I don’t want to beat a dead horse so this will be a short conclusion to that last blog that went out. A lot of this information was gathered from two published (Plant Services) nationally recognized industry leaders, Craig Cotter, P.E. and James Haw, P.E. And I owe them a debt of gratitude for helping me become better in my field.
With the skilled-labor shortage having a persistent and significant negative impact on operations and manufacturing, the quest for operational excellence can be a significant challenge. A company must learn about strategies that infuse a company’s culture with continuous-improvement practices that elevate efficiencies and engage the workforce.
In the untrained culture, management actually rewards the low-skilled performers who are merely following routine. The poor-quality repairs cause more failures, which many times occur after normal working hours. Then the poorly trained craftsmen are called out to save the day (or night). They do the best repairs their skills allow, getting the equipment back online as quickly as possible. Everyone is happy and pats themselves on the back but think of what might be possible with a highly skilled workforce that fixes the equipment right, so it lasts longer, reducing the number of future callouts. The choice is up to management.
A trained, high-quality workforce is happier, more engaged, and more motivated and these are factors that result in higher retention rates. People want to be part of an organization that cares enough about them to spend money on their development. Yes, it makes them more marketable, but that is the type of workforce I want to be a part of. This applies not only to craft personnel, but to all the personnel in your organization.
All personnel in your organization, need to be continuously developed, or they will not progress in their careers. Without training, they will become bored, leave the company, or become less effective compared with their trained peers. Management should implement a detailed training plan to develop and support short and long-term goals as well as their personal and professional goals.
When I was a contract maintenance worker supporting the United States Antarctic Program, I would take technical training classes during my off time and pay for these classes out of my own pocket. My goals were to improve my skills and value to the company and then when back at work provide these new learned skills to the rest of the shop during the Saturday afternoon shop training. We were a team that worked together and supported each other. We had a PM and Corrective Work Order completion rate in the 90% range and employee retention was very high. When new management came in due to a contract change, budgets were cut and so was the training program. This resulted in the maintenance shop going from a very proactive shop to a 100% reactive shop resulting in a large turnover of employees.
We owe it to our employees to ensure they are a well-trained and capable workforce. If we are not going to invest in their training, we are failing as leaders. It is our responsibility to understand the capabilities of our workforce, assess their shortcomings, and develop training to close the gaps to facilitate best-in-class repairs, improved operations, and a safer, more reliable workplace.
A structured approach can provide a roadmap for developing a training program that prepares all personnel to perform the tasks required in their job in a safe, consistent, and reliable manner.
The value of great talent and leadership is simple, Jacob Morgan argues: Great leaders inspire people and attract talent, and bad leaders drive employees away and demoralize those who stay. It's impossible to only hire superstar talent, organizations also need to learn how to develop people internally to create great leaders.
* Hire the right individuals
* Train on the skills and knowledge to be qualified in their work
* Motivate your staff to be all that they can be, and
* Retain your workforce by valuing and nurturing leadership skills
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