USAID Industry-led Skills Development Program
Private Sector Engagement
Framework
Submission Date: September 3, 2021
Resubmission Date version 1: October 8, 2021
Resubmission Date version 2: November 19, 2021
Contract Number: 72011421C00002
Program Start Date and End Date: May 3, 2021 to May 2, 2026
COR Name: Marina Kutateladze
USAID Industry-led Skills Development Program – Private Sector Engagement Framework
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This document is made possible by the support of the American People through the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this document are the
sole responsibility of IESC and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United
States Government.
Prepared under the USAID Industry-led Skills Development Program Contract No.
72011421C00002 managed by the International Executive Service Corps (IESC).
USAID Industry-led Skills Development Program Contact
Rosa Chiappe
Chief of Party
85 Z. Paliashvili St, Building #1, Second Floor
Tbilisi 0162, Georgia
Tel: (995) 595 922280
Email: rchiappe@iesc.org
IESC Home Office Contact
John Lindsay
Associate Vice President
International Executive Service Corps
1900 M Street, NW
Suite 500
Washington, DC 20036
Email: jlindsay@iesc.org
USAID Industry-led Skills Development Program Private Sector Engagement Framework
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents ...................................................................................................... 3
Acronyms and Abbreviations ................................................................................... 4
1.
Introduction ........................................................................................................ 5
2.
Background and Situational Analysis .............................................................. 6
2.1
2.2
Challenges to Business Growth ............................................................................................ 6
Skill Development System Reform ....................................................................................... 7
3.
The Program’s Approach to Private Sector Engagement .......................... 7
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
Principles of Private Sector Engagement ........................................................................... 10
A Proactive Approach to Private Sector Engagement ................................................... 11
Engagement Models ............................................................................................................... 13
Areas of Private Sector Partnership in the Skills Development System .................... 15
4.
Implementing Private Sector Engagement Activities ............................... 16
4.1
4.2
4.3
Cross-Cutting Support for Engagement ............................................................................ 17
Direct Private Sector Engagement Across Components ............................................. 18
Mechanisms for Engagement ................................................................................................ 20
5.
Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 25
Annex A. Engaging with the Education and Training System ......................... 26
Annex B. List of Stakeholders Met ...................................................................... 28
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ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
ACT
BSO
CBO
CDCS
DO
GOG
IESC
IRR
IT
MCC
MEL
NGO
PfR
PPP
PSEF
RFA
SME
TVET
USAID
WEF
Analysis and Consulting Team
Business Sector Organizations
Community Based Organization
Country Development Cooperation Strategy
Development Objective
Government of Georgia
International Executive Service Corps
Internal Rate of Return
Information Technology
Millennium Challenge Corporation
Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning
Non-Governmental Organization
Pay for Results
Public-Private Partnership
Private Sector Engagement Framework
Request for Applications
Small and Medium Enterprise
Technical and Vocational Education and Training
United States Agency for International Development
World Economic Forum
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1. INTRODUCTION
The USAID Industry-led Skills Development Program (the Program) partners directly with the
private sector to catalyze demand-driven development of industry-relevant human capital that
contributes to high-value employment opportunities and increased economic competitiveness.
The Program supports the private sector with demand-driven grants to meet businesses’
critical skill constraints through co-creation and co-investment in skills development solutions.
To achieve these results the Program developed this Private Sector Engagement
Framework (PSEF) to guide decision making and ensure the private sector is the Program’s
core partner and an inextricable stakeholder in all program activities. The foundation of the
PSEF is the key principles defined in the USAID Private Sector Engagement Policy1 and this
framework directly supports USAID Georgia’s Development Objective 3 (DO3): Inclusive HighValue Employment Opportunities Provided Through Increased Economic Growth2.
The Private Sector Engagement Framework puts the private sector in the driver’s seat, defining
the key principles and methods of private sector engagement necessary to catalyze innovative
approaches to skills development in Georgia. This means working hand-in-hand with the private
sector to co-create and co-invest in the solutions to their most critical skill constraints. Guided
by this framework, the Program works directly with the private sector as a dynamic source of
ideas, innovation, expertise, investment, and resources that will continue to yield growth and
employment results long after Program support has ended.
To do so, the Program is designed to address the business case for skills, piloting and scaling
employer-led solutions to the skill constraints hindering Georgian economic growth and propel
Georgia forward on its journey to self-reliance. This includes a commitment to developing
“win-win” solutions that make business sense while addressing development challenges. By
building lasting partnerships within the private sector, the Program ensures that investments in
Georgia’s skills ecosystem are sustainable and lead to long-term growth.
The PSEF is a living document that continuously guides Program’s engagement with the private
sector. It will be enriched and adapted as circumstances change, ensuring that the Program is
able to continuously identify the most sustainable business solutions.
“A vibrant and diversified domestic private sector is an important pillar of self-reliance. Local
private-sector actors generate revenue, jobs, innovation, services, and opportunities within every
economy and community with which we work. A vibrant local private sector stimulates
entrepreneurship, replication of successful business models, and the growth of small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs).
- USAID Private Sector Engagement Policy
1
USAID Private Sector Engagement Policy.
https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1865/usaid_psepolicy_final.pdf
2
USAID Georgia Country Development Cooperation Strategy, May 2020 – May 2025.
https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/CDCS-Georgia-MAY-2025.pdf
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2. BACKGROUND AND SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS
Over the past twenty years, Georgia’s emergence from a stagnant post-Soviet economy into a
market-driven one has been impressive, yet rocky. Economic growth stalled in 2008 and in
2015 yet recovered both times, and as of 2019, the economy was growing at an annual rate of
5.5%. At that time nowhere was Georgia’s economic resurgence more visible than in the key
sectors of Information Technology (IT), Tourism and Hospitality, Transportation and Logistics,
Shared Services, Finance and Banking, Creative Industries, and Light Manufacturing. Then, in
2020 the COVID-19 global pandemic impacted Georgia heavily; lockdowns, an abrupt stoppage
of international tourist arrivals, and weak external demand drove an economic contraction of
6.2% that year. The good news is that Georgia is returning to growth with the economy
expanding by12.2% since the beginning of 2021.3
Currently, there are 723,067 registered enterprises in Georgia, of which 274,152 are legal
entities (38%) and 448,915 are sole proprietors (62%). In 2017, the National Statistics Office of
Georgia introduced a new enterprise classification system, defining small enterprises as those
with up to 50 employees and up to 12 million GEL of annual turnover, medium enterprises are
those with up to 249 employees and up to 60 million GEL of annual turnover, and large
enterprises are those with anything more. Based on this classification, 55.5% of total annual
business turnover comes from large enterprises, 19.3% from medium enterprises, and 25.2%
from small enterprises. In terms of employment, 35% of private sector employees work for
large enterprises, 20.2% for medium enterprises, and 44.8% for small ones. While the total
number of medium and large businesses in Georgia is relatively low, they have an outsized
impact on both economic growth and employment creation.
2.1 Challenges to Business Growth
Georgia is ranked an impressive 7th among 190 economies in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing
Business indicators – a testament to the progress that has been made in the business enabling
environment. However, there are many issues that the Ease of Doing Business indicators do
not measure, and the Georgian private sector still struggles to grow and be competitive. The
2018 World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report takes a more
comprehensive look at business constraints and ranks Georgia at 66th out of 140 economies. In
this broader assessment, Georgian businesses identify their key constraints as (1) the difficulty
accessing capital; (2) a lack of workforce diversity; and (3) the low quality of vocational training.
