BUSINESS REPRESENTATIVE 1
DEFINITION:
Under general direction of a Chief of Business Services or Supervising Business Representative in the Division of Business Services, plans, implements, and oversees consultative business services of considerable to significant difficulty to employers requiring guidance, assistance, and/or training in such areas as business/human resources management, workforce utilization and development, customized training, school construction, and English as a Second Language and literacy grants, assistance to workers affected by mass layoffs/plant closings, youth and workplace apprenticeships, and coordination of services needed from various resources and programs within and outside the Division; markets services of the Division and Department to businesses in accordance with the Workforce New Jersey One Stop concept of customer service; takes the lead over lower level Business Representatives in performance of the work; does other related duties as required.
NOTE: The examples of work for this title are for illustrative purposes only. A position using this title may not perform all duties listed in this job specification. Conversely, all duties performed on the job may not be listed.
EXAMPLES OF WORK:
Consults with management of businesses to identify and evaluate the most complex business needs and/or problems and recommends plans to provide assistance in resolving personnel and workforce-related problems and/or in developing and instituting sound business practices; determines appropriate and available staff to assign to project and establishes time schedule and work plans.
Determines needs of employer based on difficult analysis of complex information about business organization and employer's account of problems and/or business plans.
Conducts or serves as team leader of lower-level Business Representatives to conduct technical assistance projects of considerable to significant difficulty at employer sites, such as job analyses, worker-utilization studies, turnover/absenteeism analyses, job restructuring, and workflow analyses; assesses problems, recommends remedial actions, and provides employer with training and assistance necessary to initiate and continue project to its conclusion.
Prepares complex technical documents and oversees and reviews the preparation of technical documents by lower-level Business Representatives for use by employer, such as job descriptions, process and workflow charts, and task analysis worksheets; drafts model policies for employer's consideration.
Coordinates and prioritizes program activities in response to changing operational conditions.
Implements or oversees the design, administration, and evaluation of findings of employee surveys, such as opinion, exit, and post-exit surveys, to provide employers with data on how current, departing, and former employees perceive the organization; recommends corrective actions to employer based on survey results.
Oversees surveys of employers to determine need for specific types of supervisory/management training; conducts research on new topics for employer seminars and develops or oversees the development of seminars and training materials on a wide range of human resource and business management topics; consults and coordinates with legal staff of co-presenting organizations, such as employer membership associations.
Conducts, alone or as lead trainer, or oversees the conduct of business and human resource management seminars for supervisors, managers, and human resources staff of businesses of various types and sizes; oversees or implements the customization and conduct of business seminars for specific employers and employer organizations at their sites; oversees or implements occupational classification/coding training for Workforce New Jersey staff and other training related to business management and supervisor/management development.
Meets and consults with management and organizational labor officials of companies that are downsizing or closing, including those of large size, high public visibility, and/or significant impact on community, to arrange for income-maintenance, job seeking, and skills training services for departing employees and arranges for set-up of career centers and for such services as test administration, job-search and resume preparation workshops, job development, and one on one career consultation, coordinating with other members of the Response Team (Unemployment insurance and County and/or City representatives) and with employer, unions, and other service agencies; resolves problems at site or by telephone, negotiates with high level company and union officials to achieve solutions.
Conducts classroom and on-the-job training of new and current Business Representatives for continuous staff development.
Provides input to Assistant Director/Chief Business Services and/or Supervising Business Representative on development of policy relating to business services.
Takes the lead in the form of assigning work, planning project activities, and providing training and technical assistance and guidance to lower-level Business Representatives.
Conducts or oversees, as member of Response Team, on-site informational presentations, forms-completion sessions, and resume preparation and job-seeking skills workshops, for groups of customers undergoing layoffs to assist with filing for unemployment insurance benefits and for other Workforce New Jersey employment and training services that help them to effectively conduct own job search.
Serves as technical consultant for labor-management committees established to assist in worker transition during layoffs.
