Suddenly Virtual: A Practical Guide for Frontline Service Providers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

by Liana Volpe

As part of our Suddenly Virtual series, the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University is sharing a new brief, Suddenly Virtual: A Practical Guide for Frontline Service Providers During the COVID-19 Pandemic. This is a companion brief to Suddenly Virtual: Delivering Workforce Services in the COVID-19 Environment, in which we shared the lessons learned and firsthand experiences of workforce staff adapting to the initial weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the crisis has unfolded, the public workforce system has been forced to shut its doors and pivot its predominantly in-person operations to a suddenly virtual world. Local workforce staff have been challenged to adopt remote teaming and reconceive their service delivery infrastructure. In a time where the demands placed on the public workforce system are extremely high, we were able to gain a better understanding of how staff are responding and rising to the challenges before them.

We found that there were two main areas of staff adjustment: transitioning to remote teams and transitioning regular operations to a virtual environment. These distinct, but related, challenges require different technology and management tools. Specifically, staff highlighted struggles with:

> Handling paper-based work processes in a virtual environment.

> Difficulty accessing state program-specific case management systems.

> Lack of technology at home to support remote work.

> Inability to obtain client signatures.

> No clear and safe mechanisms for processing customers’ personally identifiable information.

> Addressing the need quickly to transfer in-person services to virtual.

Our new brief outlines the tools and strategies frontline staff have deployed as they ramp up remote operations and address these challenges. One of the main priorities for local areas was staying in contact with customers. Later this week, we’ll share more on how frontline staff are making innovative use of texting apps to share information and keep job seekers motivated.

For many frontline staff, this is their first experience with remote work so many are still in the process of familiarizing themselves with the various technology tools and services, and are primarily focused on basic functionality. As social distancing and constraints on in-person services continue, staff may need to skill up and employ more advanced uses of technology to address their work needs.

Staff may also need to reconsider what they are using technology to do. In these first weeks, the focus has been on transitioning in-person services to an online environment. While there is clearly a need to ensure continuity of services, COVID-19 has caused a massive disruption to the labor market, creating uncertainty, anxiety, and fear. In this time of crisis, there is great value in providing customers not only the tangible services they need, but also the intangible comforts of a listening ear, human connection, and empathy. Technology can not only inform, it can connect, and the workforce system will need to consider how it uses technology tools to provide care and community to job seekers, not just programs and services.

Overall, it is clear that many local workforce areas are experiencing the same challenges and are valiantly trying to solve them, albeit in siloes. The field can benefit from collective solutioning and staff sharing helpful tips, effective workarounds, and lessons learned. The Heldrich Center recognizes this need and is committed to providing resources and opportunities to serve the field, and to create space for open dialogue amongst workforce staff across counties and states. Toward that end, we are offering:

> Access to our free online Community of Practice where staff can ask questions, share ideas, and take part in online learning to build their skills in providing virtual services and operating in remote teams. The link to join the community is here.

> Ongoing staff development opportunities, including Lunch & Learn sessions on using various technology tools, virtual sharing sessions to showcase promising practices from the field, and coaching and practice sessions for staff who are implementing new practices and tools.

> Monthly roundtable discussions with workforce professionals to share new ideas and support collaborative problem-solving and the creation of new connections.

> Ongoing research and issue briefs to share what is happening in the field and identify challenges, opportunities, and recommendations for action.

Liana Volpe is a Research Associate at the Heldrich Center.

About Suddenly Virtual

Suddenly Virtual is a series of products highlighting the challenges facing the public workforce system and how frontline staff are stepping up to solve those challenges. View the complete list of products in this series.