Georgian businesses are struggling to find workers with relevant skills; 43% of Georgian firms
identified an inadequately educated workforce as a major constraint, more than double the
global average of 21%.4 The fact is that employers cannot rely on Georgia’s education and
training system to understand their skill needs and deliver training that is relevant for current
and future market demand. To cope with the failure of the public sector to produce a work3
GeoStat. Rapid Estimates of Economic Growth July 2021. https://www.geostat.ge/media/40152/Rapid-Estimatesof-Economic-Growth%2C-July-2021.pdf
4
World Bank Enterprise Survey 2020.
https://www.enterprisesurveys.org/en/data/exploreeconomies/2019/georgia#workforce
USAID Industry-led Skills Development Program – Private Sector Engagement Framework
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ready labor force, a few businesses have begun to develop their own solutions, creating training
courses or starting their own training centers such as Tegeta Motors, TBC Bank, BK
Construction, and Adjara Group.
Enterprise surveys have shown that adequate workforce skills are critical for Georgian
employers, with approximately 70% of Georgia’s firms reporting that the knowledge provided
by the education system is outdated, while 66% complain that labor market entrants do not
have practical skills or lack the skills needed by employers. Innovative firms struggle most to
identify workers with the right skills. Among innovative firms (defined as those introducing a
new product or process in the previous 12 months), one in four Georgian employers reports
having major difficulties in finding qualified workers. For traditional firms, the problem seems
less severe, and the percentage drops to 15%. The fact that innovative firms are the most
affected by the skills mismatch suggests that the lack of relevant skills is likely to hamper future
economic growth and the creation of high-value employment in Georgia.
2.2 Skill Development System Reform
Prior to 2014, the private sector was not a significant partner with the Government of Georgia
(GOG) in the skills development system. Qualifications and education programs were
developed in isolation without industry participation and skills development programs did not
sufficiently incorporate private sector needs. As a result, businesses began developing their own
internal training programs, providing on-the-job training or standalone courses with the intent
to create their own pool of labor that they could directly hire. For modern skill development
systems to be effective, they must be demand-driven and recognize the importance of coinvesting with the private sector. Georgia is prioritizing a shift toward private sector-led
training and within the reform process, the GOG acknowledges that the engagement of the
private sector needs to be the main driver for achieving success.
In 2015, the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Public-Private Partnership
(PPP) strategy was developed, which contained critical PPP modalities that the GOG can offer
to the private sector. A new Skills Agency has been established collaboratively with the private
sector, which has created expectations of greater private sector input. Building on this
foundation, the Georgian private sector has slowly started to take the lead in skills
development, and initial results are now becoming apparent (for example, the Railway
Transport College, Gudauri College, BP Training Center, College Construct2), with more than
600 students enrolled in work-based learning programs in the tourism, construction,
agriculture, and transport and logistics fields. However, despite these promising early results,
there is still much work to be done to ensure effective private sector engagement and
partnership.
3. THE PROGRAM’S APPROACH TO PRIVATE
SECTOR ENGAGEMENT
The USAID Industry-led Skills Development Program puts the Georgian private sector in
control, developing demand-driven solutions to overcome the critical skill constraints
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businesses face for continued growth and competitiveness. Given the highly dynamic political
and economic situation in the country, coupled with sector-wide COVID-19 disruptions, it is
vital to identify current private sector needs through evidence-based research and analysis. As
such, two of the USAID Industry-led Skills Development Program’s first steps in the
engagement process have been to undertake an intensive series of over 100 private sector and
stakeholder consultations as well as to work in collaboration with resource partner Analysis
and Consulting Team (ACT) to analyze insights from the private sector and collect data on core
skill constraints. As such, a combination of the primary and secondary research methods was
applied to define priority economic sectors and identify constraints associated with private
sector engagement in skill development.
The first stage of the constraints research focused on priority sector identification using a
sector selection tool, which laid the foundation for prioritizing high-growth sectors of the
Georgian economy and identifying opportunities where interventions will produce measurable
reductions in businesses’ critical skill constraints. The tool was utilized to identify which sectors
are the largest employers; which are the most competitive in export markets; and where there
is the greatest potential for growth, for job creation and, ideally, employment of the target
population.
As a result of the analysis, the Program identified the following sectors5 as those with the
potential for growth. These sectors are being used by the Program in the engagement, decisionmaking, and planning process, however, Program activities are not limited to only these sectors:
● Financial and insurance activities
● Health
● Wholesale and retail trade
● Repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles
● Accommodation and food service activities
● Manufacturing
● Electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply
● Agriculture, forestry, and fishing
● Information and communication
● Transportation and storage
A second round of data collection activities with a focus on private sector engagement
constraints was conducted with businesses in the identified sectors. This second round utilized
surveys and in-person interviews to engage representatives of medium and large-sized
businesses operating in the identified sectors in five regions of Georgia. Besides private
businesses, stakeholders including sectoral business associations and unions were also engaged
5
Sector prioritization techniques based on primary and secondary data analysis were used. Economic activities were
classified using NACE rev. 2 categorization and then ranked. Ranking was based on ten criteria and more than 20
sub-criteria. The ten criteria included: Engagement Potential; Employment Potential; Replication and Adoption
Potential; Potential for future skills needs; Positive Impact on Women, Youth and Minorities; Global Prospects and
Internationalization Potential; Regional coverage; Program Impact Analysis; Possible Exclusionary Factors; and
COVID-19 Impact on Sectors.
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by the study. A total of 45 private sector and stakeholder meetings were conducted in the
second round of data collection.
Through these meetings and engagements with businesses, several common skill development
issues were identified:
● Most small and medium enterprises, and many large enterprises, lack sufficient human
resource capacity to individually address skill development issues and deliver internal
training programs. The staff members who work with new employees to transfer
knowledge and skills also lack theoretical knowledge and have almost no qualification in
training delivery. To address this constraint the Program will facilitate capacity building
within businesses to build internal human resource or training capacity as part of the cofunded grant projects.
● Engaging the private sector in partnerships for skills development has been challenging as
employers are concerned about allowing outsiders into their business operations and
potentially having an impact on businesses’ financial returns. In addition, human resources
issues are a sensitive topic for employers, with potential business or legal impacts. To
address this perception and motivate businesses to enter into partnerships, the Program
has an intensive direct-engagement process with businesses that is paired with broader
awareness-raising and communication initiatives. The Program utilizes the ‘language of
business’ to speak with businesses about the bottom-line benefits of private sector-led
skills development.
● Businesses reported they are not getting motivated young trainees with well-thought-out
and realistic ideas about the career and professional pathways available to them.
Consequently, young people enter businesses with unrealistic expectations and employers
are frustrated. At the same time, employers are having a difficult time convincing young
people to go into skilled professions that may pay well but are not seen as ‘prestigious’,
making it impossible to meet their needs for skilled workers. To address this constraint
the Program will undertake awareness campaigns with youth and their families and
potentially integrate career services.