Counsels and assists employers in the proper and timely completion of applications for complex customized training grants for extensive and in-depth training proposals involving a wide range of instructional areas, a diversity of occupations, and/or consortia of firms with common training needs; visits employers/meets with high ranking officials to explain application process and the requirements of customized training program, addresses issues of concern, and gathers information about the company and its training needs.
Evaluates propriety, accuracy, and reasonableness of employers proposed, frequently extensive and complex customized training budgets and negotiates and prepares detailed, computerized budgets of up to one million dollars or more.
Evaluates complex customized training proposals to ensure that components are complementary and consistent with employers' business plans.
Monitors active customized training and/or literacy program and school construction agreements, conducting employer and training provider telephone contacts and/or on-site visits to evaluate progress and status of training for compliance with terms and conditions of agreement; or reviews observations, findings, and recommendations of lower-level Business Representatives and makes final determination of compliance.
Prepares or oversees preparation of evaluative customized training monitoring reports, recommending, if necessary, corrective actions for noncompliance and/or modification of agreements if corrective actions fail to achieve compliance.
Reviews laws, regulations, and other Federal and State documents related to employment and training programs, human resource development programs, and business and employment management trends for application to business services programs and activities.
Participates in the review of employment and training and business services program plans, contracts, proposals, program descriptions, and reports for compliance with State and Federal requirements and/or for use in or application to Division or Department activities, plans, and initiatives; synthesizes findings and conclusions and makes recommendations based on own or consolidation of own and others' views and opinions.
Markets and/or oversees the marketing of business-related services of the Division, Department, and other departments of State government by lower level Business Representatives through personal contacts and visits to employers and through use of communication media; seminars and conferences; chambers of commerce; employer, industry, and professional associations; and Workforce New Jersey offices and other One Stop partners; confers with employers to determine and assess their need for business services and persuades employer to utilize the Workforce New Jersey One Stop concept of service delivery, offering a single point of contact to arrange for the provision of all needed services in a coordinated manner; recommends marketing methods and strategies to Supervising Business Representative and Assistant Director.
Develops dynamic partnerships for the Department of Labor and Human Services with local stakeholders to determine, establish, and/or strengthen traditional and nontraditional service delivery opportunities to meet the employment and training needs of the business community.
Coordinates and shares information with business development and advocacy agencies at the State, county, and local level and with trade associations to deliver seamless, effective services to New Jersey businesses; refers inquiries on business financing, retention, and relocation services to the New Jersey Economic Growth Commission and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, working in close cooperation with those agencies.
Solicits business input on New Jersey Department of Labor services and Work First New Jersey operations; evaluates results of biannual survey of participating Work First New Jersey Corporate Partners to provide feedback to State policymakers and local operators to continuously improve those programs and to determine how State government can better assist citizens to secure and retain gainful employment.
Originates and designs or adapts marketing methods and materials to promote business services of Division and Department and evaluates their effectiveness.
Oversees and manages youth and workplace apprenticeship programs and associated grants programs.
Participates in intra- and interagency School Construction effort to implement Department of Education workplace readiness standards in the New Jersey school system.
Monitors School Construction grantees for compliance with terms of grant and progress of participating students/trainees and provides technical assistance as required.
Collaborates with employer, education, and community-based organizations to implement and support, through grants programs, complex youth, and workplace apprenticeship programs.
Prepares clear, technically sound, accurate, and informative reports relating to business services provided that contain findings, conclusions, and recommendations.
Prepares and delivers speeches and program presentations on complex or technical topics before various business and industry groups to publicize and explain business services programs.
Will be required to learn how to utilize various types of electronic and/or manual recording and information systems used by the agency, office, or related units.
REQUIREMENTS:
NOTE: Applicants must meet one of the following or a combination of both experience and education. Thirty (30) semester hour credits are equal to one (1) year of relevant experience.    
