US manufacturing is struggling with both a productivity and job quality challenge. These challenges are interconnected, reinforcing the need for increased coordination of economic and workforce development efforts. This article outlines the evaluation findings of a novel business-facing initiative called the Genesis Movement, to understand its role in reshaping the workforce experience within small- and medium-sized manufacturing businesses in Chicago, Illinois. Spearheaded in 2014 by the Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center (IMEC), Genesis starts with the premise that workforce practices are central to business operations, productivity, and competitiveness—and therefore, manufacturing extension services need to promote improvements to job quality in support of long-term business success. This integrated approach represents a form of “inclusive innovation,” expanding the capacities of firms and workers to adapt in a competitive environment where pressures to maintain high quality while reducing costs are ever-present. Firms that participate in Genesis learn to adopt an inclusive organizational culture, using front-line worker engagement, skills training, and job quality improvements to drive performance and process innovation. As such, Genesis offers transferable lessons that could be leveraged by other manufacturing-supporting organizations to benefit their industry clients and the workers they employ.

美国制造业正在努力应对生产力和工作质量的挑战。这些挑战是相互关联的，因此需要加强经济和劳动力发展工作的协调。本文概述了一项名为创世纪运动的面向企业的新计划的评估结果，以了解其在重塑伊利诺伊州芝加哥的中小型制造企业的劳动力体验方面的作用。Genesis 于 2014 年由伊利诺伊州卓越制造中心 (IMEC) 牵头，其前提是劳动力实践是企业运营、生产力和竞争力的核心——因此，制造扩展服务需要促进工作质量的提高，以支持长期术语业务成功。和工人在竞争环境中适应，在这种环境中，保持高质量同时降低成本的压力始终存在。参与 Genesis 的公司学会采用包容性组织文化，利用一线员工参与、技能培训和工作质量改进来推动绩效和流程创新。因此，Genesis 提供了可转移的经验教训，其他制造支持组织可以利用这些经验教训使他们的行业客户和他们雇用的工人受益。