● Many business owners view the education and training system in Georgia as a service that
should be ‘owned’ and ‘financed’ by the public sector, and that it is not the responsibility of
businesses to invest in skills development. In addition, businesses are reluctant to allocate
their limited financial and human resources into external skill development programs
because of the low quality of the training programs and the lack of motivation among
students. To address these concerns the Program has structured the grants program so
that all grants include co-investment from the private sector, and structured the grants
process, to begin with smaller investments to test the business case for innovative ideas
before then moving to larger co-investments. The grants program is detailed in section 4.3.
● Many training providers do not understand the market demand for skills and lack the
flexibility and customer orientation to adapt and respond to business needs. Businesses
who have worked with training providers, especially public ones, found these institutions
had little interest in achieving mutually beneficial results. As reported by businesses,
“trainees are placed in companies without the necessary training and support for on-the-job
success.” To address this the Program will prioritize partnership models that ensure the
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private sector has equal input into decision making around course development, training of
trainers, training facilities, quality assurance mechanisms, among other training-related
decisions.
● Businesses reported that partnering directly with public sector training providers is a
challenge as these types of partnerships often come with a heavy administrative burden. To
address these issues the Program identifies training providers who are ready and willing to
work with the private sector and actively facilitates partnerships to reduce transaction
costs and information asymmetries around partnerships.
3.1 Principles of Private Sector Engagement
The overarching goal of the PSEF is to advance private sector engagement by identifying and
elaborating the key elements of successful partnership for the Program. To provide a
foundation for effective engagement, the Program developed the following four Principles of
Private Sector Engagement to guide the Program at every stage activity design,
implementation, and decision making:
Principle
Engage Early and Often
Incentivize and value Private
Sector Engagement throughout
planning and programming
Expand the use of USAID’s
approaches and tools that unlock
private sector potential
Build on the evidence of what
works, and what does not, in
Private Sector Engagement
Approach
Be Proactive - The Program employs a “Be Proactive” approach
with a simple premise of implementing direct engagement with
businesses that will develop a high rate of interest within the
private sector to participate in the grant programs. Proactive
initiatives include private sector targeting, marketing of the
Program, communications, direct outreach and meetings,
partnerships with business and sectoral associaitons, and public
events.
Listen and Respond – The “Listen and Respond” approach
incentivizes private sector engagement by increasing ownership and
showing appreciation for the value of their engagement. The main
tool for “Listen and Respond” is the Consulting Council, an
advisory structure fully driven by the private sector. The Council is
there to guide the Program to be as responsive as possible and
adapt continuously to new evidence, opportunities, or
circumstances. Council interactions and direct engagement with
businesses will be used to guide the Listen and Respond approach.
The Council is detailed in section 4.3.
Co-Create and Support – The “Co-Create and Support”
approach facilitates engagement and investment decision-making by
the private sector through creating and offering financial and nonfinancial tools that help guide private sector investment decisions.
The tools adopted by the Program include cost benefit and other
financial assessments, facilitating leverage from the third parties, and
engagement in grants schemes.
Pause and Reflect – In addition to incorporating feedback
received from the Consulting Council, the Program team will hold
regular “Pause and Reflect” sessions. The purpose of these sessions
is to provide learning opportunities where the team reflects on
successes, challenges, and proposed solutions to ensure adaptive
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management throughout the life of Program. Prior to these Pause
and Reflect sessions, the Program team will solicit feedback and
data from private sector partners through targeted Monitoring,
Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) activities and routine data collection
processes.
Effective partnerships are built on trust, credibility, and transparency. The Program recognizes
that success hinges on its ability to build trust and “speak the language of business” with the
private sector and to view engagement opportunities through a business lens. When using the
principles above to develop constructive partnerships with the private sector, the Program will
include mutual benefits, common agreed-upon and clearly defined objectives, roles, and
responsibilities, regular communication, and a collaborative approach toward risk management
and sustainability across all activities.
3.2 A Proactive Approach to Private Sector Engagement
The Program undertakes specific proactive approaches to engagement that meet businesses
where they are. Through these proactive approaches, the Program actively and intensively
identifies and engages with businesses to understand and address their core skill challenges to
ensure solutions are aligned with core business operations. Some solutions will be solely private
sector led, while others will be in partnership with education and training institutions. The
graphic below outlines the Program’s proactive approach to engagement.
The Program’s Proactive Approach to Private Sector Engagement
Business Targeting – The Program actively and continuously identifies and targets private
sector partners, including both individual companies and business associations. The purpose of
USAID Industry-led Skills Development Program – Private Sector Engagement Framework
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business targeting is to ensure the Program is marketing private sector engagement activities as
effectively as possible by identifying and targeting companies and business associations with high
levels of willingness and capacity to co-design and co-invest in demand-driven solutions.
Business targeting allows the Program to be as cost and time efficient as possible and utilizes
the following criteria:
● Companies:
o Scale, sector, and geography of operation – larger companies or groups of
companies are given priority.
o Potential for more value addition, production, and profitability growth if skilled
workforce is in place.
o Job opportunities with emphasis on high-value jobs, especially for priority
populations.
o Capacity to, or interest in, investing in business expansion.
o Forward and backward linkages along the value chain.
o Viable for future skills needs and international certification.
● Business Associations:
o Sustainability – establishment and operation history, income generation scale, and
structure (membership fees vs grants). Priority is given to associations that are
supported by a membership base, including interest and dedication of members to
invest time in the association’s work and pay membership fees.
o Membership – number and profile of paying members.
o Organizational structure, capacity, and leadership – management experience,
existence of sectorial committees or other working structures, range of services
offered to members, record of implemented projects/activities.
o International affiliation – membership and participation in international associations
is desirable.
Direct Marketing – Direct marketing involves actively advertising and encouraging the private
sector to engage with the Program. Direct marketing helps the Program generate a pool of
potential private sector partners who are interested in applying to the competitive grant
schemes. Shares information about the opportunities the Program offers to invest in skill
development – or to partner with skill development institutions – and focuses on the business
case for investments in skills.
Facilitating Leverage From Third Parties – Optimizes Program investments through
third-party leverage and creates additional incentives for the private sector to co-invest.
Illustrative examples of third-party leverage may include: the State Employment Agency paying
for internships; the Gudavadze-Patarkatsishvili Foundation financing teacher capacity building;
and others.
Data-driven Investment Decision Making – The Program uses customized modeling
software to help private companies make investment decisions through a cost-benefit analysis
that utilizes internal rate of return (IRR) metrics that project the bottom-line returns on
investments in skills. The cost-benefit model is based on a simplified internal IRR analysis
allowing the business and the Program to estimate investment returns.
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Facilitating Effective Employer-Training Provider Partnerships – While implementing
the demand-driven grant schemes, the Program will encounter cases where there is a need to
facilitate partnerships between the private sector and public training providers. Understanding
the challenges of such partnerships, the Program will facilitate effective and results-oriented
public-private partnerships that provide in-demand skills to the private sector. A business
consulting company will be identified and engaged when necessary to facilitate the partnership
formation process.
Private Sector Consultations – The Program will work directly with a select number of
business leaders who are passionate and engaged in skills issues. These leaders will constitute a
consulting council for the Program providing direct feedback from the private sector’s
perspective. This advisory council will provide consistent and timely advice regarding shifts in
the demand and types of skills necessary for business growth and provides an opportunity for
the business leaders to be active leaders in the Program and advocate for private sector
interests. Advice and feedback provided will help the Program improve targeting, engagement
and implementation in a step-by-step fashion over the life of the program.
