 |
|
| | | | | | | | | |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
By Monroe Porter
No one really talks bad about employee training and development, but the real issue is will you actually carry it through? The other problem with training is that many companies make it too complicated. Once you start to write a training program or develop criteria, it can soon become endless. Companies must take care to implement a training program that is practical and realistic.
For years, I have used learning to bowl as an example of how employee expectations and development work. If you wanted to learn to bowl, you might go to the local bowling alley and ask a pro to give you lessons. Your expectations will be high because you are eager to learn and have found a pro teach you. After some instruction, you move into the accountability phase of learning: The pro gives you a bowling ball and you try to knock down some pins. Now suppose a large sheet is suspended between you and the pins. The ball goes through the sheet and you hear the clatter of pins falling. At this point, you have entered the final phase of the learning process: feedback. What if you were then told that you would not learn the total pins you knocked down in a year until your annual review? I doubt that you would be motivated to go to the bowling alley each week.
Employee training and development works much the same way. The best training programs are cultural and part of the daily process. So let's discuss some practical steps you can take to provide your employees with realistic training.
New Employee Expectations
When hiring new employees, create an outline of what you want them to learn in the next 30 days. Discuss this with their foreman and hold a review in 30 days with the foreman present to learn how they are doing. You may also want to check in with the foreman once a week to see how the new employee is progressing. At the end of 30 days, set another timeframe and a new set of skills.
Foreman Expectations
Just like you, many field people are frustrated by the quality of employees working for the company. Foremen just want you to hire good people who will show up each day, know what to do, work hard and get the job done. Unfortunately, this is not always practical. The foreman must understand that you are hiring the best people you can and that crew stress will continue unless they are part of the process to develop new people.
Pre-Job Meetings
One of the best ways to train people is with pre-job meetings. Showing up on the job site, squawking and dumping on people does not work. Going over the job prior to startup allows you to discuss issues prior to the occurrence of poor performance. Not only is the pre-job meeting a way to train people, it also is the single most important thing you can do to help productivity. The meeting does not have to be elaborate. On a small job, five minutes might be all the time that is needed.
Classroom Time
When in a classroom environment, make sure that training is seen as a positive tool and not an embarrassing situation. The purpose of classroom training is to change your company's culture by creating an environment of learning, not criticism. The fact that you meet together and communicate is more important than what is specifically being taught. Following are some useful hints to make classroom time more effective:
- Keep training time no longer than 3 to 4 hours per session. Field workers are not used to being seated inside for hours at a time.
- Don't take up too many Saturdays and weekends. Try to hold the classes at a time that people are willing to attend. Consider starting in late afternoon and providing pizza for supper.
- For craft training, keep the classroom trade specific and work on repetitive skills. For a painter, this might simply be how to roll a wall, how to paint a window or how to prep a painting surface. By being trade specific, you will generate more results for your training dollar.
- Consider training on quality issues by reviewing on-the-job problems and customer complaints and then discuss how to correct them. Rather than focus on the problem, concentrate on what steps can be taken to avoid the problem in the future.
While working with a large plumbing company that contracted work on new homes, we were hired to correct $1 million worth of warranty claims. We developed a training program to help correct the situation. One million dollars in warranty looked enormous but, when analyzed, seven tasks created more than 60 percent of the claims.
- Bring in industry speakers or customers to talk to your employees. Many manufacturers and distributors have packaged programs they can perform for your company. This is a much more valuable service than having them buy you lunch.
Industry Training
Seminars are available through trade associations and industry suppliers. These programs can be great training tools. However, be careful of which employees you send to these programs and consider attending with them. I teach seminars at trade shows on how to make $100,000 in your business. I often have a class full of foremen who should not be sitting there. I have also monitored technical classes where instructors talk about how much money you can make doing such work. Not long ago, I stuck my head in a faux finishing class where the instructor was bragging about how he could make $100 an hour doing faux. The $16-an-hour employees of course are wondering why they are working for someone else when they can make $84 more an hour by going into business for themselves. My advice is, when in doubt about the focus of a seminar, attend with your employees and, if necessary, remind the instructor ahead of time of your concerns.
Conclusion
Training is more about how you think and act as a company than it is actual classroom topics. By working on training and coaching, you are developing an organization that wants to improve and help the entire team. Like plants, if you are not growing, you are dying. Successful people and organizations operate under this same philosophy.
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
