The title of this post also served as the subtitle of an Indiana Chamber study released earlier this year titled Indiana’s Adult Education and Workforce Skills Performance Report.

There are many Hoosiers with a vested interest in overcoming the challenges — such as 651,000 workers with no college education and earning less than a living wage.

Two names at the top of that list of interested parties are Thomas Snyder, president of Ivy Tech Community College, and Teresa Voors, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. Snyder and Voors, along with Mark Lawrance (a Chamber senior vice president who oversaw the study in his role as head of the Chamber Foundation) are taking the message around the state. Audiences in Bloomington, Evansville, Fort Wayne and South Bend have heard about the needs, what the state is already doing well and how public and private sector leaders are working together to craft additional solutions.

The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette and the South Bend Tribune report on the recent visits to their communities. Gary and Indianapolis are among the upcoming stops.

Contact Lawrance to learn about the study and what many are saying is the No. 1 long-term challenge facing our state.

It’s been estimated that employees now spend at least 100 hours each year commuting to work. Because of this, flexible work arrangements are becoming more popular among staff and are being utilized by more employers to lower turnover.

Be sure you have a policy in place to meet the needs, or at least "wants," of your staff. Page 129 of the Indiana Chamber’s Model Employee Policies for Indiana Employers addresses telecommuting policy, and the entire book also provides detailed sample policies that could work for your business.

Written by Bose McKinney & Evans, this book is designed to help employers understand the legal implications of an organization’s written policies and procedures, the costs and benefits of placing informal practices in an employee handbook and how to communicate an organization’s values and goals. It includes a compilation of legal commentary as well.