Trained Workers: America's Most Wanted
Posted by Jon Rossi at 9:46 AM
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Once an individual takes a job in an organization, it is the duty of the organization to provide training to that employee to ensure they are successful in their job. Training is the process of making an individual acquainted with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to perform a particular job. In today's workforce that also means ongoing mentoring and coaching for the employee. Unfortunately, many companies do not take enough time to train their most important resource; their employees.
According to a 2009 Manpower Talent Shortage Survey, among the most difficult jobs to fill in North America are those of the skilled manual trades, with electricians, carpenters/joiners and welders as the most in-demand employees. Many construction owners would agree that talent shortages have created a need to do things differently and that means a stronger concentration on training.
Training, mentoring and coaching is needed in order for an organization to grow. The better trained your employees are the more they can meet your needs. One of my construction clients said a while back when he was seeing a shortage of talent that you have to look at things differently today. For example, when he and one of his managers were discussing employee reviews and his manager was thinking of cutting a worker because he is slow. The president said he looked at the situation differently. If he shows up for work every day and has good technical skills the decision isn't to let him go but to train him to work faster. And, if you do that, you will yield more work out of him. Here are a few ways to keep your employees growing personally and professionally:
Develop an internal training department
Have a dedicated internal training department that focuses on employee development around topics such as client interfacing skills, communications skills, software skills, and delivering exceptional customer service. This will keep an ongoing focus on training. Set a goal for every employee to log a specific minimum number of training hours each year; this forces management to monitor employee progress and makes training a priority for employees.
Create your own company specific curriculum led by your best employees
In addition to an official internal training department, create a development team that includes employees from across the company; those who have the best skills in a certain area. Charge them with creating a curriculum that will help employees at all levels enhance their skills. These training forums can be offered through a "lunch and learn" platform or on Saturdays so that more employees can find time to participate. Some suggested courses: Time Management, Social Styles, Situational Leadership, Effective Business Writing, Planning for Results and Working More Productively. If possible, invite outside inspirational speakers.
For employees with high leadership potential, create a more intense learning track. Think of this as your internal masters program--perhaps a 12-week curriculum for current leaders and other high-potential employees to help them learn advanced business and relationship skills. Modules might include Managing by Values, Forecasting, Change Management, Coaching and Planning. These courses should be led by senior leaders in your company to give the up-and-comers exposure to the "war stories" that only seasoned employees can share.
Tap into your rising stars
Create a formal job shadowing program that will allow team members interested in a new position to shadow an individual in that role for several hours each week (one of my clients takes an employee for the walkthrough of the construction site weekly). This allows them to learn the job responsibilities and determine if that job is a good fit for their future.
Invest in higher education
It's not unusual for companies to provide tuition assistance; however, in a tight economy it's tempting to trim this benefit. Don't. Provide assistance to any employee pursuing a degree or skill certification.
Utilize seminars and workshops
There are times when you should use outside people to instruct on new or technical tasks. Bringing a specialist in to train or sending employees offsite to interactive seminars and workshops will be worth the investment providing you coach them after they get back on the job so they are implementing their new skills.
How will you know if your training program is paying off? The benefits of training are threefold:
- you'll improve your ability to hire from within using employees who know your business and culture and want to further their career which eliminates very costly recruiting expenses
- training will foster team spirit and more enthusiasm for your employees work, and
- you will begin to see improved productivity and reduced rework within the short period of time.
Linda Hanson, CMC, is a certified management consultant and author of 10 Steps to Marketing Success. She writes, speaks and consults on marketing, management and customer service issues and can be contacted at www.llhenterprises.com. Sign up for her free newsletter The Superior Performance Report.
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