Continuous Communication and Outreach – Proactive communication and engagement
strategies engage in a permanent process of feedback with the private sector. The information
shared is aimed at highlighting opportunities for private sector engagement in skills
development, international best practices, and success stories, and the information received is
used to refine and target Program grants and activities.
3.3 Engagement Models
The private sector has an important role to play in promoting quality skills development both as
an employer and a training provider. The USAID Industry-led Skills Development Program
recognizes the importance of public-private partnerships between employers and formal
education and training providers to ensure institutional skills developed are demand-driven and
address the core constraints businesses face.
The private sector typically undertakes skills development initiatives through one of two
different modalities: (1) Independent Engagement, where the private sector, individual company
or business association, develops and implements solutions to skills development internally and
independently, without partnership with education and training provider institutions; and (2)
Partnership, where the private sector collaborates with education and training providers to
collaboratively address skill development issues. These two models are elaborated below.
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Independent Engagement Model – Private sector
Independent Engagement
undertakes training and other upskilling activities
Model: The private sector
independently without partnership with an established
addresses skills development
formal sector education and training provider. A few
independently.
Georgian businesses, frustrated with the public training
Example: The Adjara Group
system, have opened their own training facilities (Adjara
opened the Academy, which
Group, Tegeta Motors, TBC Bank, etc.). When acting
has two units; (1) a Staff
independently, employers typically only engage the
Development Center with
education system informally and develop skills based on
training and coaching and (2) a
their own business needs and don’t offer an officially
Vocational Educational Institute
with a culinary school.
recognized qualification. This model is quite widespread
and serves as an existing solution for the private sector to
deal with a supply-demand mismatch. This is a direct result
of the perception held by the private sector that the formal education sector is too
bureaucratic to engage with directly. Companies avoid linkages with accreditation mechanisms
because the regulatory environment is not easy for individual businesses to navigate. They
prefer to act independently and satisfy their own needs for particular skills or job
specializations.
Benefits of the independent engagement model include ensuring relevance and quality of skills
as the employers themselves are engaged in the training design and delivery process and control
the quality of the skills they teach. There are challenges related to the model; often the training
and facilities are relatively high cost and the burden of managing the training falls completely on
the employer which the company must balance in addition to managing their core business
activities.
Partnership Model – The private sector addresses a skill issue in partnership with local or
international education and training providers to develop and deliver training programs on a
sector or regional level. Typically, it is the partner delivering the training in an off-site and
separately managed school or training facility.
This more complex model involves several partners coming
Partnership Model: The
together to design and deliver successful workforce
private sector addresses skills
development activities. In partnership models, parties
development in close
cooperate to share resources and responsibilities across
collaboration with relevant
activities, which enables improved function and higher quality stakeholders, including
education institutions.
outcomes. The private sector is a critical partner in this
model as they are the most familiar with the occupational
Example: Construct2
profiles and skill needs of their respective businesses. They
College partnered with BK
are the most qualified to design the standards needed for
Construction company to coeach profession, engage in the development of the learning
design courses and upon
outcomes and educational programs, and deliver
graduating, students will
opportunities for practical skill application. Employers are
receive full-time employment.
also proactively engaged in quality assurance through
participation in the assessment process (qualification exams).
In this model. education and training providers tend to lead on the selection and intake of
USAID Industry-led Skills Development Program – Private Sector Engagement Framework
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students and delivery of training courses. Responsibilities are shared according to the strengths
that each of the different stakeholders possesses (for example, education institutions offer
qualified teachers with pedagogical skills, while employers provide deep technical knowledge of
occupational and skill needs).
The Partnership Model of engagement is beneficial for both parties because (1) businesses
invest in education and take responsibility to co-manage the training; and (2) the training
providers or schools directly partner with private sector helping ensure quality and relevance of
the training programs. This mechanism reduces the burden on the private sector, particularly
through cost- and effort-sharing with the training provider or school. In 2015, the Ministry of
Education and Science began promoting a PPP model to provide a mechanism for the GOG and
private companies to share the responsibility and costs of establishing and operating TVET
centers. There are four successful projects based on this model so far: Construct2– College in
Imereti Region, Railway College in Tbilisi, Adventure Tourism College in Gudauri, and Tbilisi
Training Center with BP.
3.4 Areas of Private Sector Partnership in the Skills Development System
When done effectively, engaging the private sector in partnerships for training development
provides for better alignment of demand and supply and improves the access, relevance, and
quality of education. To do so, the private sector needs a clear understanding of where and how
they can allocate their resources to partner with the skills development system. Despite the
desire and need for businesses to engage more in the skills development system, it is often the
case that businesses do not know where and how they can effectively engage with education and
training providers. The table below outlines the three key phases of the education cycle (design,
delivery, assessment) which can serve as initial entry points for the partnership to guide private
sector engagement in the education and training system.
Training Cycle Entry Points for Private Sector Engagement
Identifying needs and designing
Examples: Engagement in the development of a critical
training programs
skills identification system, identification of new
qualifications and elaboration of qualifications
frameworks, development of training programs (shortterm and long-term).
Partners: Private sector (companies and business
associations), sector skills organizations, education
institutions, other training and service providers.
Mechanisms: technical expertise, digital instruments.
Delivering the training programs Examples: Engagement in work-based learning,
apprenticeship and internship programs; delivery of
short-term and long-term courses to address the needs
of businesses; feedback on training programs to ensure
relevance to business needs.
Partners: Private sector (companies and business
associations), education institutions, other training
providers.
Mechanisms: Training activities and other forms of
education program delivery.
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Assessment of knowledge and
skills/final product quality
Examples: Engagement in verification of the knowledge
acquired; quality assurance of competency standards;
testing and award of qualifications.
Partners: Private sector (companies and business
associations), sector skills councils; education providers,
relevant service providers.
Mechanisms: formal and non-formal verification meansexams, quality assurance, etc.
Annex A Engaging with the Education and Training System has a more specific list of the types of
education and training sector activities within which private sector partnership could improve
system functioning. This list will be the basis for a fact sheet that will be disseminated to
employers to increase awareness of entry points for independent engagement and/or
collaboration with education and training providers. Areas of engagement within the education
and training system may differ from this list since the source of innovative solutions is the
private sector. The Program does not exclude other approaches and thematic areas that may
be of interest to employers.
4. IMPLEMENTING PRIVATE SECTOR ENGAGEMENT
ACTIVITIES
The Program’s activity implementation is guided by the learnings and knowledge generated
through the more than 100 private sector and stakeholder meetings held during the initial five
months of the Program, a cross-sectoral constraints analysis, and a landscape mapping, allowing
the Program to better understand and evaluate business strengths, constraints, and plans for
growth. The Program has met with individual businesses and business associations, GOG
representatives at the national and regional levels, education and training providers, USAID and
other development partner programs, and community-based organizations – see Annex B for a
list of meetings.
