Don’t Be Like Me: Overcoming Obstacles to Effective Training
A number of years ago when I was a "wee little chick", I was called into a room full of managers and told that I had been selected to attend a training. I wasn’t given any of the reasons behind the training, the goals for attending the training or the duration of the...
Seven Benefits of Operator Training
Over the past few months, I’ve been writing on a wide range of topics around how to attract, train and retain your hourly workforce. But, perhaps I should share why I find this topic so important. First, it starts with safety. Nothing is more important than the...
Data: Another “Sense” for Quantifying Process Improvements
A lot of people claim to have a “6th Sense” when assessing a situation. But, when it comes to making a business investment, having a benchmark and being able to quantify improvements is essential. Making process improvements in your process may require an investment...
It All Starts with One Step: Improving Your Operator Training Program
Most manufacturers will admit that they don’t do a good job training their employees. It isn’t that they don’t see the value, it is rather that the task feels overwhelming and they don’t know where to start. But, like any other journey worth taking, it starts with a...
Effective Training to Affect the Desired Outcome
The task of operator training is typically delegated to the department supervisor or lead. Rarely, if ever, is the supervisor or lead given the proper tools to be an effective trainer. And since the supervisor is also evaluating the operator’s performance, the...
Operators or Training? Assessing the Why Behind Process Deviations
It is my belief and experience that operators don't want to do a bad job. They want to do what is asked of them and do it to the best of their ability. But, we still see instances where operators aren’t following the established procedures. And when that happens,...
Training Through Eyes of an 8 year Old: Traits of an Effective Trainer
When I was 8 years old, I started my own business as a swim instructor. During my 12+ years, I taught over 300 children ranging from 9 months to 18 years in my parent’s backyard pool. Teaching children to swim felt very natural to me. I was able to adapt my teaching...
No More Dreaded Training: Tips to Improve Your In-House Training
As adults, we tend to cringe when we go to in-house training. It seems that we are conditioned to expect the trainer to be boring, the content to be outdated and the outcome to be marginal,at best. But, the reality is that investing in employee training is expensive...
Onboarding: A Key to Employee Retention
After expending company resources to find and hire a great new employee, have you thought about what the employee will need to know in order to be successful in your organization? A report from the Society of Human Resource Management found that half of all hourly...