Large Scale Worker Training Projects are Possible for Small and Mid-size Employers

Dr. Dave Just, formally Dean of Corporate and Continuing Education at Community Colleges in MA, OH, PA, SC. Currently President of K&D Consulting  

I spent many years as Director of Corporate and Continuing Education at several community colleges in multiple states. I think back on those years before working with Proactive Technologies when employer engagement was very difficult to achieve, let alone retain. Often it was only possible to get the employer to agree to send a few people to classes, either on site or offsite, if grant money covered the cost. But the scope was limited and the results were often inconclusive.

In the mid-90s, I began to partner with Proactive Technologies on what they called “structured on-the-job training programs.” It seemed simple and intuitively I felt something the employer could relate to. Building a training program, and an infrastructure where there was none, that the employer could recognize and has the potential to yield results they can immediately realize seemed like a new concept, but one employers told me they wished for in nearly every meeting.

When we began talking with employers and were able to get them to commit to setting up structured on-the-job training programs for one job, maybe two, as a pilot. Inevitably, employers saw the value and expanded the programs to include other jobs critical to their operation and opened the programs up to more employees for training and cross-training.

Many of these manufacturers in South Carolina took the same path and expanded projects to include other jobs and other employees. They found that it also help them with their compliance issues with ISO 9001:2015, IATF 16949, AS 9100 type of certification programs. These quality certification programs have a provision that required process-based training documentation to support it, evidence that the employer was serious about the effort and requirements that the job information and employee information is current and accurate. All of these provisions were supported by Proactive Technologies and it’s many ways of reporting this information.

Project expansion was not a coincidence. It was the result of providing something that mattered to employers and that they always knew in her heart was needed, but might have been led to believe it was impossible to do so they never pursued it. In South Carolina we were able to sign-up 24 tier 1 and tier 2 manufacturing suppliers across the state – many suppliers to BMW – to commit to structured on-the-job training programs in just two years. The number of job classifications targeted at each employer started at two but expanded to as many as seven in short order. Many were registered as apprenticeships. Although most of these firms were significantly disrupted by the Crash of 2008 like others across the nation, some continued on throughout and others resumed their programs as they recovered. The community college, again, had an unbroken connection to market their product and services to these employers.

I read recently of the Custom Glass Solutions project in Ohio and realized that Proactive Technologies is proving that no project is too small or too large. Custom Glass Solution’s project, at two of their facilities, is large and very bold for a training project. But within a year and a half time have achieved more in the way of progress than many of the early stage projects that I was involved in, and that was impressive to all of us.

Employers should take a serious look at the Proactive Technologies structured on-the-job training approach. After seeing what’s involved and what benefits the programs can provide, I don’t know why employers wouldn’t want to do this type of a project. We held many open houses for employers. While initially it was hard to get them to commit to attend, invariably once they attended and learned more, they wanted to have a project of their own.

That is a sign of a product and service with reach and longevity. Another Proactive Technologies’ project, Triumph Thermal Systems in Ohio, was started while I was at a community college in Ohio and has been ongoing now for over 2 decades! The project started as a pilot of five job classifications and now includes 19 job classification and an average of 100 different employees each year. Over the duration, more than 450 training tracks were supported for new-hires, incumbents and cross-trainees to other job classifications. Many of them received Certificates of Job Mastery or even Certificates a Task Mastery portfolios for reaching the 50% mark.

Proactive Technologies’ structured on-the-job training approach is something I would recommend to any employer struggling to build and maintain a high-caliber workforce in a world of volatility. I would also recommend community and technical colleges consider partnering with Proactive Technologies to create the most employer-based worker training programs possible.

Contact K & D Consulting to learn ore about how education, workforce development agencies and employers can partner in meaningful, sustainable workforce development strategies. To learn more about Proactive Technologies, Inc.’s hybrid model of workforce development contact a Proactive Technologies representative. Sign up to attend one of Proactive Technologies’ scheduled GoToMeeting presentations (to your computer) or setup one that fits your schedule. 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.