MANAGEMENT
In the Joseph Heller book, Catch-22, you
couldn’t see the Major unless he wasn’t in.
Employee training is the catch-22 of 2018.
Between the pressure to perform and the limited
resources, it seems like you are damned if
you do train and double-damned if you don’t.
Many organizations fall into one of the two
main traps:
Trap 1 - Your plant or facility is busy; you
have the money for training but no time.
Trap 2 - You are busy, but it’s manageable.
However, the company is not doing so well.
You would have the time but there has been
a thinning of the ranks and no money.
40 Fleet Maintenance | July 2018
In both cases, the pressure for higher productivity
is on. Every article you read (if you use
your own time to read them) says the rate
of change in business is increasing and we,
as a nation, are falling behind in skills and
knowledge.
Th ere are whole new worlds like industrial
internet, drones and sensors that you think you
could use but there is no time to learn how to
use them.
A look at conventional training
You and your team are too busy to get away for
multi-day off -site training.
In fact, in some shops it is diffi cult to take
anyone away, even for the most essential training.
Th e idea of getting everyone on the same
page at the same time — like when you update
to a radically new version of your computerized
maintenance management system (CMMS) — is
just a dream; or, more accurately, a nightmare.
In addition to comprehensive and thorough
training completed in a timely fashion, time out
of the shop can be an issue. For off -site training
courses there might be a travel day there
and a travel day home. Of course, maintenance
and reliability types have no problem leaving
at 4 AM to drive for a 9 AM class only to drive
home right aft er the class. Th is might be effi -
cient from a cost perspective but it compromises
learning, safety and next-day productivity.
While there are times when off -site training
is necessary, can the technology that drives
our changing industry otherwise help solve
the problem that it originally helped create?
Addressing the needs of
different competency levels
Another issue is that diff erent people have
diff erent holes in their competency. Some holes
in competency level can be based on experience,
while others might be generational.
One example of diff erent competencies
comes from when I was having work done
on my house. I had a plumber over to look
at a problem. He was the current head of a
fourth-generation family business of plumbers
that went back to his grandfather (his son
was on track to take over the business aft erward).
He was 55 but had 45 years on the tools,
because his grandfather took him out to job
sites even when he was a boy.
He diagnosed the issue and gave me two
solutions, with all the potential complications
of each, in about a minute. But, when it came
to an electronic issue with another system, he
was on thinner ice. His son was completely
comfortable with the electronics.
When it comes to maintenance shop personnel
training, there is nothing more effi cient
than computer- or web-based training for
specifi c competencies. For instance, if you want
the whole team to fi ll out work orders the same
way, a predesigned computer- or web-based
class can be completed online to cover basics,
followed by some one-on-one coaching to cover
details, questions and to help people build a
positive attitude.
For big-picture training like reliability leadership,
planning and scheduling or techniques
for reliability design, there is a need to literally
get away, chew over the material and discuss
it with peers. Th is is where slower/comprehensive
training with case studies and problem
solving really makes a diff erence.
What does this mean
for training?
As a leader, you need to think through the kind
of competency you need.
If you are looking for training in Allen
Bradley controls, for instance, an hour-perday
online course for two weeks may be more
eff ective than an off -site two-day class.
On the other hand, if you are advancing
someone from the tools and repair to planning
or supervision, consider letting them get away
and interact with peers. Let them complete the
training in a restful and supportive manner.
We can make the most of our scarce time and
scarce funds by picking the right training, for
the right people, at the best time.
The catch-22
of training
Tips to analyze employee
competencies for optimized
personnel training.
» Some holes in competency can be
attributed to level of experience, while
others might be generational.
iStock
We can make the
most of our scarce time
and scarce funds by
picking the right training,
for the right people.
By Joel Levitt
PRESIDENT, SPRINGFIELD RESOURCES
Springfield Resources (maintenancetraining.com) is a
management consulting firm that services a variety of
clients on a wide range of maintenance issues. Levitt is
the president of the company, and has trained more than
17,000 maintenance leaders from more than 3,000 organizations
in 24 countries. He is also the creator of Laser-
Focused Training, a flexible training program that provides
specific targeted training on your schedule, online to one
to 250 people in maintenance management, asset management
and reliability.
/maintenancetraining.com