These meetings serve a dual purpose of both information gathering and engaging of potential
partner sector partners. Meetings with the central or local GOG representatives, partner
USAID programs, training institutions, and community-based organizations are also critical for
effective targeting and direct marketing work. For example, the Ministry of Economy and its
agencies (Enterprise Georgia, GITA) has committed to giving the Program access to their
partner companies and supporting communication. In addition, regional governments are
expected to help reach out to regional businesses, and USAID programs can provide
introductions to their partner companies and information on skill development initiatives that
could be upscaled. The Program expects training providers to communicate the opportunities
the Program offers with their private sector clients and develop partnership opportunities. As a
result of these meetings and the analysis of available information, the below-listed private sector
representatives are being targeted by the Program for direct engagement and follow-up:
1. Commercial Banks: Bank of Georgia, Liberty Bank, TBC Bank.
USAID Industry-led Skills Development Program – Private Sector Engagement Framework
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2. Companies: Adjara Group, Aversi, Evex, APM Terminals, Knauf Georgia, Sakcable
(Georgian Cable), EnergoPro Georgia, RETCO, Tegeta Motors, Ordunet, Georgian
Railway, Pace Group, Georgian Industrial Group, BK Construction, Socar, BP, Marriott,
Sheraton, Radisson, Hilton, Ferrero Rocher, Georgian Manganese, Blauenstein, Gulf
Georgia, Le Roche, A’Row Management Group, Herbia, Imereti Agro Zone.
3. Business Associations and Chambers of Commerce: Business Association of
Georgia, Georgian Distributors’ Association, Georgian Farmers’ Association, IT
Association, Fintech Association, Georgian Restaurants’ Association, Infrastructure
Association, Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, American Chamber of
Commerce in Georgia, Association of Milk and Dairy Products' Producers.
This is an initial list of targeted private sector representatives as of September 2021. The
Program will continue identifying more engagement opportunities throughout the life of the
Program.
4.1 Cross-Cutting Support for Engagement
The issues businesses raised during the Program’s direct meetings and in the findings from the
constraints analysis have tended to fall into two broad categories. The first are cross-cutting
issues while the second are firm-specific issues. To ensure cross-cutting issues are addressed, the
USAID Industry-led Skills Development Program has developed the following cross-cutting
engagement matrix. This matrix guides the implementation of Program activities and grant
schemes and responds to the cross-cutting engagement issues as identified by the Georgian
private sector.
CROSS CUTTING SUPPORT FOR ENGAGEMENT
Awareness raising around
Objective: Respond to constraints related to a lack of clear
the business case for
understanding within the Georgian private sector of the costs
investing in skills (expected and benefits of investing in skills and possible engagement models.
costs and benefits)
Partners: Private companies, business associations, Business
Support Organizations (BSOs).
Mechanisms: Direct marketing, seminars, workshops,
communication, outreach campaign, and cost-benefit tools.
Building private sector
Objective: Respond to constraints related to a perspective in
ownership throughout the
the Georgian private sector that skills development is the sole
skill development system
responsibility of the public sector and is supported by taxes, and
thus they should not have to invest in skills development. At the
same time, the private sector feels shut out of decision-making
around skills development by public sector education and training
providers.
Partners: Private companies, business associations, BSOs, Skills
Agency, the GOG.
Mechanisms: Direct marketing, consulting council, seminars,
workshops, communications and outreach campaign.
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Co-funding with the private
sector as engagement risk
reduction
Technical Assistance and
Capacity Building
Objectives: Many Georgian companies are not ready or willing
to take on the full cost of engaging in skill development programs
– they want to invest in what they know works and not take on
the full financial burden and risks associated with engagement in a
new field of activities.
Partners: Grantees, other leveraging partners.
Mechanisms: Competitive grants scheme co-funds that assume
half of the financial risk of testing the solution, resources of
leveraging partners (third parties) also reduce risk.
Objectives: Respond to constraints related to the lack of
knowledge and capacity within individual businesses to implement
an effective training program. There is also a lack of capacity of
training providers in knowing how to work with the private
sector and provide quality demand-driven training.
Partners: Private companies, business associations, BSOs, Skills
Agency, the State, training providers, Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs).
Mechanisms: Technical assistance and capacity building activities
that are built-in to grants that build internal capacity among
businesses to implement their own training programs.
4.2 Direct Private Sector Engagement Across Components
The USAID Industry-led Skills Development Program directly partners with the private sector
to produce industry-relevant human capacity that contributes to high-value employment
opportunities and increased economic competitiveness. The Program achieves this by
systematically engaging employers to equip Georgians with skills demanded in sectors with high
growth potential and through the creation and replication of direct linkages between training
programs and employment opportunities. Program activities are organized into the three
component-level objectives listed below. Within these three components, the Program’s
competitive and demand-driven grants scheme is the primary operational tool for private
sector investment in skills.
Component 1: Incentivize private sector engagement in skills development.
Component 2: Establish skills training programs demanded by the private sector.
Component 3: Increase access to training opportunities for rural and priority
populations.
The USAID Industry-led Skills Development Program is unique in its approach of using demanddriven grant schemes as the primary mechanism to incentivize skills development in the private
sector. Requiring cost-share (often 1:1) ensures that private sector partners are brought into
the process and feel sustainable ownership over the outcomes. With grants as the
implementation focal point, the Program’s proactive approach to private sector engagement is
incorporated across all three Program components. However, for management purposes
leading engagement roles are assigned to Program components as detailed below.
USAID Industry-led Skills Development Program – Private Sector Engagement Framework
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Component 1: Incentivize private sector engagement in skills development.
● Leads initial interactions with the private sector including business targeting and direct
marketing.
● Coordinates the Component 1 competitive grants, pilots innovative private sector
solutions to skill constraints, and incentivizes the private sector to undertake risk
associated with innovation and engagement in new skills development programs.
● Enables coordination with business leaders providing advice to the Program’s through a
consulting council, eliciting feedback and advice on skills and activites.
Component 2: Establish skills training programs demanded by the private sector.
● Leads the development and utilization of cost-benefit and IRR modeling software.
● Facilitates partnerships between business and learning institutions such as TVET
institutions and colleges to design and deliver training programs that meet current and
projected private sector skills needs.
● Coordinates Component 2 grants scheme aimed at developing and implementing shortterm and long-term training programs, including but not limited to upscaling of
successful skill development models coming from Component 1.
Component 3: Increase access to training opportunities for rural and priority
populations.
● Actively takes part in business targeting within rural and targeted regions including
potential business referrals to the Component 1 and 2 grant programs.
● Leads activities aimed at leveraging additional resources from third parties.
● Coordinates Component 3 grant schemes aimed at replicating successful private sector
engagement models in rural regions and with target populations, including but not
limited to those tested and implemented under Components 1 and 2.
As the Program implements proactive engagement activities there are several different grant
activity design models that will arise. It is important to acknowledge that effective solutions can
come through any one of these models and the Program will remain flexible in order to serve
as a potential platform for all three engagement approaches:
(1) Private sector-led – where the Program is the facilitator and engagement is built on forprofit and market-based approaches to challenges.
(2) Co-creation where the Program is jointly engaged in the identification and design of
market-based solutions with a private sector partner; and
(3) Donor–led where the Program is the driver of the solution.
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4.3 Mechanisms for Engagement
The USAID Industry-led Skills Development
Program has three main programmatic
instruments to catalyze private sector investment
in skills: (1) competitive grants; (2) embedded
technical assistance; and (3) a targeted marketing,
communications and outreach campaign. These
mechanisms ensure the grants are accessible to all
and incorporate the business case for engagement
and co-investment.
