The growing gap between the skill requirements of jobs and workers' capabilities, the slow growth of the U.S. work force, and the demands of a global economy will reshape the work force in Ohio. To meet these challenges, the Governor's Human Resources Advisory Council proposes as its mission the achievement and maintenance of a high performance work force. The economic upheaval of the last two decades has had the following results: the growth of Ohio's gross state product ranks 40th in the nation; Ohio moved from 28th to 7th in number of public assistance recipients per 1,000; and Ohio's job growth and per capita income growth will lag behind the national rate through 2000. Four strategies are proposed for creating the high performance work force: (1) create a high performance business climate that fosters economic growth and generates new job opportunities; (2) improve the educational system's performance to ensure that all students acquire competitive basic skills; (3) establish comprehensive and coordinated work force training programs; and (4) remove the major barriers to employment and self-sufficiency. Among the action steps needed to implement these strategies are the following: improving technology; adopting statewide policies on dropout prevention; improving adult and workplace literacy and lifelong learning; turning schools and colleges into high performance organizations; establishing performance standards for work force development programs; promoting coordination, planning, accountability, and information sharing among providers; making child care, health care, and transportation accessible and affordable; improving child support enforcement; and attacking employment discrimination. (NLA)