Executive Function Lessons Every Workforce Program Should Teach
Sunday Morning Coffee | Past the Edges Consulting
Spend enough time around workforce programs and you'll hear a familiar phrase: “Employers can't find reliable workers." You might think that the conversation then turns to a gap in technical skills like certifications, industry credentials, and job readiness training. All important things, but after decades in education, corrections, workforce development, and reentry, the conversations I hear from employers focuses on a different type of gap. The issue isn't always that people don't know how to do the job. It's that many have never been explicitly taught the executive function skills required to keep the job.
The Skills Employers Talk About Aren't Really Job Skills
When employers tell us someone isn't "work ready," they're rarely talking about welding techniques, culinary skills, construction methods, or software knowledge. What they're describing sounds more like this:
"He doesn't manage his time well."
"She gets overwhelmed when things change."
"He doesn't think ahead."
"She gives up too quickly when something gets difficult."
Those aren't technical skills, they're executive function skills. The ability to plan, prioritize, regulate emotions, manage attention, organize tasks, and persist through challenges. Sometimes we’ll hear them referred to as ‘soft skills,’ but there’s nothing soft about them. In the decades of work I’ve done with folks returning to their communities after incarceration and with young people fresh out of school, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone fired due to lack of technical skill. Employers are happy to provide training for those to a hard-working, on-time, honest employee. Those are the skills I’m talking about here.
And here's the problem: we often assume adults, even those aged 18-24, already possess them, but many don't.
The Hidden Curriculum of Employment
Think about what a typical workday requires. You have to:
wake up on time
prepare for the day
manage transportation
follow instructions
switch between tasks
handle frustration
prioritize competing demands
communicate appropriately
recover from mistakes
Most jobs are executive function marathons disguised as employment. Yet many workforce programs focus heavily on resumés, interviewing, and job search strategies while spending relatively little time teaching the mental skills needed to sustain success. It's like teaching someone how to get a driver's license without teaching them how to steer.
Lesson #1: Time Is Not the Problem
One of the most common complaints employers have is tardiness. Programs often respond by teaching punctuality, but punctuality isn't really the skill.
Planning is.
Being on time requires:
estimating how long tasks take
working backward from a deadline
anticipating obstacles
creating buffers
These are executive function skills. Many participants have never been taught them explicitly. Instead of saying, "You need to be on time," we should be teaching: “Here's how you plan backward from a start time." That lesson changes everything.
Lesson #2: Emotional Regulation Is a Workforce Skill
We rarely talk about this one, but we should. Workplaces are filled with frustration:
difficult customers
critical feedback
schedule changes
misunderstandings
unexpected problems
impatient (or really stressed-out) supervisors
Success often depends less on what happens and more on how someone responds when it happens. This is why programs like Roca’s Rewire CBT, or the Own the Outcomes training our nonprofit does in H2H GO! (workforce-centered program for 18-24 year olds), and similar initiatives matter so much.
Learning to:
pause before reacting
identify emotions
challenge unhelpful thinking
recover from setbacks
These aren't therapy skills, they're employment skills.
Lesson #3: Task Initiation Matters More Than Motivation
One of the biggest myths in workforce development is that people simply need more motivation, but motivation is unreliable. Task initiation is what gets things done. Many people know exactly what they should do:
complete the application
call the employer
update the resumé
show up to training
The challenge is getting started. Programs should spend more time teaching strategies such as:
breaking large tasks into smaller steps
using visual reminders
creating accountability systems
reducing overwhelm
because starting is often the hardest part.
Lesson #4: Flexibility Is the New Job Security
The modern workplace changes constantly: technology, policies, leadership, schedules…People who succeed aren't necessarily the smartest. They're often the most adaptable. Workforce programs should teach:
flexible thinking
problem-solving
how to pivot when plans fail
how to learn new systems
The future belongs to people who can adjust.
Lesson #5: Protect Your Peak Hours
This is one of my favorite lessons (if you read Sunday Morning Coffee on the regular, you’ve read more than a couple of posts about this from me), and one we almost never teach. Everyone has periods during the day when they're at their sharpest, when they do their best thinking, experience their strongest focus, and operate at their highest energy. Learning to identify and protect those peak hours can dramatically improve productivity and performance.
Imagine teaching participants to:
schedule difficult tasks during their strongest hours
reserve routine work for lower-energy periods
recognize patterns in their own attention and energy
That's not productivity hacking, it’s self-awareness, and self-awareness is an executive function that translates really well in the workplace.
Why This Matters for Reentry
For individuals returning from incarceration, executive function development may be even more important. Many have spent years in environments where:
decisions were made for them
schedules were externally controlled
opportunities for planning were limited
survival often took precedence over long-term thinking
Then they return home and are expected to immediately manage:
employment
transportation
finances
appointments
family obligations
housing
That's a tremendous executive function load. Without support, even highly motivated individuals can struggle. And now imagine that they’re under the age of 25, without a fully-formed pre-frontal cortex, where all of our executive funcitoning happens. It starts to make sense, doesn’t it, as to why these folks may be underperforming at work?
The Programs That Will Thrive
The workforce programs that produce the strongest long-term outcomes won't simply teach people how to get jobs. They'll teach people how to manage themselves. They'll blend:
technical skills
cognitive skills
emotional regulation
executive functioning
because employers don't hire resumés. They hire people, and people succeed when they know how to think, plan, adapt, and persist.
☕ Final Sip
If I could redesign every workforce program tomorrow, I'd spend less time asking, "What job skills should we teach?" and more time asking, "What executive function skills do participants need to succeed once they get the job?" Because the goal isn't employment, it’s sustained employment, growth, stability, and opportunity. The bridge between getting the job and keeping the job is often executive function. t's time we started teaching it like it matters.
Cheers to you on a lovely spring day that’s launching us into summer. I hope your week is full to the brim with happiness.
