Shamyia Henderson, Business and Community Outreach Coordinator at Houston Community College, on Making Apprenticeship Simpler

Intro

Welcome to another episode of Making Apprenticeship Simpler where we dive into the world of apprenticeships and shine a light on the innovators making it easier for everyone to access hands-on learning opportunities.

In today's episode, our host Patrick Cushing sits down with Shamyia Henderson, the Business and Community Outreach Coordinator at Houston Community College’s Gulf Coast Region Apprenticeship Hub. Shamyia shares her unique perspective on building apprenticeship programs in industries where they're still uncommon—like healthcare, IT, business, and education. Drawing from her own educational journey and her experience helping organizations embrace apprenticeships, Shamyia discusses the cultural barriers, the impact of digital tools like Work Hands, and the importance of conversations that demystify apprenticeships. Whether you're new to apprenticeships or looking to expand your knowledge, this episode is packed with practical insights and inspiration to help simplify the path to skills-based careers.

Highlights

• Primary Question: How to Make Apprenticeships Simpler?

• Tools such as WorkHands, to simplify apprenticeship tracking and engagement

• Cultural and Structural Barriers in U.S. Apprenticeship Adoption

• First Area: Tracking/Engagement

• Reflection on past challenges with older, manual tracking methods (paper and pen)

• Ease of onboarding clients due to improved tools

• Lack of familiarity with apprenticeships in non-traditional industries and need for alternative workforce development strategies in changing environments

• Second Area: Perceptions Regarding Apprenticeships

• Overwhelm and misconceptions about implementing apprenticeship programs

• Fears about new hires, bureaucracy, and tracking requirements

• Suggestions for improvement: automated systems and pre-approved standards

• Third Area: Expanding Apprenticeship Adoption

• Importance of outreach by organizations already working in apprenticeships: Such as the promotion of the Gulf Coast Region Apprenticeship Hub and its annual summit during National Apprenticeship Week

• Encouragement to simply begin the conversation around apprenticeships, even if immediate adoption isn’t possible

• Suggestions for improvement: Networking and learning from those already engaged in successful programs

• Closing Thoughts and Reflections

• Recap on providing encouragement to organizations and stakeholders to keep discussing and promoting apprenticeship models

• Utilizing the available support from intermediaries, schools, and experts and inviting others to participate in the conversation

Transcript

Patrick Cushing:

It's Patrick from WorkHands again and we're doing another making apprenticeship simpler interview today. We have Shamyia Henderson with us from Houston Community College. Shamyia, welcome.

Shamyia Henderson:

Thank you for having me.

Patrick Cushing:

It's a pleasure and I would love to get some background before we dive into how we can make apprenticeship simpler. Can you give us some context on your experience with apprenticeship, how long you've been working in apprenticeship, what types of industries, things like that?

Shamyia Henderson:

Yes. I work at Houston Community College under Dr. Christina Robinson and we're the Gulf Coast Region Apprenticeship Hub. I am the Business and Community Outreach Coordinator for that department. Basically my biggest objective for work is to build apprenticeships. The industries that I cover are healthcare, IT, education, professions, business, retail and sometimes manufacturing. So it's a lot that I cover. I've been doing this for a little bit less than two years, but I have a really big passion in regards to apprenticeships.

Shamyia Henderson:

As someone that took the traditional route when it came to school and took out a lot of student loans, I really like the benefit of an alternative situation or an alternative outcome for individuals when trying to pursue higher education.

Patrick Cushing:

Perfect. I love it. Coming in it sounds like the industries you work with a largely industries that aren't used to having apprenticeships. We always find there's unique insights when people are dealing with apprenticeship in industries that haven't been used to it. So my one and only question I ask everybody, Shamyia, in your opinion, how can apprenticeships be made simpler?

Shamyia Henderson:

Yes, I think apprenticeships can be made simpler through organizations or companies like WorkHands. They make it very simple. You guys make it very simple for me to get partners because of how easy it is to track the apprenticeship. I think before, I can't even imagine honestly how they used to track apprenticeships like paper and pens and all of that stuff and having to keep all of that information. So to have a user friendly platform like WorkHands, I think has definitely made having apprenticeships simpler. It's also helped me in regards to getting a lot of my clients on board because with the industries that I work with, apprenticeships aren't the normal. Right. They're not the norm in regards to using that as an HR strategy. But another way I think apprenticeships could be made simpler because there's a lot of funding for apprenticeships, at least in Texas.

Shamyia Henderson:

I think it's just people wrapping their mind around using apprenticeships like in places like Europe and stuff like that. Apprenticeships are very common, right. And in America it's not. People just have a hard time of really grasping what an apprenticeship looks like, what it takes. They just hear like, oh, my goodness, I'm going to be having new people come in and going to have to do all these things. I'm getting the DOL involved. I have to track all of this information.

Shamyia Henderson:

So I think they get overwhelmed, and instead of working through those problems, they just don't do it at all. You know, I have clients all the time. They just don't think about of even using an apprenticeship or how it can benefit them.

Patrick Cushing:

Sure! I love that. First of all, I appreciate the plug for I think what you're highlighting is something we hear from a number of people, different stakeholders, that just culturally, this isn't something that a lot of industry are used to. We're not used to apprenticeship being the way in which we train our workforce, especially in industries that haven't done it in the past. So let's say you had a magic wand and you could fix that. What would you do to make it so that it'd be easier for these industries to take up apprenticeship to better understand what they're getting into? If there's anything you could do, what would that be?

Shamyia Henderson:

I think a shameless plug is I would tell industries or anybody interested in apprenticeships to reach out to organizations that are taking up space in that area or that are doing apprenticeships. For instance, shameless plug, the Gulf Coast Region Apprenticeship Hub. We have an apprenticeship summit every year during National Apprenticeship Week, and we give a lot of information. And it's actually going to be in Houston this year. No, it's always in Houston. But we give them a lot of tools. We take on the role as a consultant. I would tell people if I had a magic wand, I just wish that more people talked about the apprenticeship model and talked about it to everyone honestly. Okay, maybe you can't do it right now, but at least start talking through it and see how you can do it. Because I have organizations that reach out to me because they need a pipeline. They're say our workforce is aging out. Well, you have to start being creative. You can't do what you used to do.

Shamyia Henderson:

The workplace environment has changed, right. Even higher education has changed, as we're seeing. If I had a magic wand, I just wish more people talked about apprenticeships. And again, the Apprenticeship Summit is a great opportunity for individuals to kind of learn about apprenticeships from different perspectives, clients, and that's the best referral, but also other people in the nation that's doing apprenticeships well - government organizations, support services, wraparound services, nonprofit organizations that also play a major part in the apprenticeship program.

Patrick Cushing:

Perfect. I love it. I think something I heard once about communication: Communication isn't saying something only once. Everybody in apprenticeship needs to keep talking about this, right? There are intermediaries, there are schools, there are people who can handhold you through this. But we should be speaking about apprenticeship until we're blue in the face, because clearly the message isn't yet out there. And so for everybody else out there, keep talking about apprenticeship. If you want to get on the interview, reach out to us.

Patrick Cushing:

Shamyia, really appreciate your time lending us your experience, and we'll wrap it up here. Thank you.