As an employer, one can have absolute confidence that a team member who has successfully completed the CSM course will have a solid foundation upon which to build their job-specific knowledge and skills."

Click here for the full statement by Don Fox
Senior Workforce Development Strategist, University Hospitals (Cleveland)

"I was incredibly skeptical of the learning program, but when I saw what our employees were doing and witnessed their success in not only the mastery of the skills of CSM, but then saw their completion of their High School Diploma, after multiple failures of the GED, I was hooked! Seriously, not to be too dramatic, but our employees have changed since doing this program."

Click to see other corporate insights from the energy and advanced manufacturing sectors

Register as an Employer Participant

Free Benefits

  • Excel Together West Virginia will provide free talent acquisition services such as directing people in your community who are taking or who have completed the CSM Course to your company and webpages.
  • Excel Together West Virginia can help you connect to community programs with schools, adult education, and workforce development, in order to develop a High Performance future workforce.
  • Excel Together West Virginia can assist you in designing an internal upskilling program, and connect you with free services from the state.

Register as a Participating Employer

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