Hiring Is Only the Beginning
We partner with employers to build the communication, accountability, and workplace relationship skills that help new hires succeed long after their first day.
Technical training helps people qualify for a job. Leadership Development Resources teaches the communication, accountability, self awareness, conflict resolution, and workplace relationship skills that help them succeed after they are hired.
That is the whole idea behind our employer partnerships. A person can pass an assessment and still struggle on the floor, not because the technical work is beyond them, but because nobody practiced the human part with them.
We are not here to compete with technical schools or workforce boards. We are here to reinforce what they start, and to stay involved during the months when a new hire decides whether to keep showing up.
Our Focus
The skills that keep someone employed, practiced before the job starts and reinforced after it does.
The Problem
The Gap Between Qualified and Stable
Employers consistently rank communication, teamwork, professionalism, and critical thinking among the qualities that matter most. Those are also the qualities new hires most often need help developing.
What technical training delivers
- A qualification and a working knowledge of the trade
- Safety standards and role specific procedures
- Hands on practice with tools, systems, or equipment
- A pathway into an interview or a first placement
What we reinforce
- Reliability, follow through, and honest communication about absences
- Receiving correction without shutting down or escalating
- Asking for help early instead of disappearing later
- Working through disagreement with a coworker or a supervisor
- Taking initiative while respecting authority and boundaries
We do not claim that nobody else teaches these skills. Some organizations do, and several do it well. Our distinction is simpler: LDR makes these competencies the foundation of the program rather than a brief add on, and we propose to reinforce them through the transition into employment.
Our Approach
Why This Works Alongside Your Team
Competencies at the foundation
Communication, accountability, and relationship skills are not a short add on at the end of a program. They run through every session from the first week to the last, which is why participants carry them into the workplace instead of leaving them in the classroom.
Support that continues after the hire
Most workforce programs end at placement. We stay connected through the first months of employment, with scheduled check ins and a clear line back to LDR when something at work starts to unravel.
Partners, not competitors
Technical schools, bootcamps, and workforce boards already do difficult work well. Our role is to reinforce the human side of that preparation so their graduates arrive ready to stay and grow.
What We Practice
From Curriculum to the Work Floor
Each part of our curriculum maps to a situation a new hire will actually face, and to an outcome an employer can actually observe.
Ways to Work Together
Three Partnership Models
Start with the arrangement that fits your organization today. Each one can grow into something larger once we have reviewed results together.
Referral partnership
You connect participants or new hires to LDR, and we deliver the workplace success curriculum and early employment coaching.
What it looks like
Participants join a scheduled cohort, complete the workplace success curriculum, and receive post placement check ins for an agreed period.
What it looks like
A named point of contact, a simple referral pathway, and permission to follow up with participants at agreed intervals.
Best fit for
Workforce boards, community organizations, and training providers who already have participants moving into employment.
Embedded curriculum
We deliver workplace success sessions inside your existing pre employment or onboarding program, using scenarios drawn from your workplace.
What it looks like
A defined number of sessions built around your expectations, your common early problems, and the situations your supervisors actually see.
What we ask of you
Access to a small group of supervisors for discovery, and a shared understanding of what good looks like on your floor.
Best fit for
Bootcamps, staffing partners, and earn and learn programs that already connect training directly to hiring employers.
Retention coaching
A defined cohort of new hires receives coaching through their first months, with structured feedback shared back to your team.
What it looks like
Group sessions plus individual check ins at agreed intervals, focused on the situations that most often lead to early exits.
What we ask of you
A supervisor contact for feedback, reasonable time for participants to attend, and agreement on how concerns are escalated.
Best fit for
Employers seeing early turnover in specific entry roles where the technical work is learnable but the workplace adjustment is not.
A Defined Service
The Career Stability and Workplace Success Partnership
A pilot built around our existing curriculum, with a clear schedule, clear responsibilities, and clear measures from the first day.
Situations we rehearse
Role play is where the learning becomes usable. These are the moments participants practice before they meet them for real.
“I do not understand the instructions.”
“My supervisor corrected me in front of others.”
“My transportation fell through.”
“A coworker and I disagree.”
“I made a mistake.”
“I believe I am being treated unfairly.”
How a pilot is built
Six steps, agreed in advance. We would rather run a small pilot well than promise a large program we cannot staff.
01
Employer discovery
We start by asking when new hires leave, what reasons they give, what supervisors report, and what support already exists. Some problems are training problems. Others are scheduling, transportation, pay, or supervision problems, and we say so.
02
Curriculum customization
We keep our existing character, self awareness, socialization, leadership, and career readiness content, then adapt the role plays to your workplace, your language, and your expectations.
03
Applied practice
Participants rehearse the moments that decide whether someone stays. Saying they do not understand the instructions. Being corrected in front of others. A ride falling through. A disagreement with a coworker. A mistake they have to own.
04
Post placement coaching
A defined schedule of check ins after the start date, with clear service limits and written participant consent before any conversation with an employer.
05
Supervisor participation
We ask supervisors to explain expectations clearly, give feedback that a new hire can act on, and identify one person who can resolve a concern quickly.
06
Outcome review
We review progress together at agreed checkpoints, typically 30, 60, 90, and 180 days, and adjust the support based on what the data shows.
A boundary we make explicit
Teaching accountability does not mean teaching young people to accept unsafe conditions, harassment, or mistreatment. Our curriculum helps participants tell the difference between ordinary workplace correction and a situation that requires reporting or outside help.