The Program works with the
private sector through:
1. Competitive Grants
2. Embedded Technical Assistance
3. Targeted Marketing,
Communications and Outreach
1. Competitive Grants are the core
mechanism by which each component will deliver results against Program targets and all grant
schemes have the principles of engagement embedded within their respective programs. The
Program’s grants are designed to incentivize investment and engagement of private companies,
as well as transformative partnerships between the private sector and training providers. The
grants process is designed to be demand-driven and to create a sense of private sector
ownership over the process. The grants program incorporates a performance and milestonebased methodology to create financial incentives for engagement as well as the application of
the Pay for Results (PfR) mechanism, when appropriate, to encourage and empower grantees to
adapt activities as market needs evolve. For the PfR mechanism to function, the Program will
closely work with grantees to align shared goals in order to achieve a consensus on what
constitutes success. Then, the Program and the grantee will set the right performance metrics
(i.e how success is determined) and price those metrics (i.e. how much to pay for
accomplishing the targets) to ensure that funds allocated for Program objectives achieve
measurable results as cost-effectively as possible. The Program will make payments when the
grantees achieve milestones or desired outcomes, and tie milestone payments not only to
shorter-term measures, which are easier to assess, but also to longer-term outcome goals. An
illustrative example of using the PfR mechanism in a fixed amount award would be a grantee
(employer) establishing a partnership with a TVET college to collaborate on a skills training
program. In this case, the grantee will receive the final milestone payment based on a minimum
number of students who completed the relevant training program.
Grant recipients are not beneficiaries but rather equal partners investing toward a common
goal of continued productivity, growth, and employment. The following diagram provides an
overview of the three Components’ demand-driven grant schemes.
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All three component grants schemes are demand-driven and private sector-led. They all
provide space for the applicants and for the Program to work together with different levels of
facilitation depending on the constraints the business faces, and their internal capacity to
implement new programs or engage with new partners. Most importantly, the solutions and
approaches are designed by the private sector and the flexibility of the Program enables
accommodation of their urgent and evolving needs.
Component 1 grants provide an opportunity for the Program to quickly and easily bring in new
models of skills development that are designed and proposed directly by businesses, attracting
innovative and groundbreaking proposals, sharing knowledge, and supporting the development
of private sector engagement models new to the Georgian context.
Component 2 grants use a two-step streamlined process where the first stage is the submission
of a concept note briefly describing the idea, then if viable, applicants are invited to submit a
detailed application that expands on the idea presented in the concept note that is co-created.
These will tend to be larger programs designed to scale up proven private sector-led
approaches to sector-wide skills constraints.
Component 3 grants are structured similarly to Component 2. However, Component 3 grants
differ in that they target existing training programs with the potential to be replicated in rural
areas, giving businesses operating or planning expansion in these areas access to skilled labor.
Component 3 grants are also designed to increase access for rural and priority populations to
quality training programs and high-value jobs.
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2. Demand-driven Technical Assistance (TA) is built into grants and enables businesses to
identify the specific support they need and then identify and select from locally available TA
providers. When working with businesses to develop training programs the Program’s TA will
take many forms, depending on the specific constraints businesses face. This includes a pool of
potential TA providers that will work with private companies to facilitate skill development
partnerships or work with the business to develop their own internal training programs.
As part of the TA, the Program will ensure that wherever possible training programs, whether
on the job or in a training center, are benchmarked to Georgian or international certifications
and qualifications. Incorporating international standards can be an additional motivator for the
private sector to invest in skills development. Improved access to international certification
bodies will be encouraged and accepted.
With larger grants, the Program will undertake a cost-benefit analysis that utilizes IRR metrics.
These will be undertaken during the full proposal stage when appropriate. The purpose of
undertaking these analyses is to ensure the grant aligns with the business case for investing in
skills development for that particular private sector partner. During the grant application
process, private sector applicants will be provided with a tool and support to complete their
own cost-benefit analysis to help them better understand the benefits and costs of their
investments. Undertaking this type of analysis will also help firms approach other partners for
support.
An effective way to engage with the private sector is to provide a value proposition aligned with
their business strategy. Investment decisions are made based on a careful cost-benefit
analysis of expected return. Although investments required for measurable increases in skills
may be high for private companies, especially when developing in-house training facilities, the
expected return on such investments may be high enough to make such decisions worthwhile –
and this analysis will provide the data necessary to make those decisions. The financial return
on the investment will depend on many factors including company size, financial status, sector
and geography of operation, production technology, profitability rate, etc. The Program is
planning to facilitate the development of modeling software that will be available for use by
multiple stakeholders including the Program, the private sector, and the GOG.
3. Targeted Marketing, Communications, and Outreach will be essential to the success
of the Program’s private sector focus. The Program will be designing communications tools to
maximize private sector engagement, development impact, and visibility of the Program and its
partners. Communications tools will serve as important performance reporting mechanisms as
the Program continuously delivers its messages through a variety of mediums, including
promotional events and public events tailored to specific program initiatives, social media
platforms, promotional and visual materials, media outreach, and public awareness campaigns.
These tools might be specific to each target group, nationwide or within the respective
region/municipality.
In line with its communications objectives, the Program will develop the following illustrative
communications mechanisms to disseminate information about the Program and its objectives.
Public Outreach Events will be viewed as a critical means for the Program to share information
USAID Industry-led Skills Development Program – Private Sector Engagement Framework
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about its activities and agenda. In addition to high profile events that are intended to generate
overall awareness and media coverage, the Program will develop public events tailored to
specific Program initiatives. For instance, to make information on grants accessible to all
interested stakeholders across Georgia, the Program plans to hold grant announcement and
information dissemination events across all Georgia’s regions. The Consulting Council will serve
as another communication channel with the private sector. Through this platform and during
networking events organized in partnership with the Regional Chambers of Commerce and
Industry, business associations and organizations will have the opportunity to openly
communicate with regional businesses to address rural skills challenges.
The program will use relevant social media channels to disseminate information to partners and
beneficiaries on a regular basis. Specifically, Facebook and YouTube will be used to reach
broader audiences countrywide, and LinkedIn will be used to more efficiently engage the private
sector partners. To mainstream skills development opportunities offered by the private sector
and showcase how the private and public sectors can best align for skills development, the
Program plans to open up the dialogue to a wider audience via nationwide awareness campaigns
that will be implemented in close partnership with private sector companies and the Skills
Agency. The campaign will focus on best practices of private sector-driven, re-energized skills
development efforts, both local and international, to facilitate greater information transparency
and matchmaking between employers, jobs seekers, and education providers. The campaign will
feature innovative approaches of employer engagement in skills development and examples of
quality career advice in order to incorporate and share up-to-date information on career and
educational pathways. As such, the Program will publicize the best models of private sector
engagement in skills development in Georgia. To this end, the Program is considering
opportunities to pro-actively utilize the business media platforms identified as trusted news
sources by the private sector, i.e., Business Media Georgia at TV Pirveli; Forbes Georgia;
marketer.ge; Business Partner at Public Broadcaster, Radio Commersant and others with the
ultimate goal to drive action, not just awareness. In the communications planning process, the
Program may partner with the Regional Media Association which will be beneficial for reaching
out to regional businesses and countrywide awareness.
