Abstract

The article discusses management commitment and manpower program success. Years ahead will undoubtedly see more private-sector involvement in manpower programs. As the economy improves and unemployment rates fall, prime sponsors will come under increasing pressure from the U.S. Congress to increase private-sector involvement. Private employers will view such programs as a means of meeting affirmative action goals, filling lower-level job openings and improving, the corporate image. Yet the program examined in this article is probably more typical of past employer involvement than many would care to admit. Unless some lessons of the past are learned, employers are doomed to repeat the same mistakes in the future. An employer who is considering submitting a manpower proposal to a prime sponsor under Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973 should first assess his own degree of commitment to such a program. Failure to do so will result in frustration and increasing public cynicism toward further private-sector involvement. An employer could proceed to spell out managerial functions of planning, organizing, directing and evaluating in more detail. The plan should spell out goals of the organization, goals of the program and the relationship between the two.