Accountability
We Measure Stability, Not Just the Hire
Keeping a job and getting a job are different outcomes, and we report them separately. Every measure is defined before a pilot begins, so no one can reinterpret the results afterward.
What we track together
- Program enrollment and completion
- Same employer retention at each checkpoint
- Positive career moves, including a better role or an apprenticeship
- Participant feedback and supervisor feedback
- Job starts, tracked separately from training enrollment
- Continued employment with another employer
- Reasons for exits
- Changes in demonstrated communication and conflict resolution skills
Counting the right people
A 90 day retention measure only includes participants whose start date was at least 90 days earlier. Someone who began last week is not a success or a failure yet.
Not every exit is a failure
Leaving a poor fit job for a better role or an apprenticeship is a positive career move. We record it as one, alongside the reasons behind it.
Building on what exists
Our reporting follows the same categories already used in our End of Year review, engagement, skill progress, placement, retention, and feedback, so results can sit alongside the rest of our work.
Where We Fit
Employer Categories and the Right Conversation
These are starting points for a conversation, not assumptions about your turnover. The first question is always about what is actually happening on your floor.
| Curriculum Component | Workplace Situation to Practice | Outcome We Track Together |
|---|---|---|
| Character development | Admitting an error, following through on a commitment, and reporting an absence honestly | Dependability and accountability |
| Self awareness | Recognizing frustration and responding to correction without escalating | Response to feedback and emotional self management |
| Socialization skills | Asking for help, joining a team, and communicating across differences | Team integration and working relationships |
| Communication skills | Clarifying instructions, communicating schedule problems, and reporting a concern | Fewer preventable misunderstandings |
| Conflict resolution | Handling disagreement with a coworker or supervisor appropriately | Earlier resolution of workplace problems |
| Leadership strategies | Taking initiative while respecting responsibilities and authority | Readiness for additional responsibility |
| Dress for success and professional conduct | Understanding role specific appearance, safety, and conduct expectations | Workplace readiness |
These are proposed applications for a partnership, adapted with each employer. They are not claims about any particular company or about results LDR has already produced.
- Curriculum component
situation
Admitting an error, following through on a commitment, and reporting an absence honestly
Outcome
Dependability and accountability
- Self awareness
situation
Recognizing frustration and responding to correction without escalating
Outcome
Response to feedback and emotional self management
- Socialization skills
situation
Asking for help, joining a team, and communicating across differences
Outcome
Team integration and working relationships
- Communication skills
situation
Clarifying instructions, communicating schedule problems, and reporting a concern
Outcome
Fewer preventable misunderstandings
- Conflict resolution
situation
Handling disagreement with a coworker or supervisor appropriately
Outcome
Earlier resolution of workplace problems
- Leadership strategies
situation
Taking initiative while respecting responsibilities and authority
Outcome
Readiness for additional responsibility
- Dress for success and professional conduct
situation
Understanding role specific appearance, safety, and conduct expectations
Outcome
Workplace readiness
These are proposed applications for a partnership, adapted with each employer. They are not claims about any particular company or about results LDR has already produced.
Situations we rehearse
Professional communication, teamwork, receiving feedback, and navigating workplace expectations
Who to approach
Workforce development or learning and development
Manufacturing
Shift communication, accountability, team relationships, and appropriate escalation
Who to approach
Human resources director or plant training manager
Construction and trades
Communication with supervisors, dependability, and conflict management on a crew
Who to approach
Apprenticeship coordinator or workforce manager
Hospitality
Customer conflict, teamwork, service communication, and supervisor feedback
Who to approach
Human resources or training director
Logistics and distribution
Attendance communication, team coordination, and problem reporting
Who to approach
Operations human resources or site training manager
Before we propose any training
We ask when new hires leave, what reasons they give, what supervisors report, which issues are skills issues, and which are pay, scheduling, transportation, or supervision issues.
Questions We Hear
Straight Answers for Employers
Do you replace our technical training?
No. We do not teach the trade, the clinical task, or the safety standard. Our work sits alongside yours, strengthening the communication, accountability, and relationship skills that determine whether someone stays long enough to become good at the job.
Are you a staffing agency?
No. We are not a recruiter or a placement agency. We prepare young adults for work and support them once they are employed. Where a partner needs hiring connections, we work with the organizations that already provide them.
How long does a pilot run?
We propose a small cohort and a defined window, with review points at 30, 60, 90, and 180 days. The length and size are set with you before anything begins, including what success will be measured against.
How do you handle participant privacy?
We ask for written consent before speaking with an employer about any participant. Supervisors receive feedback about progress and support needs, not personal history that is unrelated to the job.
Who do you work with?
Our programs serve youth and young adults ages 13 to 25, with employer partnerships focused on the 16 to 25 range. We also work with adults in reentry through our community programs.
Start With One Conversation
Tell us where new hires struggle and what your supervisors keep seeing. We will tell you honestly whether our curriculum fits, and what a small pilot could look like for your team.
Next Step
Tell Us What Your Team Is Seeing
We ask when new hires leave, what reasons they give, what supervisors report, which issues are skills issues, and which are pay, scheduling, transportation, or supervision issues.
- A qualification and a working knowledge of the trade
- Safety standards and role specific procedures
- Hands on practice with tools, systems, or equipment
- A pathway into an interview or a first placement
We use your details only to respond to this request.
Leadership Development Resources serves youth and young adults ages 13 to 25 across Tampa Bay, with school based, community based, Saturday, and reentry programs. Employer partnerships focus on the transition into work and the first months of employment.