In addition to the Program’s Webpage developed within the IESC website, the Program will
widely use opportunities to trigger private sector engagement through partners’ channels of
communication, such as HR Hub, Georgia’s Innovation and Technology Agency, Enterprise
Georgia, Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Business Association of Georgia, UN
Women, Skills Agency and others. To keep its strategic private sector partners continuously
informed about Program activities, the Program will disseminate an e-newsletter highlighting the
most engaging personal stories behind Program results. When appropriate, video success
stories will also be shared with the media to generate positive press on the Program-driven
private sector engagement models.
The Program takes a balanced approach to engage specific industry partners in co-creation
while communicating broadly among the business community on how to participate in the
Program as a partner. For example, the Program will establish ‘feedback loops’ with business
leaders to increase awareness of challenges, co-create solutions, and facilitate adaptive
management.
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Component Leads will engage in Pause and Reflect sessions with grantees to solicit feedback on
the challenges and successes of grant implementation and to identify where further support may
be needed. Further, the Program team will consistently coordinate and communicate with
private companies, local and central GOG, business associations, and other stakeholders to
collect information on challenges as well as to communicate about new opportunities available
through the Program. For example, each release of a grant scheme Request for Application
(RFA) will be accompanied by formal ‘grant announcement’ events in Tbilisi, Zugdidi, Batumi,
Kutaisi, Telavi, and Borjomi where the Grants Manager and relevant Component Lead(s) will
provide detailed information to interested applicants about upcoming grant opportunities, grant
criteria and eligibility, deadlines, and more. Each grant announcement event will be followed by
an informational session approximately one to two weeks later to allow time for interested
applicants to read the RFA and identify any questions they may have that can be answered
during an information session.
Sustainability cannot be achieved through one-off interventions but requires a process
consisting of well-thought-out activities that are led and owned by private sector partners. To
ensure the private sector is actively advising the Program and feels ownership of skills
development activities, the Program will work directly with a select number of business leaders
who are passionate and engaged in skills issues. These leaders will constitute a Consulting
Council for the Program providing direct feedback from the private sector’s perspective. The
Consulting Council is an engagement tool that provides a mechanism for building trust, sharing
information and eliciting advice; it will ensure program activities are evidence-based and private
sector relevant. The Program envisions that this Consulting Council will serve as an informal
venue for knowledge sharing, support collaboration with business leaders, enable access to
private sector networks, and provide a space for joint advocacy and sharing of resources.
The Consulting Council will provide an opportunity for the private sector to actively participate
in the identification of challenges and solutions to address skill constraints, help the Program
respond to the most urgent needs of employers, and provide a platform for peer-to-peer
sharing. At the early stage of the private sector engagement process, it is vitally important for
the Consulting Council to be a flexible structure whose engagement with the Program evolves
over time. The Program is aware that engaging business leaders can be challenging as their time
is limited, and will target a select number of leaders who are passionate and motivated by the
issue. To ensure effective and flexible engagement with Consulting Council members, the
Program uses the following techniques:
1. Facilitating engagement with business leaders: To support the continuous interest
of the private sector, the Program will partner with a credible business consulting
company to facilitate engagement with business leaders. Affiliation with a well-known and
credible consulting company will contribute significantly to the quality of advice the
Program receives and be a trusted entry point for leading Georgian businesses. The same
consulting company may be tasked by the Program to provide relevant TA to the
Program’s private sector grantees.
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2. Selection of Consulting Council members: It is important that the Program engages
with a select number of business leaders to ensure the advice they are providing can be as
direct and effective as possible. The Program will initially target having five committed
private sector Consulting Council advisors.
3. Format of consultations with business leaders: The format of the meetings is
important and will avoid the formality of official meetings. Informal “business breakfast” or
“business lunch” formats will be more effective and will allow council advisors to better
share thoughts and be more open to active participation.
4. Feedback Loops: A “feedback loop” will be created between the Program and the
consulting council advisors to ensure that private sector concerns or recommendations
are shared with the Program team in a timely manner to facilitate adaptive management.
The Program also plans to actively collaborate with the newly created Skills Agency as this
quasi-governmental organization has been designed by the GOG to be a key stakeholder for
private sector engagement in Georgia’s skill development system. For example, as policy
advocacy is not a part of the Program’s mandate, the Program can potentially work with the
Agency as a policy advocacy platform if policy solutions are needed to facilitate private sector
engagement.
5. CONCLUSION
The private sector is the primary driver of economic competitiveness and employment growth
in Georgia. Employers are a critical yet still untapped resource for skills development and there
continues to be a gap between the technical skills required by the private sector and the skills
they can find on the Georgian labor market. The private sector has a central role to play in the
development of a skilled labor force because they have a deep knowledge of market trends, skill
needs, business process upgrading and occupational standards, and are best equipped to predict
future skill requirements. This knowledge is instrumental to identify solutions that address skill
constraints.
The USAID Industry-led Skills Development Program supports the private sector in this
process with demand-driven grants to meet businesses’ critical skill constraints through cocreation and co-investment in skills development solutions. These demand-driven, competitive
grants will foster partnerships that lead to innovative solutions to skills development challenges
and develop, expand, and internationalize short and long-term training programs. The Program
will play a catalytic role in promoting sustainable engagement of the private sector in Georgia
and this framework will serve as a guide to designing the best implementation mechanisms for
engagement that addresses the business case for skills. It will remain a living document to allow
continuous adaptation of approaches and mechanisms and ensure the Program remains
responsive to evolving market needs.
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ANNEX A. ENGAGING WITH THE EDUCATION
AND TRAINING SYSTEM
The table below ‘Engaging with the Education and Training System’ presents a specific list of the
types of education and training programs that need private sector engagement to improve
system functioning. This list will be the basis for a fact sheet that will be disseminated to
employers to increase awareness of entry points for engagement or collaboration with
education and training providers. Areas of engagement may differ from this list and the Program
does not exclude any other types of engagement that may be of interest to employers.
Table: Engaging with the Education and Training System
Development of new
training programs/
qualifications:
Apprenticeships
Work-based Learning
Application of
Innovative
Methodologies in
Skills Trainings
Expansion of highquality skills training
provision
Potential Activities
The private sector is the most up-to-date on skill needs and should
be a primary source of information for the education sector when
designing or improving qualification and certification programs.
Occupational standards, which are the skills of certain professions,
are the basis for new educational programs and according to law,
standards are to be elaborated by the private sector. Partnerships
between the private sector and various stakeholders, including the
Skills Agency, and sector skills councils are perfect examples of
timely detection of new skills that can inform the educational cycle.
New skills can also upgrade existing training programs.
Apprenticeships are a flexible model where trainees spend two or
three days a week at a training institute for classroom-based training
and spend the remainder of the week working directly with industry
at a specific enterprise. Apprenticeship programs will require a
partnership between employers, technical schools, industry, and
GOG in some cases.
This is a type of apprenticeship and involves more than 50% of the
learning outcomes being delivered at the enterprise. This approach
requires a strong commitment from the employer’s side since the
employer must select the students, lead the training process, and
assess the outcomes by the end of the program.