Seven (7) years of professional experience in the implementation, coordination, or marketing of an employment and training or business services program in a public or private agency.
OR
Possession of a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university; and three (3) years of the above-mentioned professional experience.
OR
Possession of a master's degree from an accredited college or university in Political Science, Education, Economics, Psychology, Sociology, Public Administration, Business Administration, Marketing, Communications, Personnel/ Human Resources Management, or related fields; and two (2) years of the above-mentioned professional experience.
 NOTE: "Professional experience" refers to work that is creative, analytical, evaluative, and interpretive; requires a range and depth of specialized knowledge of the profession's principles, concepts, theories, and practices; and is performed with the authority to act according to one's own judgment and make accurate and informed decisions.
LICENSE:
Appointees will be required to possess a driver's license valid in New Jersey only if the operation of a vehicle, rather than employee mobility, is necessary to perform the essential duties of the position.
KNOWLEDGE AND ABILITIES:
Knowledge of available training facilities and training programs.
Knowledge of principles and current developments in the fields of industrial psychology and human resources/business management.
Knowledge of principles and techniques of job analysis and job restructuring.
Knowledge of methods used to measure and control employee turnover and absenteeism.
Knowledge of varied sources of occupational, industrial, and labor market information and methods of collecting such information.
Knowledge of the methods used to prepare training materials.
Knowledge of the types and sources of economic and human resources data and the methods used to effectively utilize this data.
Knowledge of research methodology and statistics.
Knowledge of survey techniques and other methods of program evaluation including statistical analysis and presentation.
Knowledge of group dynamics and principles and techniques of influencing/persuading others to a point of view.
Knowledge of interviewing techniques.
Knowledge of occupational and industrial classification systems.
Ability to interpret Federal and State laws, rules, and regulations and apply them to specific situations.
Ability to plan and coordinate projects, studies, and program activities involving multiple variables, frequent troubleshooting, and collaboration of efforts among several entities.
Ability to train, motivate, and coordinate the activities of individuals and demonstrate leadership traits.
Ability to effectively market all available business services to employers.
Ability to prepare news releases, brochures, and other promotional materials.
Ability to design and administer surveys and analyze results.
Ability to understand laws and regulations pertaining to labor union activities and operations.
Ability to read and interpret statistical and technical data.
Ability to review and prepare training budgets.
Ability to effectively communicate and articulate the objectives of business services programs with officials from companies, government, and educational and training institutions.
Ability to develop questions, take notes, recall details, and organize facts in logical sequence.
Ability to write clearly, concisely, and in an organized manner to prepare correspondence and reports, using extensive vocabulary and accepted English usage, style, spelling, and grammar.
Ability to diagnose employer personnel management problems and arrive at possible solutions.
Ability to develop or integrate data into new formulations and to draw inferences from them.
Ability to observe workers performing job or training activities and identify relevant data.
Ability to assist and participate in the review, monitoring, and evaluation of training programs.
Ability to speak clearly and effectively to individuals and groups.
Ability to cultivate business relationships, and inspire confidence, and gain cooperation of customers and others.
Ability to keep current of literature, legislation, and other information material pertaining to programs, functions, objectives, responsibilities, standards, and new developments in employee development and human resource/business management.
Ability to oversee the establishment and maintenance of records and files. 
Ability to operate personal computer with software, such as Microsoft Office, to navigate the Internet to conduct research for customers and seminars, to access WNJPIN, Inform, and other New Jersey State websites, and to create PowerPoint visuals for use in training and presentations.
Ability to learn how to utilize various types of electronic and/or manual recording and information systems used by the agency, office, or related units.
Ability to read, write, speak, understand, and communicate in English sufficiently to perform duties of this position. American Sign Language or Braille may also be considered as acceptable forms of communication.
Persons with mental or physical disabilities are eligible if they can perform essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation. If the accommodation cannot be made because it may cause the employer undue hardship, such persons may not be eligible.