With all the down turn in the workplace, people now doing multiple tasks and jobs, you hear that there just does not seem to be enough time to do anything…especially invest in the people we have. No matter what kind of employer sponsored employee investment program there is, that budget or time allotment always seems to be the first cut.
One of the types of investments that go easy by the waste side is additional training to make them (the employee) more efficient at their current task or new ones they were assigned to them. Whether it is taking some classes at night, classes online, e-learning, or attending a multiple day live conference that little investment (cost of the program, travel, expenses, etc) could end up paying big dividends for the company in both the long and short run. The employee feels a sense of empowerment knowing the company is taking an interest in them, it gets them interacting and networking with other people outside of the company which in turn may allow them to look at problems and situations in a different light. How many times have you heard “but we always do it that way”.
You can also look at outside classes/events as new employee training for certain programs. If you find a training class/program that, you have attended in the past, maybe someone you know has attended or one that has a good reputation use this avenue for initial empowerment. What better way to get your new employee off to a good start when they realize that they are already on the company’s mind and they (company) want them to succeed. The overall cost may even be lower than doing everything in house besides the finding time to train people.
Over the year Hill Engineering has been fortunate to be involved in many live conferences within the roll forming industry at stand alone events like the Fabricators and Manufactures Association’s World Class Rollforming or conferences in a industry specific show like FABTECH or Metalcon. The positive feedback and energy we get back from the attendees during and after the programs is always a hugh lift, and reinforces to us that this still is an excellent and exciting path to choose for training.
Another option for a win / win situation would also be to contact the programs coordinators or trade associations to see if you could possibly negotiate some standard rates for your company for one or across the board type training that could possibly even lower your overall training costs no matter if it is one perons or a group of people.
I believe I heard or saw this somewhere “A company makes a product, but the people make the company” and I still believe that today. Let us know what you think…