During the COVID-19 pandemic period, digital learning grew
exponentially along with existing approaches such as flipped classes
(a blended-learning instructional strategy where students work with
their peers to problem-solve during class time while reviewing
instructional materials at home). Distance learning is rapidly
developing and plays an important role in access to education as
well as in flexible skills development. Businesses rapidly adjust to
invent innovative approaches in their daily work. They possess
significant knowledge of the sector especially in the 21st century
where the technologies are affecting the working environment. The
Program expects to improve access to innovative methodologies in
the world of education linked with the world of work.
Currently, formal TVET services are accessible in only 40
municipalities or approximately 70% of Georgia. It is imperative to
increase the number of training centers in the regions as this will
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Provision of teachers
and/or Teacher
Training for training
programs by the
employers
Development of
Teaching Materials
Innovative
Technological
Solutions
International
Certifications
Improving the Image
of the Skill
Development Sector
Qualification Exams
Improving Career
Guidance Services
improve access to rural populations. Program grants can expand
TVET services to rural areas with a focus on priority populations.
Private company-owned education and training centers are an
important mechanism for increasing access and inclusion, especially
in rural areas.
The private sector will be a valuable partner to the education
sector and its institutions to ensure the provision of highly qualified
teachers. Mentorship programs between the private sector and
training providers are another valuable opportunity for
collaboration. Teachers can mentor private sector trainers through
improving their pedagogical skills, while private sector practitioners
can provide updated technical training for teachers.
Private companies should actively participate in updating
educational materials. This intervention requires coordination and
collaboration with educational institutions and clear guidance for
industries to transform their ideas into effective literature and
learning instruments.
Cooperation between private businesses and education institutions
can result in the design and development of innovative
opportunities to align with new technological achievements or new
methods of addressing skill gaps.
Georgia suffers from a lack of access to international educational
standards. This is problematic as employers pay great attention to
international certification when recruiting candidates. Therefore,
private sector-led initiatives can stimulate the establishment and
delivery of internationally recognized educational programs.
Vocational training has an image problem and youth often attend as
a last-choice option. Often this is linked to a lack of information
regarding the value of skills. The private sector has a tremendous
role to play by communicating the real benefits of choosing these
careers. Firsthand communication from the employer is a much
more effective tool than from the educational institutions.
The private sector should be engaged in the full cycle of education
and quality control, especially at the last step - assessment of the
student. The participation of the employer in the assessment of
competencies and qualifications serves builds trust and ensures
graduates have the critical skills as defined by the employers.
Young people need to be able to make career choices based on
real-world job and salary opportunities. Integrating the private
sector into career services will result in young people making
better decisions about their careers. This type of engagement can
include sharing data on jobs and salary, real-time employment
opportunities, career days and fairs, socialization with families,
workplace visits, among others.
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ANNEX B. LIST OF STAKEHOLDERS MET
No. Name of the Organization
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
Distributors' Association
HR Professionals Association - HRPA
Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Georgian Tourism Association
IT Association
Business Association of Georgia
Georgian Employers Association
Fintech Association
Amcham Georgia
Mountain Guides Association
Georgian Farmers' Association
Georgian Restaurateurs Association
Infrastructure Association
Georgian Women Business Association
Hotels Association
Wood Processing Association
Georgia Logistics Association
European Business Association
Banking Association of Georgia
Georgian SME Association
Milk and Dairy Association - Dairy Georgia
Open University
Free University
Caucasus University
Kutaisi International University
Shota Meskhia State Teaching University of Zugdidi
Swiss Agricultural School Caucasus
Sport University
Georgian Aviation University
Georgian American University
Alterbridge University
Batumi Maritime Academy
SEU University
Business and Technology University - BTU
Tegeta Academy
Caucasus International University
First Fitness Academy
Stakeholder Type
Business Association
Business Association
Business Association
Business Association
Business Association
Business Association
Business Association
Business Association
Business Association
Business Association
Business Association
Business Association
Business Association
Business Association
Business Association
Business Association
Business Association
Business Association
Business Association
Business Association
Business Association
Education Institution
Education Institution
Education Institution
Education institution
Education institution
Education institution
Education Institution
Education institution
Education Institution
Education institution
Education institution
Education Institution
Education Institution
Education Institution
Education institution
Education institution
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38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
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Ministry of Education
Enterprise Georgia
Partnership Fund
Maritime Transport Agency
Administration of the Government of Georgia
Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs
Mtskheta-Mtianeti Governor
Shida Kartli Governor
Kvemo Kartli Governor
State Employment Agency
Kakheti Governor
Samtskhe Javakheti Governor
Racha-Lechkhumi Governor
Imereti Governor
Governor of Samegrelo Zemo Svaneti region
Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development
Georgia's Innovation and Technology Agency - GITA
Guria Governor
Rural Development Agency
Minister of Education, Culture and Sport of Adjara A/R
EU Delegation
UNFAO
Swiss Cooperation Office in Georgia - SDC
UNDP program “Fostering Regional and Local Development
in Georgia”
62
UN Women
63
Gazelle Finance
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
PricewaterhouseCoopers Georgia
EVEX -Medical corporation
BK Construction
TRANSFORD LLC
Georgian Industrial Group
Liberty Bank
Le Roche
ETI Georgia
Adjara Group
APM Terminals
Row Management
Aversi; Neurological Hospital
Engineering Monitoring Group LTD
GoG
GoG
GoG
GoG
GoG
GoG
GoG
GoG
GoG
GoG
GoG
GoG
GoG
GoG
GoG
GoG
GoG
GoG
GoG
GoG
International organization
International organization
Bilateral agency
International organization Program
International organization Program
Investment Fund/USAID
program implementer
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
USAID Industry-led Skills Development Program – Private Sector Engagement Framework
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109
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112
113
114
115
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Naberauli Wine Factory
MK Consulting
Ibercompany Group
Horeca Wizards
Exactpro
LETO Boutique Hotel Zugdidi
ORDUNET – Internet provider company
Nutsge
Ferrero Rocher
Swiss Capital
Tianety
Adigeni
Lokal
Energo Pro Georgia
Retco
HR HUb
Engineer Monitoring Group
Gulf Georgia
Sakcable
Knauf
Blauenstein
The Crossroads
Socar Georgia Petroleum
MIDEA
Reinvent
Insurance Company-Aldagi
BP Georgia
Simetria Group-Shovi Resort
Heidelbergcement
Georgian Railway
AgroInvest - Interagro
Kudos Georgia
GPI Holding
EFES Georgia
Project Management Institute Georgia Chapter
Georgia Industrial Group
Insurance Company-GPI
GeoLab
Green Sector
Easy Soft
ACT Global
Georgia Capital
K. Eristavi National Centre of Surgery
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private company
Private Company
Private company
Private Company
Private Company
Private Company
Private company
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GeoHolding & KSH Consortium
Imereti Agro Zone
Biotechnology Laboratory
Georgia Manganez
TBC Bank
Bank of Georgia
Chiatura Multifunctional Center
Institutional and Capacity Development Center
Comm- School
Association Atinati
Economic Security Program
USAID Agriculture program
Economic governance program
Safety and Quality Investment in Livestock (SQIL)
Private company
Private Company
Private Company
Private Company
Private Company
Private Company
NGO
NGO
NGO
NGO
USAID Program
USAID Program
USAID Program
USDA Program
USAID Industry-led Skills Development Program – Private Sector Engagement Framework
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