Even the Best Written Work Instruction Is No Replacement for Structured On-the-Job Training

by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies Inc.

If you’ve ever had the opportunity to assemble a toy or piece of furniture by the included instructions, you’ll appreciate the assessment that many of these instructions seem to be an afterthought, lacking clarity and often causing more confusion than one would think for something considered to be an “assembly instruction.”

You might be aware that many companies create work instructions in a rush attempt to qualify for ISO, IATF or AS certification. Often someone with little or no experience as a technical writer is asked to write a work instruction for others to follow. Sometimes several people, with many backgrounds, are tasked in an effort to quickly prepare the organization for a pre-certification audit. The belief is that the auditor only wants to make sure that the company has work instructions, not critique the quality of the instructions. Lost in the rush is the logic behind, and practicality of, standardizing work instructions and the work itself. Often, as well, little thought is given to keeping the documents current and accurate as changes and improvements occur. Soon, any document clarity is reduced to confusion.

The original intent might have been a document that was a clear, step-by-step guide to performing a task but, written in the style of the untrained writer, one clear step could have turned out to be one convoluted paragraph, forcing the reader to read, interpret, understand, and follow while having their hands full.

Lacking experience, a writer will sometimes leave out some of the important aspects of task performance – the things they needed to know when they first learned the task. For each person being trained to compliance with the document, each interpretation is revealed in performance. As time goes by, and these individuals become future trainers, these misinterpretations might be institutionalized in performance, and not be detected until major quality, safety or audit issues arise.

Furthering the injury, some companies believe that they can spruce up the work instruction with a few random photos, which will guide any new-hire to masterful task performance; precluding the need for any formal instruction by a subject matter expert. They forego setting aside any time for sufficient training, on top of not having a training department or a training budget to allow for such training.

Let me be clear, even the best written, standardize, work construction is no replacement for deliberate, focused, structured on the job training. The best written, standardized work instructions were only meant to be a “reference tool“ that a trained worker can use when time has lapsed between when they first mastered the task, and when they were asked to perform the task again, or to force step-by-step performance for critical tasks. Unless written perfectly, by following the step-by-step exactly may lead a worker to non-compliance for following instructions and any scrap or rework that results. The standardized work instruction is formally classified as a “job performance aid.“

Other points of compliance, that should be in the work instruction, may have been identified and written with other separate intentions in mind, such as safety requirements, quality requirements, policy requirements. These might be found in entirely different documents, on different platforms, emanating from other departments written by different individuals with different styles, and found in other locations of the building.

First, a good standardize work instruction would include all of these factors in one concise, easy to read and comply with, step-by-step instruction. Some writers unnecessarily go too far in their narrative, including numerous photos and images that are also to be considered that add more confusion than clarity.

And easy and professional way to test documents tests “readability” and “compliability.”  Readability is tested by giving a document to an average worker that will be using the document and asking them to follow the document verbatim. Observing the ease or difficulty they encounter in reading and comprehending the verbiage and document structure, making notes to adjust the document to make it better, will elevate it towards a document that any individual performing the task can be audited to for compliance with a higher level of confidence. Surprisingly for some, this is the step where the average worker’s reading level is discovered and that documents may have been written at a level much higher. If the document cannot be read it cannot be complied with.  Performing this test with multiple average workers will make the document even better and ensure the document’s intent, no matter who is using it, will yield the same expected outcome.

Compliability is giving the work instruction to a representative sample of those who are the intended audience, observing them following the work instruction and noting any difficulties or deviations in the final outcome from specification. These two tests together help to ensure a work instruction is ready for release but should also be performed when material changes to the document are made.

Much of the information contained in a best written work instruction can be utilized in developing a training plan for the task, since it should have been developed using a credible job/task analysis technique. This training plan can be used with the “first task performers“ to train individuals to the point where the trainer can document they have mastered the task and met all of the specifications outlined in the document. This will ensure and expedite a smooth transition of any employee with the basic core skills and abilities identified at hiring to full job mastery, one task at a time.

The standard work instruction can then be used as the reference as it was designed and for periodic quality audits to ensure compliance continues. The training program can be used to close the “training gaps“ that exist in most companies. When no worker training infrastructure or process of documenting mastery of tasks exist, this most likely leads to a tremendous amount of unused and under-developed worker capacity that put a strain on a company striving to maintain profitability. Finding each worker’s training gap and closing it will remedy this. When everyone reaches confirmed job mastery, it is easier for supervisors and managers to manage – ruling out that the worker wasn’t properly trained.

When every worker has reached, or is nearing, full job mastery the employer will see improvement in other key performance indicators such as:

• increased work quantity and quality
• increased in work process or instruction compliance
• Increase in employee satisfaction with job, employer and peers
• increase in rate of new product-to-production introduction
• decrease in scrap, rework, customer complaints
• decrease in safety incidents
• decrease in turnover

It is not hard to structure a structured worker training program that leads from task mastery to continued mastery performance. This is done by incorporating the components a company already has in place and fills the holes where they exist. A lot of the information is available at most companies, it has just never been assembled in a linear path to worker development and maximized performance. Setting up the training infrastructure supports compliance with engineering specifications, quality programs, safety programs, and company policy while ensuring every worker is driven to full job mastery – something every CEO or plant manager hopes for but usually dismisses as unachievable since it hasn’t been done yet.

Most importantly, when done right a structured on-the-job training infrastructure will dispel the institutionalized myth that workers and worker training are “costs.” They will be seen as the “investments” as with any other capital investment made by the company. And as with any other investment, the “return on worker investment” isn’t going to manifest itself. A capital investment in a new piece of equipment meant to increase production output will not contribute an increase without training the worker who runs it to maximize its operation.

If you recognize these challenges and have shed your fear of even looking for other solutions, check out Proactive Technologies’ structured on-the-job training system approach to see how it might work at your firm, your family of facilities or your region. Contact a Proactive Technologies representative today to schedule a GoToMeeting videoconference briefing to your computer. This can be followed up with an onsite presentation for you and your colleagues. A 13-minute promo briefing is available at the Proactive Technologies website and provides an overview to get you started and to help you explain it to your staff. As always, onsite presentations are available as well.