By Vincent Ginski, NC Chamber Foundation Director of Workforce Competitiveness

At our recent Education and Workforce Conference, I posed a challenge: What if the way we set workforce goals is holding us back? 

Across our state, countless organizations are working hard to train, place, and retain talent — yet we still struggle to keep up with demand. The problem isn’t effort; it’s aim. Too often, our goals measure activity, not achievement. 

Before we get to the simple idea I shared that day, let’s look at the kinds of goals we set now. 

• “Increase nursing program enrollment by 20%.” 

• “Raise community college graduation rates.” 

• “Place 65% of graduates in target jobs within six months.” 

• “Increase the number of registered apprenticeships.” 

• “Ensure residents are receiving credentials of value.” 

Each of these items measures some important input or output. They encourage everyone to do something. 

But individually, none present a comprehensive vision. They don’t set us on the path to producing and retaining the right talent for the right jobs.  

What a Better Vision Could Look Like 

So, what does a better vision actually look like? 

A true talent vision names the finish line in clear, measurable terms. It goes beyond counting activities to defining what success really means. 

At the conference, I offered one example: 

X Region will annually produce, place, and retain 540 new maintenance technicians — ensuring at least 500 reach full productivity within eight months of hire. 

At first glance, it seems simple. But that single sentence captures what most of our current goals miss — clarity of purpose, shared accountability, and an outcome that matters to both employers and workers. 

Let’s unpack it. 

A good talent goal is concrete, time-bound, risk-calibrated, and collectively owned. The simplicity hides the hard work. To create this one-sentence vision, all stakeholders must collectively: 

• Define a clear critical role and “full productivity” for that role. 

• Benchmark a reasonable timeframe to achieve productivity 

• Estimate realistic enrollment-to-retention. 

• Project talent needs in the face of market swings, attrition, and varying levels of employer commitment. 

• Align resources and responsibilities. 

Doing this well takes collaboration, discipline and data – far more than any one institution can deliver on its own. That’s why comprehensive talent visions are rare.

Other goals that we see are useful, but by themselves they float. 

• Enrollment growth matters only if it produces enough completers to feed the 540 hires. 

• Graduation rates matter because they determine how much of that enrollment translates into candidates. 

• Placement rates matter only if graduates enter the targeted roles in shortage. 

• Apprenticeships matter if they are the right work-based learning tactic to help hit the throughput number. 

• Credentials matter if they map to full productivity on the job. 

What we do next with this idea 

At the NC Chamber Foundation, we’re working alongside employers, educators and community partners to turn this concept into practice – to help each industry build its own clear, data-driven talent vision for the roles that matter most. 

Because once a region or sector can name its finish line, everything else comes into focus. Training programs align. Resources flow where they’re needed most. Accountability becomes shared instead of siloed. 

We want to learn from others who are testing this approach. What examples have you seen of communities setting truly comprehensive workforce goals? What would make this work even stronger? 

Ultimately, our challenge isn’t just to set better goals – it’s to build better systems.   Systems that make it possible to define demand clearly, connect the right partners, and measure progress in real time. Until we do, we’ll keep setting partial goals that sound good but don’t drive real change.  

The good news is that we’re not starting from scratch. North Carolina already has strong partnerships and a growing appetite for alignment. What’s needed now is the discipline — and the shared vision — to connect the dots.