Workforce training opportunity opens to regional employers

Regional employers will be able to learn new techniques to help with workforce retention during a special partnership between the Mexico Area Chamber of Commerce, the Mexico Sustainability Project and the Audrain County Commission.

Through Mexico’s successful WRAP program, employers in the community have utilized philosophies and teachings from Ruby Payne and her series, “Bridges Out of Poverty,” according to a news release from Audrain County Commissioner Leslie Meyer. These lessons focus on methods supervisors can use to see how different strategies can improve performance and communication between their staff from those who have daily instability to others who are more financially secure.

Meyer said the WRAP program inspired the commission to utilize funding from the National Association of Counties’ Rural Leaders of Economic Mobility grant to offer training for employers across the region.

“The WRAP program is an innovative opportunity that has immensely helped Mexico businesses improve the atmosphere and lives of their employees,” she said in the release. “When you hear the success stories from both sides, the employers and employees, it is truly inspiring.”

Through the RLEM grant, the Chamber will host four opportunities for employers to learn the principles that have made the WRAP program so successful in Mexico. This free event will include a textbook for registered participants as well as lunch. Lessons taught during the event will be simple, innovative strategies that can be utilized effectively for employers in the region.

“This event is designed to help any size business whether they have three employees or 300,” Audrain County Presiding Commissioner Alan Winders said in the release.

“In Audrain County, we’ve seen different types of businesses thrive with the WRAP program from industry to even the local school district,” Audrain County Associate Commissioner Tracy R. Graham added.

The Audrain County training will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 23 in the Farnen Community Room of the downstairs of the Audrain County Courthouse. It is open to any employer in the region, at no charge.

For those who wish to attend a training, but cannot make the Audrain County date, there are two more opportunities. On April 9, training will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at A Stroke of Magic in Moberly, located at 215 West Reed Street, and one in Pike County on April 16 from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Allen Family Resource Center.

Currently, the WRAP program works with five employers in Mexico, which accounts for about 1200 employees. According to Darlene Shopher, WRAP director, there are many goals to the program including increasing employees’ longevity in the workplace, productivity and engagement of entry-level workers.

Shopher said one of the highest costs for employers currently is high turnover costs for employees who leave their positions.

“Employee turnover costs a business a great deal,” she said in the release. “It is somewhere between $2500 to $5500 for an entry level position. If a business loses 10 people each year that is a quick $25,000, at the very least.”

During the event, Shopher will cover the cost of instability, how a typical entry-level employee is motivated, hidden rules in the workplace, the language of business and strategies for improving employee retention. Shopher said she would also interject actual success stories from her time in the WRAP program.

“I think this is best told in stories during the workshop,” she said. “It’s hard to put into words, but I can tell you that small changes can make big differences.”

To register for the WRAP Training, employers may call the Mexico Area Chamber of Commerce office at 573-581-2765 or email the chamber at mexicochamber@mexico-chamber.org. Participants are asked to RSVP by April 10 for planning purposes.