Under certain circumstances, all of these can be correct. But history teaches us a lesson: You can't sit through a day or two of training, come back with a title (i.e. Certified-Black-Belt-Ninja-Super-Molder), and immediately work miracles on the production floor.

In centuries past there was the Guild System. You first did the menial chores. Then you learned the basic skills of your trade and were declared an Apprentice. After a few years you 'worked at the Master's Knee' as a Journeyman. The thought here was to apply the basic skills and learn the 'tricks of the trade' from the Master. After several years you should have encountered every problem in your trade and acquired enough expertise to finally be presented to the Guild as having equal skills of your Master. If the Guild approved; you were declared a Master and you could practice your trade independently and also train Apprentices and Journeymen.

What we should learn is obvious:

There was a recent study in the psychological literature on bribing (rewards). Research shows that if you put the reward in the form of a commitment in front of the person before they began the task, they worked harder to achieve what you wanted than if you simply asked them to do it, or made a vague reference to some untold future benefit. (Well, Duh!)

Management needs to bring the apprenticeship system to the 21^st century by creating an employee development system for all employees. To accomplish this, your company needs to develop a 'culture of training' with ongoing training and financial rewards as a part of a company's DNA. Since skill takes time to develop, you can't do this in a couple days. Unfortunately, real improvements take knowledge, so you can improve over time and handle future advancements.

Even the best most-seasoned staff makes mistakes, and knowledge training will help your newer employees recognize this and avoid these missteps. Your company needs to require all production personnel to follow this structure, regardless of how much experience or 'certification' they have. This puts everyone on the same page with the same baseline of skills and knowledge.

For this reason, companies such as Routsis Training and, my company, WJT Associates, have adopted tools that will ensure your employees can both learn and apply.

I have expanded on this concept in my training work. Before you begin, you and your boss figure out the reward you'll get (not a bonus; but a permanent raise) from the savings you'll incur. Next, you pass a test showing you have an understanding of scientific molding and the concepts of troubleshooting. How you acquired this knowledge or who taught you is less important than gaining the knowledge. Then the tech and management figure out a set of projects specific to the company's objectives. It should take a minimum of 100 hours work over six months. The projects and the tests are jointly reviewed between management and WJT. On successful completion of the program the usual Diplomas etc. are given and the tech can now cash in his reward.

Routsis Training has a different approach called RightStart. It works as follows:

PROS:
Doing your training in this manner answers most of the objections to training:

CONS:
Too many companies think salaries/bonuses are irritating expenses that degrade from profits. While this is 'Olde School' thinking, it is quite commonplace. For this reason alone, many companies who could benefit from programs like Routsis or WJT, simply choose to "carry on" and are happy with only a few percent profit.

These programs look like a lot of work. Because being profitable requires expertise and hard work. Conversely, losing profits is painless and requires little work.

Here's a link to the Molding Professional program offered by my company, WJT Associates, http://wjtassociates.com/site/?page_id=17 and a link to Routsis Training, RightStart http://www.traininteractive.com/advantage/rightstart/

Download them and think it over.

It's your choice.

This is the first of a series of articles on Training. It can be done over the Web, through public seminars, or through in-house seminars.

The next article will be on 'remote' training. This is usually done via the web or self paced CD's. Those companies who offer this or other types of training feel free to contact me to be included at bill4012

Consultant Bill Tobin [email protected] is a regular contributor to IMM. You can sign up for his e-newsletter at www.wjtassociates.com.